Your Rights and Status

A Guide for Professional Staff
Portsmouth School Department, SAU 52 | School Year 2026 to 2027

This page covers probationary status, continuing contract, and your rights under the agreement. Start with the Teacher Effectiveness Plan for the evaluation categories, or see Your Evaluation Year for the timeline and forms.

On This Page

Probationary Status and Continuing Contract

Evaluation category and probationary status are related but separate ideas, and it is worth understanding both.

The collective bargaining agreement between the Portsmouth School Board and the Association of Portsmouth Teachers distinguishes between teachers holding continuing-contract protections and teachers still within their probationary period in the district. The agreement does not itself define how long that probationary period runs, so the length comes from state law.

What the statute says

RSA 189:14-a governs a decision not to renominate or reelect a teacher for the following school year. It provides enhanced procedural protections to teachers who have reached a defined threshold of service.

  • A teacher who has taught five consecutive years or more in the current district reaches that threshold.
  • A teacher who has taught five consecutive years or more in any New Hampshire school district reaches it after three consecutive years in the current district.
  • Prior teaching service outside New Hampshire does not shorten either period.

This is the same distinction that governs the Induction period, and that is deliberate. The district's supervision system and the legal framework now describe the same window, so that both administrators and staff have one clear answer about where someone stands rather than two answers that can drift apart.

What changes at the threshold

A teacher who has reached the statutory threshold and receives notice of nonrenewal may request, in writing within ten days, the reasons for the decision and a hearing before the School Board. The Board holds that hearing within fifteen days and issues a written decision within fifteen days of its close. In those proceedings, the Superintendent bears the burden of proof by a preponderance of the evidence.

State Board of Education hearing rules provide further procedural requirements, including the presentation of evidence, witnesses, cross-examination, representation by counsel, and a written decision. RSA 189:14-b establishes the process for review of a Board decision, including review by the State Board of Education or, where applicable, arbitration under the collective bargaining agreement.

Two distinctions worth keeping straight

Dismissal during a contract is not the same as nonrenewal. RSA 189:13 governs dismissal before the expiration of the period for which a teacher has been employed and requires notification of cause and a full and fair hearing. RSA 189:14-a governs a decision not to renominate or reelect for the following year. The two processes are not interchangeable.

Educator licensure is a separate determination. New Hampshire distinguishes a Beginning Educator License from an Experienced Educator License under Ed 504.01 and Ed 504.02, but those credential categories do not determine your evaluation category here. A teacher may hold an Experienced Educator License for state licensing purposes while still being in Induction in Portsmouth.

Your Rights

  • Every evaluation is signed, and you keep a copy.
  • You have ten school days to submit written comments to be filed with the evaluation, under Article 25.6. Your signature indicates receipt, not agreement.
  • You may request a conversation about any walkthrough, and that conversation happens.
  • Written walkthrough feedback reaches you within five school days.
  • You may ask your supervisor to open a Collaborative Growth Plan on an area of practice you want to work on. A plan you request carries no cap and no escalation path.
  • If your supervisor assigns a Collaborative Growth Plan, you are told so in writing on Form 3, and you are told that the two-year cap applies.
  • The protections of RSA 189:14-a described above apply once you reach the statutory threshold.

This plan was reviewed and shaped by APT leadership. Some of what is in it exists because of their feedback.

Questions

What if I disagree with something in my evaluation?

You have ten school days to submit written comments, which are filed with the document, under Article 25.6. You may also ask for the conversation, and it happens on request.

Does signing my evaluation mean I agree with it?

No. Your signature indicates receipt. If you disagree, submit written comments within ten school days and they are filed alongside the evaluation.

Is my evaluation category the same as my probationary status?

They are related but separate. The two now describe the same window by design, so that a teacher in Induction is generally a teacher still within the probationary period. Evaluation category governs how you are supervised. Probationary status governs the procedural protections available to you under state law.

Sources

  • Collective Bargaining Agreement between the Portsmouth School Board and the Association of Portsmouth Teachers, Articles 25, 29, 30, and 51.
  • New Hampshire Statutes: RSA 189:13; RSA 189:14; RSA 189:14-a; RSA 189:14-b; RSA 273-A:4.
  • New Hampshire Administrative Rules: Ed 204.02; Ed 504.01; Ed 504.02.
  • Portsmouth School Board Policy GCO, re-approved June 9, 2026.
  • Portrait of a Graduate, Board-approved November 14, 2023.

Continue