5.1 Acted upon means that the State Board has taken an action to address an ethics complaint by revoking, suspending, or imposing another sanction upon an educator's license.

5.2 An Authorized Ethics Complaint Investigation is an ethics complaint that has been: (1) validated by an Investigator of the PLSB as being submitted by an identifiable person; and (2) authorized for investigation based upon reasonable belief by the Ethics Subcommittee that if the allegation is true, it would constitute a violation of the Code of Ethics as set forth in these rules committed by an Arkansas educator. The Ethics Subcommittee shall investigate an ethics complaint that it determines is credible. (Ark. Code Ann. § 6-17-428).

5.3 AELS means the Arkansas Educator Licensure System.

5.4 Code of Ethics means the Code of Ethics for Arkansas Educators established by the PLSB under Ark. Code. Ann. § 6-17-422.

5.5 Dispositions are the values, commitments, and professional ethics that influence behaviors toward students, families, colleagues and communities and that contribute to student learning, motivation, and development as well as the educator's own professional growth. Dispositions are guided by beliefs and attitudes related to values such as caring, fairness, honesty, responsibility and social justice.

5.6 Division means the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education.

5.7 Educator means:

5.7.1 A person holding a valid educator's license issued by the State Board; even if the license expires during the pendency of the ethics complaint process.

5.7.2 A person employed under a waiver from licensure;

5.7.3 A preservice teacher; or

5.7.4 A person employed under an emergency teaching permit.

5.8 Educational Setting means any public school, open enrollment public charter school, virtual public school, or education service cooperative in Arkansas serving students in any of grades pre-K through 12.

5.9 Educator's License means a teaching license, an administrator's license, lifetime teaching license, ancillary license, provisional license, or any other license or permit issued by the State Board.

5.10 Ethics Complaint means an allegation of violation form that states alleged facts that if true would constitute an ethics violation of the Code of Ethics, is signed under penalty of perjury by the person filing the ethics complaint, validated by a PLSB Investigator, and authorized for investigation by the Ethics Subcommittee. An ethics complaint may also be a finding made in an audit report forwarded to the Division by the Arkansas Joint Legislative Auditing Committee under Ark. Code Ann. § 6-17-426.

5.11 Ethics Subcommittee means the subcommittee established by the PLSB to receive and investigate ethics complaints, and enforce the Code of Ethics through recommendations to the State Board.

5.11.1 The Ethics Subcommittee is composed of five (5) members with proportionate representation as the PLSB of public school teachers and administrators plus one (1) member from any other category of representation on the PLSB.

5.12 Ethics Hearing Subcommittee means the subcommittee appointed by the PLSB to conduct evidentiary hearings under these rules. The Ethics Hearing Subcommittee is composed of six (6) members, three (3) of whom may be appointed by the PLSB based on educational experience. One (1) of the members shall be appointed to represent non-licensed teachers.

5.13 Ethics Violation is an act or omission on the part of an educator, when the educator knew, or reasonably should have known, that such acts or omissions were in violation of the Code of Ethics as set forth in these rules.

5.13.1 An ethics violation does not include:

5.13.1.1 A reasonable mistake made in good faith;

5.13.1.2 Acts or omissions undertaken in accordance with the reasonable instructions of a supervisor; or

5.13.1.3 An act or omission under circumstances in which the educator had a reasonable belief that failure to follow the instructions of a supervisor would result in an adverse job action against the educator.

5.14 Filed means an allegation of violation form, a motion, or other document has been stamped by PLSB staff with a date acknowledging when the document arrived at the offices of the PLSB staff.

5.15 Hearing Officer means an impartial Arkansas licensed attorney who serves in a quasi-judicial role, i.e. opening the hearing, introducing the parties, swearing witnesses, and ruling on objections.

5.16 Impairment means the state of being mentally or physically diminished, weakened, or damaged, with respect to performing the educator's professional duties.

5.17 Level 1 Public Notification of Ethics Violation is a public notification that a nonlicensed educator has violated the Code of Ethics in a manner equivalent to a violation that warrants a written reprimand. The purpose of a Level 1 Public Notification is to publicly admonish the nonlicensed educator;

5.18 Level 2 Public Notification of Ethics Violation is a public notification that a nonlicensed educator has violated the Code of Ethics in a manner equivalent to a violation that warrants the probation of a license. The purpose of a Level 2 Public Notification is to publicly admonish the nonlicensed educator and place conditions or requirements on the educator for a specified period of time.

5.19 Level 3 Public Notification of Ethics Violation is a public notification that a nonlicensed educator has violated the Code of Ethics in a manner equivalent to a violation that warrants the suspension of a license. The purpose of a Level 3 Public Notification is to publicly admonish the nonlicensed educator and for a specified period of time: (a) to place conditions or requirements on the nonlicensed educator; (b) to notify the public that the nonlicensed educator is not recommended for employment or volunteering in an educational setting; and (c) notify the public that the nonlicensed educator is not eligible for teaching or testing duties.

5.20 Level 4 Public Notification of Ethics Violation is a public notification that a nonlicensed educator has violated the Code of Ethics in a manner equivalent to a violation that warrants the revocation of a license. The purpose of a Level 4 Public Notification is to notify the public that the educator is not recommended for employment or volunteering in an educational setting, and that the nonlicensed educator is not eligible for future licensure.

5.21 Monitoring Conditions or Restrictions may include any actions or alternative sanctions allowed under the Administrative Procedures Act. Such conditions or restrictions may include, but are not limited to requiring that an educator, at the educator's expense, submit a new criminal background check or submit other requested information such as current employment, compliance with recommended counseling, treatment, education, or training. The Ethics Subcommittee may recommend the length of the monitoring period to the State Board.

5.22 NASDTEC Clearinghouse means the searchable database administered by the education departments of members of the National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification (NASDTEC). The Clearinghouse is viewable only by member agencies responsible for educator licensure/certification and discipline and additional interested education organizations approved by NASDTEC.

5.23 Nonrenewal means that an expired license will not be renewed. Nonrenewal may be permanent or temporary. There is no reinstatement of a license after permanent nonrenewal. Nonrenewal will apply when an educator's license expires after the occurrence of the alleged ethics violation.

5.24 PLSB means the Professional Licensure Standards Board.

5.25 Pre-kindergarten means an early childhood education program that serves students from birth to enrollment in kindergarten.

5.26 Preponderance of Evidence is the greater weight of the relevant evidence; superior evidentiary weight that, though not sufficient to free the mind wholly from all reasonable doubt, is still sufficient to induce a fair and impartial mind to one side of the issue rather than the other. It is determined by considering all of the relevant evidence and deciding which evidence is more credible. A preponderance of the evidence is not necessarily determined by the greater number of witnesses or documents presented. If, on any allegation against an educator, it cannot be determined whether the allegation is more likely true than not true, the allegation cannot be considered to have been proved.

5.27 Preservice Teacher means an unlicensed person who is enrolled as a student in an educator preparation program approved by the Division.

5.28 Private Letter of Caution is a non-punitive communication from the Ethics Subcommittee to an educator in response to an ethics complaint against the educator. Private Letters of Caution may be provided to an educator by the Ethics Subcommittee of the PLSB in lieu of recommending other discipline. Private Letters of Caution do not make any factual findings but inform the educator that the conduct alleged in the complaint or its investigation falls within the broad range of the Code of Ethics but that the circumstances and mitigating factors do not warrant disciplinary action. Private Letters of Caution remain in the files retained by the PLSB staff, but are not placed in an educator's licensure file at the Division. A Private Letter of Caution is not submitted to the State Board for approval and it does not constitute a sanction for the purposes of the Code of Ethics. As a result, Private Letters of Caution cannot be the basis for a request for an evidentiary hearing before the Ethics Subcommittee or the State Board.

5.29 Probation is the placing of conditions, requirements, or circumstances on the status of an educator's license issued by the State Board for a period of time established by the State Board. Generally, an educator whose license is under probation must sufficiently satisfy such conditions, requirements, or circumstances in order to maintain or be reinstated to the original non-probationary teaching license status. The probation will remain permanently in the Division file of the educator and in the files retained by the PLSB.

5.30 Public Information for the purpose of these rules is information publicly available from news media or public record.

5.31 Reasonable belief is a belief based upon knowledge of facts and circumstances that are reasonably trustworthy, and that would justify a reasonable person's belief that: (1) a violation of the Code of Ethics as set forth in these rules has been committed; and (2) that the named educator committed such a violation. A reasonable belief is not based upon mere suspicion or conjecture.

5.32 Relevant evidence (or material evidence) is evidence having any tendency to make the existence of any fact that is of consequence to the determination of the matter more probable or less probable than it would be without the evidence.

5.33 Revocation is the invalidation of any educator's license. The revocation will remain permanently in the Division file of the educator and in the files retained by the PLSB. An Educator whose license has been revoked may refer to the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education Rules Governing Educator Licensure on the reinstatement of a revoked license.

5.34 State Board means the Arkansas State Board of Education.

5.35 School hiring official means the person designated by a school who is responsible for hiring or making final recommendations for the hiring of an educator who holds an Arkansas teaching or administrator's license, or an educator who will be employed under a waiver granted by the State Board.

5.36 School-sponsored activity is any event or activity sponsored by the school or school system which includes but is not limited to athletic events, booster clubs, parent- teacher organizations, or any activity designed to enhance the school curriculum (i.e., foreign language trips, etc.) whether on school-campus or not.

5.37 Sexual abuse has the same meaning as given to the term in Ark. Code Ann. § 12-18-103(20)(D) as it applies to a caretaker, but shall include a victim who is younger than twenty-one (21) years of age and is still a student.

5.38 Student is any individual enrolled in any state's public or private schools from pre-kindergarten through grade 12.

5.39 Supervisor under these rules means an administrator authorized by the district or school board to administer professional employee discipline up to and including recommending termination or nonrenewal.

5.40 Suspension is the temporary invalidation of any educator's license for a period of time specified by the State Board. The suspension will remain permanently in the Division file of the educator and in the files retained by the PLSB.

5.41 Take action means that, based on a preponderance of the evidence, the Ethics Subcommittee or Ethics Hearing Subcommittee, makes a determination and recommendation based on an ethics complaint.

5.42 Valid educator's license means that the educator's license was current, on probation, or under suspension at the time of an alleged ethics violation. A valid educator's license that expires after the occurrence of the alleged ethics violation is still subject to an ethics complaint process relating to the alleged ethics violation.

5.43 Waiver from licensure means a waiver from rules and/or laws governing educator licensure granted under:

5.43.1 The Arkansas Quality Charter Schools Act of 2013, Ark. Code Ann. § 6-23-101 et seq., to a public charter school in the approval of its original charter or an amendment to its charter;

5.43.2 Ark. Code Ann. § 6-15-103 to a school district;

5.43.3 The District of Innovation Program, Ark. Code Ann. § 6-15-2801 et seq., to a School of Innovation; or

5.43.4 Any other educational entity pursuant to Arkansas law.

5.44 Written Reprimand is a written admonishment from the State Board to the named educator for his or her conduct. The written reprimand cautions that further unethical conduct will lead to a more severe action and is associated with a monetary fine of the educator. The written reprimand will remain permanently in the files retained by the PLSB.