Certification & Re-Certification Information
Please Note - It is the employees responsibility to ensure they maintain their teaching certificate
Contacts for Certification, Re-Certification, and ADEPT process:
Angela Vaughan, Director of State & Federal Accountability | 803-416-8812
Monique Armstrong-Digsby, Instructional Specialist | 803-416-8853
Savannah Adams, Human Resources Coordinator | 803-416-4520
Certification Quicklinks
Certified Employment Process
Are you interested in becoming a Certified Teacher?
Do you have a bachelor's degree? If yes, an Alternative Certification Program may be for you.
What is Alternative Certification?
Alternative Certification routes give potential educators who have not completed a traditional educator program in college the opportunity to pursue teacher certification in South Carolina.
Designed to allow candidates to teach within the classroom while simultaneously completing their program requirements to advance to a professional teaching certificate.
Ideal for career changes or individuals who do not wish to pursue a teaching certificate through a traditional program through a college or university.
This requires, at minimum, a bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited university.
Alternative Route Eligibility:
Apply to a SC Approved Alternative Route Program.
Obtain a pre-qualification letter by completing the eligibility evaluation process.
Apply for certification with SCDE:
Submit an Alternative Route Application through My SC Educator Portal
Provide your Pre-qualification letter
Official transcripts
Content area assessment scores
Professional Practices Review Process
Pay application fee
To determine which Alternative Route will be best for you, please visit the SCDE website to learn more. https://ed.sc.gov/educators/alternative-certification/
Don’t have a bachelor’s degree? That's okay, there are other options!
You can also obtain a teaching certificate through:
SC Create Program:
https://ed.sc.gov/districts-schools/special-education-services/projects-and-supports/create/
Our partnership through Grand Canyon University:
Or any other traditional teaching program at an accredited college or university within the state or country.
Certificate Changes
Educators employed with Lancaster County School District are responsible for submitting and/or reporting all changes of their certifications/licenses, including degree status, years of experience, name, address, and any other changes, to the HR Coordinator in a timely manner.
Certificate Area/Endorsement Change
After the South Carolina Department of Education has modified your certificate to reflect an area or endorsement change, submit a copy of your changed certificate via email to the HR Coordinator in the Office of Chief Operations for the district system to be updated.
Certificate Related Pay Change
After the South Carolina Department of Education has modified your certificate to reflect a degree upgrade or additional years of experience, please submit a copy of your changed certificate to the HR Coordinator in the Office of Chief Operations for your pay change to be processed. Your pay change can only be made based on your certificate. Transcripts and any documentation, other than your certificate, cannot be used by the district for certificate related pay changes.
The effective date placed on your certificate by the SCDE will be the date entered for the start of your pay change. All July 1 effective dates will be entered in the district system for the pay change to begin on the first day of pay the following school year, as this is the first day worked with your certificate change.
Educator Portal
The SCDE initiated a new Educator Portal effective May 5, 2022. If you have not done so, you will need to register with the new Educator Portal.
Current and Prospective Educators can use the Educator Portal to:
apply for certification
make requests for certificate changes and updates
upload supporting documents, ie., R2S certificates
view and print a current certificate
submit fee payments
review fingerprint procedures
update contact information
monitor the status of their requests and applications
review certification information
In addition, registered users will receive email notifications when updates are made to their requests and applications, and the SCDE will post correspondence directly in an educator’s user account.
Certification and Re-Certification Processes
Expired Certificates Information
If your South Carolina teaching certificate has been expired for less than five years, you may submit a request for extension through the educator portal. This yearlong period will give you time to fulfill all requirements for a Professional Certificate.
If your certificate expired more than five years, but fewer than ten years ago, a school district can submit a request for a one year extension to the Office of Educator Certification, during which time you are expected to complete requirements necessary for a Professional Certificate. If your certificate expired more than 10 years ago, you must re-apply for an Initial Certificate. For more information, contact South Carolina Department of Education Office of Educator Certification, Recruitment and Preparation at 803-896-0325.
Contacting Educator Services
The Office of Educator Services assists applicants and educators by telephone and email and evaluates certification requests in the order in which they are received.
When contacting the SCDE by phone or email, you must provide your full name and either your educator identification number or certificate number and date of birth.
You can view your educator identification number by logging into your My SC Educator Portal account.
Email assistance regarding educator certification is available at certification@ed.sc.gov.
Email assistance regarding alternative route certification programs is available at altcertification@ed.sc.gov.
Email assistance regarding Career and Technical Education (CTE) Work-Based certification is available at ctecertification@ed.sc.gov.
Telephone assistance is available at (803) 896-0325 as follows:
Day Telephone Hours
Monday 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Tuesday 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Wednesday 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Thursday 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Friday 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Other Resources for Certification Renewal
Did you know there is a Retired Educator Certificate?
Should you want to consider substituting after you retire and you want pay at a certified teachers rate.
There are credentials that an individual must have:
A valid Professional educator certificate at time of retirement;
Does not hold another valid educator certificate at the time of application ·
Presents documentation of retirement and status from PEBA (you’ll receive this letter from PEBA once you retire and/or your ORP vendor)
SC educator certificate has never been suspended, revoked or voluntarily surrendered
You must complete the application part of the process by March before your certificate expires on June 30th if all of the above criteria is met.