NRS391.273. Supervision of unlicensed personnel required; exemptions; reduction of basic support allocation for failure to comply; exception for certain unlicensed personnel of charter school.

      1.  Except as otherwise provided in this section and except for persons who are supervised pursuant to NRS 391.096, the unlicensed personnel of a school district must be directly supervised by licensed personnel in all duties which are instructional in nature. To the extent practicable, the direct supervision must be such that the unlicensed personnel are in the immediate location of the licensed personnel and are readily available during such times when supervision is required.

      2.  Unlicensed personnel who are exempted pursuant to subsection 4, 5 or 6 must be under administrative supervision when performing any duties which are instructional in nature.

      3.  Unlicensed personnel may temporarily perform duties under administrative supervision which are not primarily instructional in nature.

      4.  Except as otherwise provided in subsection 7, upon application by a superintendent of schools, the Superintendent of Public Instruction may grant an exemption from the provisions of subsection 1 pursuant to subsection 5 or 6.

      5.  Except as otherwise provided in subsection 6, the Superintendent shall not grant an exemption from the provisions of subsection 1 unless:

      (a) The duties are within the employee’s special expertise or training;

      (b) The duties relate to the humanities or an elective course of study, or are supplemental to the basic curriculum of a school;

      (c) The performance of the duties does not result in the replacement of a licensed employee or prevent the employment of a licensed person willing to perform those duties;

      (d) The secondary or combined school in which the duties will be performed has less than 100 pupils enrolled and is at least 30 miles from a school in which the duties are performed by licensed personnel; and

      (e) The unlicensed employee submits his or her fingerprints for an investigation pursuant to NRS 391.033.

      6.  Upon application by a superintendent of schools, the Superintendent of Public Instruction may grant an exemption from the provisions of subsection 1 if:

      (a) The duties of the unlicensed employee relate to the supervision of pupils attending a course of distance education provided pursuant to NRS 388.820 to 388.874, inclusive, while the pupils are receiving instruction from a licensed employee remotely through any electronic means of communication; and

      (b) The unlicensed employee submits his or her fingerprints for an investigation pursuant to NRS 391.033.

      7.  The exemption authorized by subsection 4, 5 or 6 does not apply to a paraprofessional if the provisions of 20 U.S.C. § 6319 and the regulations adopted pursuant thereto require the paraprofessional to be directly supervised by a licensed teacher.

      8.  The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall file a record of all exempt personnel with the clerk of the board of trustees of each local school district, and advise the clerk of any changes therein. The record must contain:

      (a) The name of the exempt employee;

      (b) The specific instructional duties the exempt employee may perform;

      (c) Any terms or conditions of the exemption deemed appropriate by the Superintendent of Public Instruction; and

      (d) The date the exemption expires or a statement that the exemption is valid as long as the employee remains in the same position at the same school.

      9.  The Superintendent of Public Instruction may adopt regulations prescribing the procedure to apply for an exemption pursuant to this section and the criteria for the granting of such exemptions.

      10.  Except in an emergency, it is unlawful for the board of trustees of a school district to allow a person employed as a teacher’s aide to serve as a teacher unless the person is a legally qualified teacher licensed by the Superintendent of Public Instruction. As used in this subsection, “emergency” means an unforeseen circumstance which requires immediate action and includes the fact that a licensed teacher or substitute teacher is not immediately available.

      11.  If the Superintendent of Public Instruction determines that the board of trustees of a school district has violated the provisions of subsection 10, the Superintendent shall take such actions as are necessary to reduce the amount of money received by the district pursuant to NRS 387.124 by an amount equal to the product when the following numbers are multiplied together:

      (a) The number of days on which the violation occurred;

      (b) The number of pupils in the classroom taught by the teacher’s aide; and

      (c) The number of dollars of basic support apportioned to the district per pupil per day pursuant to NRS 387.1233.

      12.  Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, a person employed as a teacher’s aide or paraprofessional may monitor pupils in a computer laboratory without being directly supervised by licensed personnel. The provisions of this subsection do not apply to a paraprofessional if the provisions of 20 U.S.C. § 6319 and the regulations adopted pursuant thereto require the paraprofessional to be directly supervised by a licensed teacher.

      13.  The provisions of this section do not apply to unlicensed personnel who are employed by the governing body of a charter school, unless a paraprofessional employed by the governing body is required to be directly supervised by a licensed teacher pursuant to the provisions of 20 U.S.C. § 6319 and the regulations adopted pursuant thereto.

      (Added to NRS by 1987, 1480; A 1989, 2146; 1999, 3314; 2003, 19th Special Session, 74; 2007, 1138; 2013, 1514, 1690)