(October 27, 2003) — Effective Nov. 3, sophomore world history teacher Cynthia Nash will take a leave of absence without pay for the rest of the 2003-2004 school year. According to Nash, she is forced to take this leave to complete unfinished credentials to satisfy state requirements. Nash said that the teacher credential program she participated in at USC was experimental and not supported by the university. This year, when she went to clear her credential, she discovered she must take 30 units to meet state requirements. According to Nash, teachers who haven’t completed these units were allowed by the district to take up to six units per year towards the completion of the 30. GUSD human resources administrative secretary Pat Lamanna said that although some teachers are still working under emergency credentials, that policy is slowly being cancelled. Clark administration and the Glendale Teachers Association (GTA) have been supporting Nash throughout this difficult situation. According to Nash, Clark administration, the California Commission on Teaching Credentialing (CTCC), administration at USC and the Glendale Unified School District have done their best, “but all their hands are tied.” “I’m very sad it’s happening, but it’s entirely out of our control at the school level. It has to do with the California Commission on Teaching Credentialing, the district human resources and the universities,” assistant principal Joan Shoff said. “Things have changed.” Nash explained she has searched every avenue trying to find a way for her to keep her job. She has visited various universities in hopes of finding a program that would allow her to continue teaching while she takes classes working towards the completion of her credits. The GTA has even opened lines of communication between her and a lawyer. According to Nash, however, all these attempts have landed her back at square one. During her five years at Clark, Nash has been a very popular teacher, receiving the Teacher of the Year Award for three consecutive years. Since she has decided not to formally notify her classes of her leave, none of her students could comment on the issue. Nash said that she did not want to risk apathy from her students for the rest of her days at Clark. Nash also been the history department chair for six out of the ten years she’s been teaching and has been the history coach for two years. Even though this predicament is a hard one to cope with, Nash has remained optimistic. “I can’t be victimized by it. I have to take it as an opportunity to grow and learn,” she said.