PD Policies

Guilford County Schools Professional Development Policies 

GCS Course Registration Policy

1.Participants must register for approved GCS/site-based courses. Any person who attends a course but does not register before the last day of the course will not receive CEU credit.  Participants have until the last day of the workshop to register.

2. For security reasons, GCS no longer requires participants to provide their social security numbers when signing the attendance sheet. As a result, the only way renewal credit can be awarded to the correct person is for the participants to register online for the course they attend. Signed attendance sheets are matched to those who registered for the courses. Participants who fail to register or fail to sign rosters at each session will not receive credit.  Participants have until the last day of the workshop to register.

3. CEU credit cannot be awarded for any course with less than five (5) hours of instruction. CEUs are granted for no more than 6 hours of staff development per day. 

4.  CEUs are awarded based on the number of hours of training: a five-hour training is awarded .5 CEUs; a six-hour training is awarded .6 CEUs; and a ten-hour training is awarded 1.0 CEUs, etc.


5. Credit cannot be awarded to participants for leadership committee meetings, accreditation committees, project teams, field trips, or for workshops offered during planning periods.   

6. Workshops must meet the following criteria:

  • trainings must be a minimum of five (5) clock hours of direct instruction:
  • workshop meeting times must be a minimum of one (1) hour at a time;
  • CEUs are granted for no more than 6 hours of staff development per day;
  • for each 6 hours in a course, only one (1) of the 6 hours can bean outside assignment of at least two (2) hours;
  • content and instructional activities must be designed in sequential manner to develop specified competencies of a specific population;
  • trainings must be led by qualified personnel and directly supervised by the sponsoring school unit;
  • credit is granted on the basis of program completion and achievement of specified individual performance, which is determined by individual evaluation of specified competencies;
  • participants who miss more than 30 cumulative minutes of any workshop are not eligible for credit;
  • courses must meet minimum enrollment requirements set by the instructors;
  • participants must register for approved GCS/site based courses;
  • participants who attend, but do not register before the last day, will not receive CEU credit; and,
  • for all-day workshops, a one-hour lunch break must be provided to all participants; it is not acceptable to cut the lunch break short in order to release participants early from the workshop.

7.  Participants with scheduling conflicts with more than one course should only register for courses in which they can attend 100%.  

8. Substitutes, tutors, retired personnel, and non-GCS employees may register for courses if space is available, but available seats will be given to full-time GCS employees first.  Some courses are designed specifically for GCS personnel; therefore, they are not open to non-GCS employees.

9. Site-based make-up policies are set by the schools. If a course is taught at a school, the make-up policy is set by that school. However, instructors do not have time, and schools do not have funds to pay for providing "make up" sessions.

10. Credit for National Board Certification is handled through the Staffing Department of the GCS Human Resources division.

11. Earning CEUs is a professional responsibility.  It is not appropriate for children to attend workshops. In addition, children cannot be left unattended in adjacent rooms while parents attend workshops.

 Guilford County Schools – "No Show" Policy

Employees, who register for GCS approved courses and fail to unregister for any "credit" or "non-credit" course prior to the start date, will be marked as a No Show participant. Any registrant identified as a No Show participant for two or more courses during a 12-month period will be blocked from registering for GCS courses for six (6) months. Employees may attend courses at their school, as required by the principal, but will not be allowed to enroll in a GCS approved course or receive renewal credit in GCS until the 6-month period has expired.

In the event of an emergency, participants may email or call the Office of Professional Development on the day of the workshop and ask to be unregistered. Once the course has begun, participants may not unregister and will be identified as a No Show.  Professional Development will not unregister participants after the course start date.   

Guilford County Schools - Outside GCS Event Policy

1. Renewal credit can be awarded only for courses, workshops, seminars, or activities that are directly related to an employee's area(s) of licensure and/or professional responsibilities. However, such responsibilities as serving on curriculum or accreditation committees, chairing departmental meetings, sponsoring student activities, and attending certain conferences and clinics do not carry license renewal credit.

In addition, consistent with the district’s desire to minimize disruptions to the instructional process, the Office of Professional Development will avoid approving renewal credit for activities that occur during student instructional time unless attendance is authorized by the principal. 

2. Prior approval is required for all renewal credit events that are offered by any entity other than the Guilford County Schools, including state/DPI sponsored events, colleges, universities, technical schools, and community colleges. "Prior Approval" means that an employee desiring renewal credit for a particular event must request approval before the start date of the event. Employees are encouraged to request approval three (3) weeks before the event begins.

Requests submitted after the ending date of the event will not be approved. Prior approval is necessary to comply with state regulations, which require an LEA to determine the appropriateness of awarding renewal credit for a specific event in advance of the event. Prior approval also helps to avoid misunderstandings regarding qualifying events and reduces the possibility of an employee paying to enroll in an event for which renewal credit will not be awarded.