Details on License Move from ODE to SBP

The school psychology pupil services license issued by the State Board of Education will transfer to oversight by the State Board of Psychology on Jan. 1, 2025. Here are answers to some common questions and concerns.

The SBP has been proactive in preparing for the day when all pupil services school psychology licenses and permanent certificates are transferred to SBP: Jan. 1, 2025. SBP has included myself in all its discussions with the groups impacted by this including the Inter-University Council (training programs), DEW Office for Exceptional Children and the Office of Licensure. Prior to his retirement in May, SBP Executive Director Dr. Ron Ross was steadfast in his commitment to ensure this transition is as painless as possible. Incoming SBP Executive Director Karine Hray continues that commitment.

The State Board of Psychology approved a set of draft rules that will govern our license. They were submitted to the Common Sense Initiative (for comment on any negative business impact) and then to the Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review (to ensure the rules match the intent of the law). The rules were approved without any changes. As a result the following will occur:

All licenses and permanent certificates will become SBP licenses starting Jan. 1, 2025. This will occur with no paperwork or payment on your end.
If your current pupil services license will expire before Dec. 31, 2024, you must renew it with the State Board of Education. Those renewing or obtaining their first license in summer 2024 will only have to pay $40, per a rule change sought by OSPA and IUC.
You will first renew your SBP license by Sept. 30, 2025. SBP will notify you no later than August 2025 that your license is set to expire.
If your license is set to expire June 30, 2025, it will NOT expire then. It will have already become an SBP license that expires Sept. 30, 2025.
Under the draft rules, no one will be required to show proof of continuing education credits (CEs) for the Sept. 30, 2025 renewal. You will first be required to show proof of hours in 2030.
Your CE requirement for the school-based license will be 50 hours – including 4 hours in ethics/professional conduct/cultural competence – over the five-year license period.
There are several ways to show completion of the 50 hours including:
- A compliance report from your Local Professional Development Committees (LPDC) submitted to OSPA.
- Proof of a current NCSP credential submitted to OSPA.
- Proof of a current independent school psychology (private practice) license under State Board of Psychology.
- Contracting with OSPA to track individual courses. You would register with and submit certificates of completion to OSPA. This is the same process as for the independent license through SBP.
If you hold a permanent certificate:
- Your credential is no longer permanent. It becomes a license under SBP on Jan. 1, 2025. The law did not grandfather this group.
- You will be exempt from showing proof of CE compliance in perpetuity.
- You will not, however, be exempt from paying the renewal fee every five years.
State Board of Psychology has a "school psychologist-retired" license, which allows you to maintain a license at a reduced fee with no CE compliance. You may not, however, practice under this license. The benefit is that if you opt to reinstate your full license, there will be no penalty fee for having an expired license. You would be asked to show CE compliance and pay the full fee at the time of reinstatement. Assuming your license moves to SBP Jan. 1, you would be able to seek the retired license when you renew in summer 2025.
The renewal fee – as set in law – will be $300. This will be required of everyone by Sept. 30, 2025.
If you also hold a private practice license through SBP, nothing will change for you aside from the license now being called “independent school psychologist.” You will still renew on even numbered years. The two licenses are separate.
The Office for Exceptional Children will continue to be our partner in all things school psychology.
The temporary licenses granted to interns to allow them to work in schools during their internship will remain with the State Board of Education as a temporary pupil services license. The law did not touch this element, so new school psychs will hold a temporary license through State Board of Education during their internship and then have to apply with SBP for their full license.
If you hold a second license at the State Board of Education, your licenses will no longer be connected and you will not receive the discount for the second license. You will have to pay the education and psychology boards separately.

As referenced above, OSPA is named in the law as being the entity that certifies to SBP that a person has completed their continuing education requirement. This has been the practice for those with private practice licenses, as SBP does not have the infrastructure to verify whether individuals have completed their hours. OSPA leadership has had discussions about how to handle doing this for roughly 3,000 licensees given we currently have about 200 private practice licensees we manage. Actual details of how this would work are still being worked out.