If you wish to register for free Act 45 courses, PDE has an online registration system, found in the SAS PD Center. Continue to check back for additional offerings. PDE maintains a list of Approved Providers who offer courses. Please note, a fee may be required for the courses.

As of July 1st, 2024: For Act 13 and Beyond and Leading by Design courses there was a change to the way the courses were scheduled. Unlike previous courses, where participants registered for a course and that registration covered the three days with pre-determined dates, participants will now choose each of the three days separately. This new schedule allows administrators flexibility in determining which training dates best meet their needs.  

Participants will choose a Day 1 date, a Day 2 date, and a Day 3 date which best fits their schedule. If a participant wants to have the same facilitators for all three days, the participant can register for the three dates with the same facilitators. 

Additionally, participants must complete the pre-requisite day(s) in order to participate in the subsequent day(s). While registering, participants must ensure that the registered days are sequential.  

As an example: 

o   Day 1 class date must come before Day 2. 

o   Day 2 class date must come after Day 1 but before Day 3. 

o   Day 3 class date must come after Day 1 and Day 2. 

Follow these instructions:

1. CHOOSE DATES

Select the dates for Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3 which best fit your schedule.

2. CONFIRM DAYS ARE IN ORDER

Day 2 date comes AFTER Day 1

Day 3 date comes AFTER Day 1 and AFTER Day 2

3. REGISTER

Register on the portal for selected dates.

Description:

In this course, school leaders will consider how to support educational excellence by creating a culture of teaching and learning that emphasizes collaboration, communication, engagement, and the empowerment of school board members, teachers, students, families, and community members. With the context of a shared mission, vision, and goals, school leaders will explore and evaluate the social, economic, political, and educational factors that influence the range of possible improvement scenarios for their schools.

Prerequisite: None

Number of Weeks: 8

Virtual Session Information: Two half days

Act 45 Hours: 30

Comprehensive Mental Health for School Leaders

1. The pre-work with one full face to face day is now offered as a pre-requisite session.  It is the Comprehensive Youth Mental Health certification portion.  It is titled Comprehensive Mental Health Prereq: Youth First Aid.

• Completion of this session is required before taking the 8-week Comprehensive Mental Health for School Leaders session.
• This pre-requisite is valid for 1 year.  Therefore, you can take the 8-week session any time for 1 year after completing this certification session. 
• At the successful completion of this session, you will be awarded 10 Act 45 hours.

2. The 8-week Comprehensive Mental Health for School Leaders session must be taken after the pre-requisite session.

• This 8-week session can be taken any time for up to one year after the pre-requisite session is complete.
• At the successful completion of this session, you will be awarded 30 Act 45 hours.

As of July 1st, 2024: For Act 13 and Beyond and Leading by Design courses there was a change to the way the courses were scheduled. Unlike previous courses, where participants registered for a course and that registration covered the three days with pre-determined dates, participants will now choose each of the three days separately. This new schedule allows administrators flexibility in determining which training dates best meet their needs.  

Participants will choose a Day 1 date, a Day 2 date, and a Day 3 date which best fits their schedule. If a participant wants to have the same facilitators for all three days, the participant can register for the three dates with the same facilitators. 

Additionally, participants must complete the pre-requisite day(s) in order to participate in the subsequent day(s). While registering, participants must ensure that the registered days are sequential.  

As an example: 

o   Day 1 class date must come before Day 2. 

o   Day 2 class date must come after Day 1 but before Day 3. 

o   Day 3 class date must come after Day 1 and Day 2. 

Follow these instructions:

1. CHOOSE DATES

Select the dates for Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3 which best fit your schedule.

2. CONFIRM DAYS ARE IN ORDER

Day 2 date comes AFTER Day 1

Day 3 date comes AFTER Day 1 and AFTER Day 2

3. REGISTER

Register on the portal for selected dates.

Description:

Leading by Design complements Act 13 and Beyond by shifting school leaders from understanding supervision and evaluation requirements to intentionally shaping the conditions that strengthen teaching, learning, and professional practice. While Act 13 and Beyond centers on the supervision and evaluation process, Leading by Design focuses on how leaders design and lead the instructional culture that makes sustained improvement possible. Grounded in a strong body of educational leadership research, this course equips leaders with practical strategies and actionable tools to elevate classroom instruction and support ongoing staff development.

Prerequisite: 

ONE of the following must be satisfied:

Successfully completed Act 13 & Beyond: School Leaders Driving Instructional Excellence

OR

Currently hold Administrative Level II Certification

Number of Weeks: N/A

Virtual Session Information: 3 full days

Act 45 Hours: 30 (awarded after completion of all 3 days)

Description: 

Communication is the foundational underpinning of successful relationships and leadership.  Clear, focused, and strategic communication with built-in feedback loops assists leaders in executing their vision and managing the continuous improvement process.  This course explores core communication processes, typical correspondence, crisis communications, methods to engage multiple audiences, and opportunities for new communication structures.  Equipped with communication strategies, a variety of communication modes, appropriate media, and an organized communication plan, school leaders will shape their current practices and enhance their skills for improved leadership.

Prerequisite: None

Number of Weeks: 8

Virtual Session Information: 1 full day

Act 45 Hours: 30

Description:

Student Career Readiness: Foundations for School Leaders is designed to help school and district leaders understand the rapidly changing nature of work and the Pennsylvania, U.S. and global workforce needs. Leaders will build knowledge of educational delivery systems, policies, structures, and strategies related to career development and career preparation. Specifically, this course will help leaders K-12 school and district leaders will learn how to implement the Career Education Work Standards, meet the Future Ready PA Index Career Readiness Indicators, develop plans to strengthen employer and community partnerships to support career education, increase communication and collaboration with career and technical education administrators, and examine strategies and best practices in career connected learning.

Prerequisite: None

Number of Weeks: 8

Virtual Session Information: 1 full day

Act 45 Hours: 30

Description:  

In Transforming Organizations, participants will develop and enhance the skills and knowledge they need to transform their organizations. When transforming organizations, school leaders must develop a clear vision and collaborative culture. In order to successfully transform organizations, a change in mindset must occur. Transformative change is persistent, purposeful, and intentional. Communication of the intent for transformation, as seen in revised visions, norms, values, expectations, and goals, is essential to enable transformative change. Successful transformative leaders recognize individual and collective contributions and utilize failure as an opportunity to improve school culture and student performance. When navigating systemic transformation, school leaders need to seamlessly integrate digital technologies that support all aspects of the process.

Prerequisite: None

Number of Weeks: 8

Virtual Session Information: 1 full day

Act 45 Hours: 30

Individuals who are employed as an Assistant/Vice Building Principal or Building Principal in a public school in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for the first time after January 1, 2008, must complete the PIL Induction Program or a PDE approved Induction Program to convert to an Administrative II certificate.

To participate in an approved Induction Program educators must:

• Have an Administrative I or Administrative Provisional I
• Be currently employed as an Assistant/Vice Building Principal or Building Principal

NOTE: You must complete a PIL Induction Program or PDE-approved Induction Program by the end of the 5th year as an assistant building principal and/or building principal.

For more information, please visit PDE’s webpage, Administrative Level II Certification (pa.gov).

• Registration for Induction Courses can be found on the SAS PD Center.
• The new induction program will be one year in length, and participants will earn 80 hours at the end of the year.
• If you completed NCEE (NISL) Course 1, please sign up for the entire series of the new PIL Induction Program. This will satisfy the Induction Program Requirement to convert an Administrative Level I Certificate to an Administrative Level II Certificate.
• If you started NCEE (NISL) Course 2 but didn’t finish it, please contact RA-EDACT45@pa.gov for assistance. PDE will assist you and ensure you sign up for the appropriate sessions. You will receive hours from Course 2 and hours from the new PIL Induction Program.
• To express interest in participating in the 2027/2028 Principal Induction series, please complete the Principal Induction Interest Form. Building Assistant/Vice Principals and Building Principals are the only ones that will be allowed to register for the course.

Entry into any position requires leaders to both “become” while “doing” the job. The School Leader Paradigm exemplifies both aspects of assimilation into a leadership role.

“Becoming” is the intelligences side of the paradigm and focuses on the individual through three intelligences:

• Personal
• Social
• Systems

“Doing” is the domains side of the paradigm and focuses doing the work of a school leader through three domains:

• Culture
• Systems
• Learning

A leader who uses personal, social and systems intelligences to transform a school into a learning organization through a mindset of growth, service and cultural responsiveness.

• Personal Intelligences – the capacity of the school leader to reason about personality and to use personality and personal information to enhance one’s thought, plans, emotions and life experiences.
• Social Intelligences – A school leader’s set of interpersonal competencies that inspire others to be effective.
• Systems Intelligence – A school leader's understanding of the inner-workings and leadership of complex systems within their learning organization.

An organization that uses ongoing cycles of inquiry to drive a student-centered culture, vision, mission-focused systems and reflective learning practices that results in producing equitable opportunities and outcomes for students and adults.

• Culture Domain – The school leader’s efforts to create, foster and sustain a student-centered climate and culture where all adults strive to build positive and unconditional relationships with all students, while ensuring equitable access and opportunities to engaging, relevant, timely and culturally responsive programs.
• Systems Domain – The school leader’s efforts to constantly assess a learning organization’s current systems, maintain an ongoing cycle of inquiry focused on dismantling historically inequitable systems and engage stakeholders in a collective effort to establish sustainable student-centered systems.
• Learning Domain – The school leader’s efforts, as the learning leader, to create and sustain a culture of ongoing reflective, culturally responsive and inclusive learning for students, adults and the entire learning organization as a whole.

Three-part approach to the year:

• Entry into the profession.
  • Participants need to be able to articulate their reason for wanting to lead a school. Additionally, school leaders need to lead themselves well prior to and while leading others. What intelligences, dispositions and attitudes must a successful leader have and model daily?
• Entry into a school building. 
  • What are the formal and informal structures that exist, or need to exist, to lead a school community well? Attention will focus on building leadership capacity in the school and community that fosters student success.
• Learning Leadership.
  • A school leader needs to assume the role of lead learner willing to engage in reflection and growth, using data to inform the culture and learning, effective supervision of all personnel and creating a safe and inclusive learning environment.

• The induction course runs for one year and is divided into monthly sessions. 
• Principals are required to sign up for the courses on a monthly basis.
• There are no sessions scheduled in December and May.
• September through April sessions are 2-hour virtual sessions.
• There are two in-person sessions to begin and end the induction process. The first session will be a day and a half in July or August and the final session which is one day in June. The specific dates and location will be determined when the induction window opens. 

• Visit the Registration Portal, SAS PD Center: 
• Select Your Course: Browse the list of available sessions and select the one you wish to enroll in. If the course is full, add your name to the waiting list.
• Enroll for In-Person Session

• Stay on Track: It is your responsibility to sign up each month and complete each session. Monthly sessions must be taken in order within the one year period. Canceling and rescheduling a course can be done in the SAS PD Center at your convenience.  YOU DO NOT NEED TO EMAIL THE INSTRUCTOR THAT YOU HAVE RESCHEDULED A SESSION. Your enrollment will be reflected on the roster.
• Review Deadlines: Ensure all assignments and activities for each session are completed by the specified deadlines. Assignments and activities will be announced during the working session.

• Earn Credit Hours: This course is worth 80 credit hours and fulfills the mandatory induction requirements set forth by 24 P.S. § 11-1109 (f) .

• If you completed NCEE (NISL) Course 1, please sign up for the entire series of the new PIL Induction Program. This will satisfy the Induction Program Requirement to convert an Administrative Level I Certificate to an Administrative Level II Certificate.
• If you started NCEE (NISL) Course 2 but didn’t finish it, please contact RA-EDACT45@pa.gov for PDE assistance with bridging. PDE will assist you and ensure you sign up for the appropriate sessions. You will receive hours from Course 2 and hours from the new PIL Induction Program.

The Principal Induction Program begins yearly in July. Registration opens on April 1st for the following school year on the SAS PD Center.  

To view the full list of the Principal Induction sessions and descriptions, visit Pennsylvania Inspired Leadership’s one-stop-shop on SAS, click on the Principal Induction tab on the right-hand side, then scroll down to Session Descriptions.

Program Details & Requirements:

• The program is one year in length and consists of monthly virtual courses (2 hours) in length and beginning and ending with in-person sessions; courses must be taken in order. Each course is a prerequisite for the next. For example, to take February’s course (Leading Instructional Supervision), you must have successfully completed January’s course (Leading a Problem of Practice).
• All courses must be completed within one year.
• Upon completion, you will receive 80 Act 45 hours.
• Courses count toward your Act 45-hour requirement, but you are responsible for monitoring your hours within your compliance period.

PIL courses, offered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE), per 24 P.S. § 11-1109 (f) provide PIL continuing education credit/hours required for certified administrators serving in Act 45-covered positions in Commonwealth schools to fulfill the Act 45 of 2007 requirements. PIL courses are available on the Department of Education's SAS Portal. Participants who do not have a SAS account must first register for one by visiting PDE SAS. Educators must have their PPIDs in their profiles to receive credit hours for the courses.  

To register for and view the courses, participants must log into the SAS PD Center. 

Log into the SAS PD Center and withdraw from the class. Choose My Classrooms from the drop-down menu. Under options, choose Withdraw. Rosters will then reflect the change.

Please visit the Pennsylvania Inspired Leadership’s one-stop-shop on SAS for more information on Act 45 and PIL courses. To sign up for courses, visit the SAS PD Center.

An Act 45 administrator is defined as those in one of the following positions:

• Assistant/Vice Principal
• Principal
• Assistant Superintendent
• Superintendent
• Assistant Executive Director
• Executive Director
• Career and Technical Education (CTE) Director

Educators who hold an Administrative I certificate but are NOT currently serving in an Act 45 position are NOT required to participate in administrative induction courses or earn Act 45 credit hours. They will receive Act 48 credit for any courses taken.

Assistant CTE Director: The legislation doesn’t include the title of Assistant CTE Director; therefore, Assistant CTE Directors do not need to complete Act 45 hours. However, please know Assistant CTE Directors are invited to take Act 45 courses as they are a leader in your building. These courses will then count toward Act 48 hours.

Only approved providers can upload Act 45 hours. Approved Non-PIL courses can be found on our website within the Continuing Professional Education area.

The annual PIMS staffing assignment report informs PERMS that an administrator is no longer serving in an Act 45 position.

When that occurs, the number of Act 45 hours originally assigned to the administrator for that continuing education period may be reduced due to the reduction of prorated years of service in an Act 45 position (e.g., An educator who served as a principal for 2.5 years during the continuing education period would only be required to complete 90 Act 45 hours).

Additional Act 45 hours will not be required until the administrator returns to an Act 45 position.
If the former administrator begins a new continuing education period, Act 45 hours will not be required. The person will need only Act 48 credit hours to keep all certificates active.

Administrators must complete the Act 45 hours assigned for the period of time they actually served, by the end of the current Continuing Education Period, to keep their Administrative Certificate active. 

Administrators with an active Administrative I or Administrative II certification and currently serving in an Act 45 position must earn 3 Act 45 hours for each month they are in an Act 45 position during their Continuing Education Period.  Administrators can monitor their Act 45 hours in PERMS.

An administrative certificate will become inactive if the administrator does not complete the required Act 45 hours by the end of their compliance period (continuing education, CE). If an Administrative certificate becomes inactive, the administrator needs to complete the required hours to reactivate the certificate.

Every educator may request an extension, but there are a process and timeframe involved. Additionally, an extension is typically based on medical or financial distress or an active-duty assignment for the military. Extension requests can be submitted from the time they receive the 4-year notice till they receive the 5-year notice. Once they receive the 5-year notice they can only submit an appeal.

For more information on extensions, please visit: Extension Information for Continuing Professional Education Under Act 45 & Act 48.

Contact RA-A48APPS@pa.gov if you have specific questions.   

An educator may appeal a notice of inactive certification. All appeals must be received by PDE within 30 days of the date of the notice of inactive certification. 

A maximum of 50 excess hours earned within the last two years of the compliance period may be attributed to the next five-year period. The excess hours will automatically carry over into your next compliance period.

An Act 45 administrator is defined as those in one of the following positions:

• Assistant/Vice Principal
• Principal
• Assistant Superintendent
• Superintendent
• Assistant Executive Director
• Executive Director
• Career and Technical Education (CTE) Director

Educators who hold an Administrative I certificate but are NOT currently serving in an Act 45 position are NOT required to participate in administrative induction courses or earn Act 45 credit hours. They will receive Act 48 credit for any courses taken.

Assistant CTE Director

The legislation doesn’t include the title of Assistant CTE Director; therefore, Assistant CTE Directors do not need to complete Act 45 hours. However, please know Assistant CTE Directors are invited to take Act 45 courses as they are a leader in your building. These courses will then count toward Act 48 hours.

If you wish to register for free Act 45 courses, PDE has an online registration system, found in the SAS PD Center. Continue to check back for additional offerings. PDE maintains a list of Approved Providers who offer courses. Please note, a fee may be required for the courses.

Please visit the Act 45 Continuing Education page for more information on Act 45.

Specific requirements for new administrators include:

• New administrators, serving for the first time as a principal, assistant or vice principal and holding an Administrative I certification, must complete the PDE Induction Program or PDE Approved Induction Program within the first five years of service in the position to apply for and convert to an Administrative Level II certification.
• It is recommended that all new administrators with an active Administrative certification complete an Educator Effectiveness (Act 13) course within the first 6 months of an administrative position. This can be covered by attending: PIL Induction Program, PIL Act 13 and Beyond Course, or a PDE Approved Course.

In accordance with Act 45 of 2007, individuals who are employed as a principal or assistant/vice principal in a public school in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for the first time after January 1, 2008, must meet the following requirement to convert from their Administrative I certificate to Administrative II:

• complete three years of satisfactory service on the PA Administrative I certificate; and
• complete the PDE approved PA Inspired Leadership (PIL) Induction Program.

While the compliance period for completing Act 45/48 hours was extended due to Act 13 of 2020 and Act 55 of 2022, the Administrative Certificate Level I timeframe was not extended. The legislators did not extend the timeframe that assistant principals and principals could complete induction. This remained the same and is to be completed within the first 5 years of becoming an assistant or vice principal or principal.

For more information, please visit PDE’s webpage, Administrative Supervisory | Department of Education | Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

If an educator was serving as an Act 45 administrator prior to 2008, they are not required to complete the PIL induction program. However, they are required to earn 3 Act 45 hours for each month they serve in an Act 45 position during their current Continuing Education Period. 

The Principal Induction Program begins yearly in July. Registration opens on April 1st for the following school year on the SAS PD Center.

To view the full list of the Principal Induction sessions and descriptions, visit Pennsylvania Inspired Leadership’s one-stop-shop on SAS, click on the Principal Induction tab on the right-hand side, then scroll down to Session Descriptions.

Program Details & Requirements:

• The program is one year in length and consists of monthly virtual courses (2 hours) in length and beginning and ending with in-person sessions; courses must be taken in order. Each course is a prerequisite for the next. For example, to take February’s course (Leading Instructional Supervision), you must have successfully completed January’s course (Leading a Problem of Practice).
• All courses must be completed within one year.
• Upon completion, you will receive 80 Act 45 hours.
• Courses count toward your Act 45-hour requirement, but you are responsible for monitoring your hours within your compliance period.

PIL courses, offered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE), per 24 P.S. § 11-1109 (f) provide PIL continuing education credit/hours required for certified administrators serving in Act 45-covered positions in Commonwealth schools to fulfill the Act 45 of 2007 requirements. PIL courses are available on the Department of Education's SAS Portal. Participants who do not have a SAS account must first register for one by visiting PDE SAS. Educators must have their PPIDs in their profiles to receive credit hours for the courses.  

To register for and view the courses, participants must log into the SAS PD Center. 

Log into the SAS PD Center and withdraw from the class. Choose My Classrooms from the drop-down menu. Under options, choose Withdraw. Rosters will then reflect the change.

All information regarding the PIL Induction Program registration can be found in the PIL Induction tab, located in the left navigation of this page.

All induction courses will help to fulfill the Act 45-hour requirement. Each Act 45 administrator will need to monitor hours to ensure completion within compliance period; log into PERMS to monitor hours and view the continuing education (CE) transcript.

• If you completed NCEE (NISL) Course 1, please sign up for the entire series of the new PIL Induction Program. This will satisfy the Induction Program Requirement to convert an Administrative Level I Certificate to an Administrative Level II Certificate.
• If you started NCEE (NISL) Course 2 but didn’t finish it, please complete the bridging form. PDE will assist you and ensure you sign up for the appropriate sessions. You will receive hours from Course 2 and hours from the new PIL Induction Program.

Administrators who could not complete the NCEE Induction Program, which includes Courses 1 and 2, will be able to transfer hours and credits to the new induction program regardless of the provider. Please email RA-EDACT45@pa.gov for more information.  

By completing NCEE courses 1 & 2, an administrator has completed the required induction program. Course 3 was an optional course which is no longer available.

The compliance period or cycle begins when receiving a certificate from the Department of Education. This is typically for Act 48 hours since most people start as a teacher.  After starting one of the 7 Act 45 positions, Act 45 hours are required. These are included in the original cycle; a new cycle is not established when an administrative certificate is issued. The compliance period will include both Act 48 and Act 45 hours. These compliance periods are for 5 years unless the legislators add extensions to allow educators longer to earn their continuing education hours, which occurred in 2016, 2020, and 2022.

Act 55 of 2022 amended Section 1310-B of the PA Public School Code of 1949 to establish new requirements for school safety and security training for all school employees in Pennsylvania. The new requirement is three hours of instruction annually and requires the training provided to meet certain standards as adopted by the School Safety and Security Committee (SSSC) housed within the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD). Amendments in Act 55 also established requirements for mandatory training for School Safety and Security Coordinators.

On September 28, 2022, the SSSC approved training standards for School Safety and Security Training for all school employees and the training criteria for School Safety and Security Coordinators. If you are seeking Act 45 credit for any of the above-mentioned trainings, please click the link below.

Act 45 Credit Submission Form (pa.gov)

Currently the process is the same and outlined on PDE’s website, PIL Act 45 Application and Instructions. Before sending out the application, the provider is verified to ensure they are an Act 48 provider. If they are, then the Act 45 application is sent. If they are not, then they must first complete the Act 48 application. If they need to complete an Act 48 application, contact RA-EDAct48APP@pa.gov.

Your application must be renewed every 3 years from the time it was approved. Approved Non-PIL programs can be found on our website within the Continuing Professional Education area. Please review your approval dates. PDE suggests applying 60-90 days prior to the expiration date of 3 years. You should receive an email and a letter 90 days prior to expiration. 

Your application must be renewed each year from the time it was approved. Approved Non-PIL programs can be found on our website within the Continuing Professional Education area. Please review your approval dates. PDE suggests applying 60-90 days prior to the expiration date. You should receive an email and a letter 90 days prior to expiration. 

Approved Letter of Eligibility courses can be uploaded for Act 45 hours and would be uploaded by the college/university. All other courses within a doctoral program can be uploaded by the college/university for Act 48 hours unless the college/university applied for and received approval to award Act 45. A list of the approved doctoral programs can be found on our website. Act 45 approved providers and courses can be found on PDE’s website, please visit: Continuing Professional Education | Department of Education | Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Note: Each 1 college semester credit is worth 30 Act 45/Act 48 hours; each 3 credits would be worth 90 Act 45 hours. If the college is on a quarter schedule, it’s 20 hours per 1 credit. 

By completing NCEE courses 1 & 2, an administrator has completed the required induction program. Course 3 was an optional course which is no longer available. 

Visit PERMS to view continuing education (CE) hours and a transcript of course completion. Enter your PPID in the provided box next to “View Continuing Education Progress for Professional Personnel ID”, then select “Go”.

Prior to August 2024, courses that provided Act 45 credit in PERMS were listed as Act 48 Professional Development Activity and PA Inspired Leadership (PIL) under the Course/Activity Type. If you see PA Inspired Leadership (PIL) in the last column of your transcript, then the course was uploaded as Act 45 credit. Act 45 credit after August 2024 will list Act 45 under course and either PIL Induction, PIL, or Act 45 for the activity type depending on the type of course. Please know that Act 48 hours do NOT count for Act 45 hours.   

It is unnecessary to inactivate your certificate when retiring.

An educator is listed as RETIRED at the PDE, as reported by PSERS/retirement agency whenever the individual removes any or all retirement funds or transfers to another retirement agency:

• Act 48/45 requirements are suspended under Act 5 of 2006. 
• The Act 48/45 time period/calendar ceases to advance even if hours are completed.
• Certificate remains or becomes ACTIVE under RETIRED status at the PDE during this suspension of Act 48 requirements. 

To return to PA public school service, remove RETIRED status from your certificate records and re-start your Act 48/45 period:

1. Educator must ensure their LEA submits a completed “Retirees Returning to Service” form (PSRS-1299) to PSERS, available on PSERS’ website.
2. Educator must complete 180 working days of employment in PA public school.
3. PDE requires documentation from the LEA confirming the following dates:
   • The exact start date of retirement--mm/dd/yyyy.
   • The exact date of return to PA public school employment--mm/dd/yyyy.
   • The exact date of 180 working days completed after return to PA public school employment—mm/dd/yyyy.

Send information via email to RA-EDACT48@PA.GOV.

Act 5-2006 amends Act 48-1999 Professional Development Requirements for Retirees
This important announcement pertains to all current and future Pennsylvania professional public school retirees (annuitants) and employing school entities with responsibilities for continuing professional education required by Act 48-1999 Professional Development.
Act 5-2006 was passed February 3, 2006, to amend Section 1205.2 of the School Code, Program of Continuing Professional Education (known as “Act 48-1999”) and became effective April 3, 2006.

Act 5-2006 provides as follows:

1. Department of Education online continuing professional education courses will be made available at no charge to all professional educators.
2. Act 48-1999 requirements will be suspended for all annuitants who do not return to school service.
3. All annuitants’ certificates will be considered active during the suspension of Act 48-1999 requirements.
4. A professional educator annuitant who returns to school service in a full-time
   position or in a day-to-day or long-term substitute position and continues in
   school service for more than 180 days, cumulatively, must fulfill the requirements of Act 48 beginning with the 181st day of the annuitant’s return to school service.
5. In accordance with the Regulatory Review Act, the Department will issue a standard requiring the tracking and reporting of active service of annuitants.

When an administrator is new to an Act 45 position, their job assignment in TIMS will not be updated until the following July.  This is contingent upon the PIMS Administrator at the administrator's place of employment, updating the job assignment correctly.

Once updated, TIMS will reflect the job assignment accordingly, and the administrator will see Act 45 listed as a separate line item that reads, “Current PIL” in PERMS.  The number of Act 45 hours that were attained by completing any Act 45 courses that were uploaded to PERMS will be displayed next to the “Current PIL” line.

For example, if an educator becomes a building principal in 2024-2025, the new job assignment in TIMS and PERMS will be adjusted by mid-August 2025.

PIMS coordinators enter job assignments. If your job assignment is incorrect, please have your chief school administrator email RA-EDACT45@pa.gov with an official letter stating your correct job assignment, years that you were in that position and your PPID. Please contact your PIMS coordinator to ensure that job descriptions are accurate.

At this time, PDE can only update the hours in PERMS. Job assignments cannot be changed in TIMS. When someone shares official documentation of a position, PDE can update hours in PERMS. But unfortunately, PDE cannot do the same in TIMS.

For now, PDE keeps the official letters in case anyone reaches out for verification.