                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

PROBATIONARY TERMS OF SERVICE FOR TEACHERS (§ 22.1-303)

A. A probationary term of service of three years in the same school division
shall be required before a teacher is issued a continuing contract. School
boards shall provide each probationary teacher except probationary teachers who
have prior successful teaching experience, as determined by the local school
board in a school division, a mentor teacher, as described by Board guidelines
developed pursuant to &#xA7; 22.1-305.1, during the first year of the
probationary period, to assist such probationary teacher in achieving excellence
in instruction. During the probationary period, such probationary teacher shall
be evaluated annually based upon the evaluation procedures developed by the
employing school board for use by the division superintendent and principals in
evaluating teachers as required by subsection C of &#xA7; 22.1-295. A teacher in
his first year of the probationary period shall be evaluated informally at least
once during the first semester of the school year. The division superintendent
shall consider such evaluations, among other things, in making any
recommendations to the school board regarding the nonrenewal of such
probationary teacher&#8217;s contract as provided in &#xA7; 22.1-305.
			Any teacher hired on or after July 1, 2001, shall be required, as a condition
of achieving continuing contract status, to have successfully completed training
in instructional strategies and techniques for intervention for or remediation
of students who fail or are at risk of failing the Standards of Learning
assessments. Local school divisions shall be required to provide said training
at no cost to teachers employed in their division. In the event a local school
division fails to offer said training in a timely manner, no teacher will be
denied continuing contract status for failure to obtain such training.

B. Once a continuing contract status has been attained in a school division in
the Commonwealth, another probationary period need not be served in any other
school division unless such probationary period, not to exceed two years, is
made a part of the contract of employment. Further, when a teacher has attained
continuing contract status in a school division in the Commonwealth and
separates from and returns to teaching service in a school division in Virginia
by the beginning of the third year, such teacher shall be required to serve a
probationary period not to exceed two years, if made a part of the contract for
employment.

C. For the purpose of calculating the years of service required to attain
continuing contract status, at least 160 contractual teaching days during the
school year shall be deemed the equivalent of one year in the first year of
service by a teacher.

HISTORY: Code 1950, § 22-217.3; 1968, c. 691; 1969, Ex. Sess., c. 3; 1976, cc.
191, 226; 1979, c. 275; 1980, c. 559; 1985, c. 348; 1989, c. 100; 1999, cc. 831,
1030, 1037; 2000, c. 689; 2001, cc. 865, 872; 2006, c. 373; 2013, cc. 588, 650;
2020, cc. 53, 167; 2022, c. 355.