Date of Issue: June 12, 2012
Effective: Until revoked or modified
Subject: Applications for letters of permission for positions requiring a registered early childhood educator

Application: Directors of Education
Supervisory Officers of School Authorities

References: Ontario Regulation 322/10, “Letters of Permission – Early Childhood Educators”
This memorandum replaces Policy/Program Memorandum No. 154, August 18, 2010.

Introduction

The Education Act requires school boardsfootnote 1 to designate at least one position in each full-day Kindergarten class in each school of the board where there are sixteen or more students and in each extended-day program unit as a position requiring a registered early childhood educator – that is, a member of the College of Early Childhood Educators.footnote 2

Ontario Regulation 322/10, “Letters of Permission – Early Childhood Educators”, came into force on August 16, 2010. This regulation governs requirements for school boards regarding applications for Letters of Permission to appoint persons who are not registered early childhood educators to positions designated as requiring a registered early childhood educator.

The purpose of this memorandum is to provide boards with information on requirements for submitting an application, a description of the application process, and the application form.

Legislative authority

Subsection 8(1), paragraph 10.1, of the Education Act provides that the Minister may grant a Letter of Permission to a school board authorizing the board to appoint for a period not exceeding one year an individual who is not a member of the College of Early Childhood Educators – that is, an individual who is not a registered early childhood educator – to a position in a full-day Kindergarten class where there are sixteen or more students or in an extended-day program unit designated as requiring a registered early childhood educator, if the Minister is satisfied that no registered early childhood educator is available.

The Minister has delegated authority to grant Letters of Permission to the regional managers of the regional offices of the ministry.

Ontario Regulation 322/10 sets out the criteria governing the granting of Letters of Permission. The regulation can be found on the Ontario government website.

Requirements for school boards

School boards must make every effort to appoint individuals who are registered early childhood educators to positions that the board has designated as requiring an early childhood educator. Such efforts include reviewing the board list of occasional registered early childhood educators for potential candidates for the vacant position.

The following requirements apply to school boards that submit applications for Letters of Permission authorizing them to appoint a person who is not a registered early childhood educator to a position designated as requiring an early childhood educator.

Application process for a Letter of Permission

To request a Letter of Permission, the director of education of a board, the secretary of a board, or the supervisory officer of a school authority must submit a completed Application for an Early Childhood Educator Letter of Permission to the appropriate regional office of the ministry.

School boards must ensure that the duration of the appointment to the position for which they are requesting a Letter of Permission does not exceed one year (that is, twelve months).

A school board cannot submit an application until at least the seventh day after the closing date of a competition to fill a position for an early childhood educator.

Every application must include a signed declaration of the director of education of the board, the secretary of the board, or the supervisory officer of the school authority stating that the requirements of the regulation have been met. This declaration must also include confirmation that no registered early childhood educator applied for the position for which the Letter of Permission is being requested, or, if a registered early childhood educator did apply, he or she did not accept the position.

School boards must be able to provide evidence that they have complied with the requirements set out in the regulation, if asked to do so by the Minister.

Fulfilment of advertising requirements

The advertising requirements set out in Ontario Regulation 322/10 reflect the requirement that school boards demonstrate that they have made reasonable efforts to make registered early childhood educators aware of the vacant early childhood educator position for which the Letter of Permission is being requested.

The declaration by the person submitting the application must confirm that the school board has advertised at least once the position designated as requiring a registered early childhood educator for which the Letter of Permission is being requested. This advertisement must have been made public in one of the following two ways:

  • the advertisement must have been published in a daily newspaper that has provincial circulation in Ontario (e.g., The Globe and Mail, The National Post, Le Droit) for at least three days, and at least one of those days must have been “within the five days before the closing date of the competition for the position”
  • the advertisement must have been posted on a publicly accessible website, approved by the Minister, for at least ten days, and it must not have been removed before the closing date of the competition for the position. Approved websites are www.educationcanada.com, www.workopolis.com, www.applytoeducation.com, and www.jobsineducation.com

The person submitting the application must declare that the advertisement was also posted on at least two job-posting websites, approved by the Minister, of a university, college of applied arts and technology, or private career collegefootnote 3 offering early childhood education diploma or degree programs. Where the chosen institution does not have a career website or location for job postings, but is a likely source of candidates, the board must have forwarded the advertisement to the heads of early childhood education departments or equivalent leadership positions.

The person submitting the application must also declare that every day that the advertisement was publicly available was “within the 30 days before the closing date of the competition for the position”. The advertisement must also have included the following information:

  • the closing date of the competition for the position
  • details of the position
  • the duration of employment

Background checks

School boards are required to make every effort to ensure student safety. The application requires the person submitting it to declare that the school board has conducted a reference check of the individual whom the board proposes to appoint under the Letter of Permission for a position designated as requiring a registered early childhood educator and that it is satisfied with the results. The declaration also must confirm that the board has collected a “personal criminal history” of this individual, as defined in Ontario Regulation 521/01, “Collection of Personal Information”, made under the Education Act.

In addition, the declaration must include confirmation that the individual whom the board proposes to appoint to the position meets the following requirements:

  • he or she is eighteen years of age or older, and holds an Ontario Secondary School Diploma, an Ontario Secondary School Graduation Diploma, or an Ontario Secondary School Honour Graduation Diploma, or the equivalent
  • he or she is not and has never been a member of the College of Early Childhood Educators
  • he or she has given the board a written statement that any certificate or licence granted to him or her by another jurisdiction for the practice of early childhood education is not cancelled, revoked, or suspended for any reason other than for failure to pay fees or levies to the governing body

Subsequent appointments under the authority of Letters of Permission for positions designated as requiring an early childhood educator

A Letter of Permission shall be effective for the period specified in it, which, as stated above, may not exceed one year. If an application is for an individual who is being considered for a subsequent appointment under a Letter of Permission for positions designated as requiring an early childhood educator, the declaration of the person submitting the application must confirm that the individual has provided the board with documentation to demonstrate that he or she has made progress towards obtaining the qualifications necessary to become a member of the College of Early Childhood Educators since the date that the most recent Letter of Permission was granted, and that the board is satisfied with the documentation.

Documentation may include, but is not limited to, the following:

  • transcripts
  • the acceptance letter from, or confirmation of registration in, an early childhood education program approved or accepted by the College of Early Childhood Educators and offered by a college of applied arts and technology, university, or private career college

In cases where two or more Letters of Permission have been granted to a board to appoint an individual to a designated early childhood educator position and the individual has not been able to make progress towards becoming a member of the College of Early Childhood Educators owing to extenuating circumstances (e.g., maternity leave, illness, disability, lack of availability of courses), the board is required to obtain from the individual relevant and satisfactory documentation and information with respect to the extenuating circumstances.

An individual cannot be appointed under a Letter of Permission to positions designated as requiring an early childhood educator for more than a total of four years.

School boards are encouraged to develop a performance appraisal process for individuals working as early childhood educators under an early childhood educator Letter of Permission.

Starting date of employment

School boards must ensure that the anticipated starting date for employment in the early childhood educator position for which they are requesting a Letter of Permission is no later than thirty days after the closing date of the competition for the position. If a Letter of Permission is granted, it is effective as of the starting date of the position.

Board review of letters of permission

Letters of Permission are granted only when a registered early childhood educator is not available or is not willing to accept the appointment to a position designated as requiring an early childhood educator, so it is important that boards regularly review their usage of Letters of Permission for appointing individuals to positions requiring an early childhood educator. School board staffing committees (or the equivalent) are requested to review and discuss at least once a year the board data on Letters of Permission with their board.


Ministry contact

School board officials who have questions about the application process for the early childhood education Letter of Permission should direct them to the Early Learning education officer at their local ministry regional office.

Application for an early childhood educator Letter of Permission

On behalf of __________________

__________________
(name of school board)

a Letter of Permission is requested in order to appoint

__________________
(name in full)

to a position in
__________________
(a full-day Kindergarten class where there are sixteen or more students or an extended-day program unit) designated by the board as requiring a registered early childhood educator

at __________________
school

from __________________
to __________________
(Date)

Closing date of the competition for the position:
__________________
(Date)


Declaration

I hereby declare that the school board has complied with Ontario Regulation 322/10, “Letters of Permission – Early Childhood Educators”, made under the Education Act, and that the following requirements have been met:

  • no registered early childhood educator (i.e., a member of the College of Early Childhood Educators) has applied for the position or no registered early childhood educator who applied for the position has accepted it
  • the board has publicly advertised at least once the position referred to in this application in one of the following ways (check one):
    • the advertisement was published in a daily newspaper that has provincial circulation in Ontario for at least three days, and at least one of those days was within the five days before the closing date of the competition for the position
    • the advertisement was posted on a publicly accessible website, approved by the Minister, for at least ten days, and it was not removed before the closing date of the competition for the position
  • the advertisement was posted on at least two job-posting websites, approved by the Minister, of a university, college of applied arts and technology, or private career college offering early childhood education diploma or degree programs. Where the chosen institution does not have a career website or location for job postings, but is a likely source of candidates, the board has forwarded the advertisement to the heads of early childhood education departments or equivalent positions
  • every day that the advertisement appeared was within the thirty days before the closing date of the competition
  • the individual named in this application meets all of the following requirements:
    • he or she is eighteen years of age or older, and holds an Ontario Secondary School Diploma, an Ontario Secondary School Graduation Diploma, or an Ontario Secondary School Honour Graduation Diploma, or the equivalent
    • he or she is not and has never been a member of the College of Early Childhood Educators
    • he or she has given the board a written statement declaring that any early childhood education certificate or licence granted to him or her by another jurisdiction is not cancelled, revoked, or suspended for any reason other than for failure to pay fees or levies to the governing body
  • the board has not previously been granted an Early Childhood Educator Letter of Permission with respect to the individual named in this application.
    or
  • this is an application for a subsequent appointment under an Early Childhood Educator Letter of Permission, and one of the following statements applies (check one):
    • the board has previously been granted an Early Childhood Educator Letter of Permission authorizing it to appoint the individual named in this application. The board has obtained satisfactory documentation demonstrating that the individual has made progress towards obtaining the qualifications necessary to become a member of the College of Early Childhood Educators. The individual has been employed by the board under Early Childhood Educator Letters of Permission for less than a total of four years
    • the board has previously been granted an Early Childhood Educator Letter of Permission authorizing it to appoint the individual named in this application. Although the individual has not been able to make progress towards becoming a member of the College of Early Childhood Educators owing to extenuating circumstances, the board has obtained relevant and satisfactory documentation and information with respect to the extenuating circumstances. The individual has been employed by the board under Early Childhood Educator Letters of Permission for less than a total of four years
  • the board has conducted the following background checks of the individual named in this application:
    • the board has collected “a personal criminal history”, as defined in Ontario Regulation 521/01, “Collection of Personal Information”, made under the Education Act
    • the board has conducted a reference check of the individual, and is satisfied with the results

In addition, I declare that the board has reviewed its list of occasional registered early childhood educators, if any, and has not identified an available or willing candidate for the position.

__________________
Date

__________________
Signature
Director of education of the board, secretary of the board, or supervisory officer of the school authority

__________________
Print name
Director of education of the board, secretary of the board, or supervisory officer of the school authority


Footnotes

  • footnote[1] Back to paragraph In this memorandum, school board(s) and board(s) refer to district school boards and school authorities.
  • footnote[2] Back to paragraph Only members of the College of Early Childhood Educators are authorized to use the title “early childhood educator” or “registered early childhood educator”.
  • footnote[3] Back to paragraph Private career colleges must be registered under the Private Career Colleges Act, 2005.