Q:Who is considered a locally hired DoDDS educator?
A: A local hire is any DoDDS educator who was offered and appointed to a position within the commuting area of the sponsor after arrival in the overseas area. Almost all local hire educators are military and DoD civilian spouses.

Q: Why are locally hired DoDDS educators normally appointed to time-limited appointments?
A: New educators hired in the overseas area may only be appointed to permanent appointments after certain criteria are met. Most local hire educators do not meet these criteria and are initially hired to time-limited appointments not to exceed their sponsor’s Date of Expected Return from Overseas Service (DEROS). These employees may be subsequently converted to a permanent appointment when all of the criteria have been met.

Q: How do I know what kind of appointment I am serving on?
A: Upon hire the Personnel Center processes a Standard Form (SF) 50, Notification of Personnel Action, which includes all information about your appointment. You should be provided a copy of this document for your personal records within your first few weeks of work (if you do not receive a copy of your SF 50, notify your school secretary). Block 5-B will indicate your type of appointment. Exc Appt indicates that you have been hired to a permanent appointment and your tenure code in block 24 will be either “1 – Permanent” or “2 – Conditional”. Exc Appt NTE (date) indicates that you have been hired to a time-limited appointment and your tenure code will be either “0 – None” or “3 – Indefinite”.

Q: What are the criteria that must be met before appointment or conversion to a permanent position?
A: The criteria are as follows:

• Has served for 8 continuous months as a professional educator with DoDDS
• Is appointed to a continuing position
• Is fully qualified for the position to which being hired, either based on possession of a valid state teaching license without condition or by meeting the DoDDS certification standards as published in the Overseas Employment Opportunities for Educators brochure, including the requirement for a second teaching category if required
• Has passed the teacher competency test for the state in which licensed or the Praxis examinations required by DoDDS as stated in the Overseas Employment Opportunities for Educators brochure. Applicants with seven or more years of successful professional teaching experience are exempt. Applicants appointed to JROTC instructor, school nurse, school psychologist, social worker, communications impaired teacher and vocational training instructor positions may be exempted from all or part of the examination requirement, as explained in the Overseas Employment Opportunities for Educators brochure.
• Has signed a DoDDS Mobility Agreement

Q: I’m concerned about signing the Mobility Agreement. What if I get reassigned to a location that I don’t like?
A: You may elect not to sign the Mobility Agreement and thereby choose to remain on a time-limited appointment. The Mobility Agreement is required for all permanent educators to meet the needs of management. Because we serve to meet the needs of military families, our system is dynamic and we must be able to adapt our schools to the changes in the military mission worldwide. Occasionally, some of our schools are closed or reduced in size. When this happens, it is necessary to reassign the affected employees to ensure that they are able to continue their Federal employment. We make every effort to reassign employees to desired locations, but this is not always possible. When an employee is involuntarily assigned, he or she must accept the assignment or terminate employment.

Q: I met all of the requirements when I was appointed, but I was placed on a time-limited appointment. Why?
A: There are a couple possible reasons for this:

1. The position may be truly temporary and not continuing. School and district managers are administering a complex educational program and sometimes determine that a specific position will be filled for one school year and then dropped.
2. The staffing specialist may be lacking documentation to verify that you meet all of the requirements. Generally, if you have prior DoDDS service, but have had a break in service of several years, it will be necessary to request your prior Official Personnel Folder from the National Personnel Records Center in order to verify your prior DoDDS service.

To find out exactly why you were hired to a time-limited appointment, you should contact the staffing specialist directly.

Q: If I didn’t have DoDDS experience prior to my appointment, but I met all other requirements, can I be converted to a permanent position later?
A: Yes, after you have completed the requirement for 8 continuous months as a professional educator with DoDDS, you may be converted to a permanent position, if appropriate. Your school principal must confirm that you have been rated at least fully successful and are recommended for conversion to a permanent position. The principal must request your conversion using a Standard Form (SF) 52, Request for Personnel Action. You may wish to remind your principal when you are close to meeting all of the requirements, so that there is plenty of time to meet this requirement. The SF 52 should be forwarded via the automated processing system (PPI) and supplemented with a fax which lists the PPI number (or a copy of the first page of the SF 52) and includes documentation to support that all of the above stated requirements have been met.

Q: Who receives the documentation and authorizes the processing of the conversion action?
A: The SF 52 and fax must be forwarded to the attention of the Educator Staffing Unit specialist responsible for servicing the district to which the employee is assigned. District procedures may require that the action be routed through the district personnel representative.

Q: What is the effective date of the conversion to a permanent position?
A: The effective date will be the first day of the pay period after the SF 52 and all documentation is received. Conversion actions will not be backdated.

Q: What happens if my time-limited appointment expires before I am converted to a permanent appointment?
A: When your appointment expires, you are no longer employed by DoDDS. You may be reappointed to an educator appointment upon being selected and inprocessed again. When your new appointment is processed, you may be placed on a permanent position if all of the above stated criteria have been met.

Q: After I have been converted to a permanent appointment, will I be eligible for Living Quarters Allowance (LQA) and transportation entitlements?
A: No. These entitlements are automatically granted to those employees recruited in the United States and relocated to the overseas area. Locally hired Federal employees may acquire these entitlements only when they meet all requirements as stated in the Department of State Standardized Regulations (DSSR) and the Joint Travel Regulations. Appointment to a permanent position does not affect those determinations in any way.

Q: May I apply for reassignment through the DoDDS Transfer Program or vacancies that are advertised?
A: Only permanent DoDDS educators may apply for reassignment. Therefore, upon being appointed or converted to a permanent position, you may apply for reassignment consideration, as long as you meet all other eligibility requirements.

Q: Who may I contact for additional information?
A: Your first point of contact for all personnel issues is your district personnel representative, who is able to advise on a wide range of topics. You may also contact the staffing specialist who is responsible for servicing your district. Your school secretary should be able to provide you the proper point of contact.