school districts; superintendents; compensation

HB2377 - 572R - I Ver

REFERENCE TITLE:
school districts; superintendents; compensation

State of Arizona

House of Representatives

Fifty-seventh Legislature

Second Regular Session

2026

HB 2377

Introduced by

Representatives
Gress: Carter N, Fink, Gillette;� Senators Angius, Werner

AN
ACT

amending section 15-503, Arizona Revised
Statutes; RELATING to school employees.

(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1. Section 15-503, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE
15-503.

Superintendents, principals, head teachers and school
psychologists; terms of employment; evaluation; contract delivery and
acceptance; nonretention notice

A.
The

a school
district
governing board may:

1. Employ a superintendent or principal, or both.�
If the governing board employs a superintendent, the governing board shall
determine the qualifications for the superintendent by action taken at a public
meeting.� The governing board shall require a superintendent to have a valid
fingerprint clearance card that is issued pursuant to title 41, chapter 12,
article 3.1.

2. Appoint a head teacher.

3. Jointly with another governing board employ a
superintendent or a principal, or both. If the governing board
jointly employs a superintendent, the governing boards shall jointly determine
the qualifications for the superintendent by action taken at a public meeting.�
The governing boards shall require a superintendent to have a valid fingerprint
clearance card that is issued pursuant to title 41, chapter 12, article 3.1.

B. The term of employment of superintendents may be
for any period not exceeding three years, except that if the superintendent's
contract with the school district is for multiple years pursuant to this
subsection the school district shall not offer to extend or renegotiate the
contract
until no
earlier than fifteen months before
the expiration of
the contract
expires
.
� Notwithstanding any other law, an employment contract for a
superintendent pursuant to this section may include a benefit or compensation other
than a base salary and performance pay only if the school district offers or
provides the benefit or compensation on substantially equal terms to all
employees of the school district.
� The term of employment of principals
may be for any period not exceeding three years, except that if the principal's
contract with the school district is for multiple years the school district
shall not offer to extend or negotiate the contract until May of the year
preceding the final year of the contract.� The school district governing board
or the
charter school
governing body
of the
charter school
shall communicate the superintendent's or principal's
duties with respect to the classroom site fund established by section 15-977.

C. The governing board shall establish systems for
the evaluation of the performance of principals and other school administrators
and certificated school psychologists in the school district. In
the development

developing
and
adoption of

adopting
these performance
evaluation systems, the governing board shall avail itself of the advice of its
administrators and certificated school psychologists. Each
evaluation shall include recommendations as to areas of improvement in the
performance of the certificated school psychologist if the performance of the
certificated school psychologist warrants improvement. After
transmittal of an assessment, a governing board designee shall confer with the
certificated school psychologist to make specific recommendations as to areas
of improvement in the certificated school psychologist's performance.� The
governing board designee shall provide assistance and opportunities for the
certificated school psychologist to improve performance and shall follow up with
the certificated school psychologist after a reasonable period of time for the
purpose of ascertaining that the certificated school psychologist is
demonstrating adequate performance.� The evaluation process for certificated
school psychologists shall include appeal procedures for certificated school
psychologists who disagree with the evaluation of their performance, if the
evaluation is for use as criteria for establishing compensation or dismissal.

D. On or before May 15 each year, the governing
board shall offer a contract for the next school year to each certified
administrator and certificated school psychologist who is in the last year of
the person's contract unless, on or before April 15, the governing board, a
member of the board acting on behalf of the governing board or the
superintendent of the school district gives notice to the administrator or
certificated school psychologist of the governing board's intention not to
offer a new contract.� If the governing board has called for an override
election for the third Tuesday in May as provided in section 15-481, the
governing board shall offer a contract for the next school year to each
certified administrator or certificated school psychologist who is in the last
year of the person's contract on or before June 15 unless,
no

not
later than five days after the override election
excluding Saturday, Sunday and legal holidays, the governing board, a member of
the governing board acting on behalf of the governing board or the
superintendent of the school district gives notice to the administrator or the
certificated school psychologist of the governing board's intention not to
offer a new contract. The administrator's or the certificated school
psychologist's acceptance of the contract shall be indicated within thirty days
after the date of the written contract or the offer is revoked. The
administrator or certificated school psychologist accepts the contract by
signing the contract and returning it to the governing board or by making a
written instrument that accepts the terms of the contract and delivering the
written instrument to the governing board.

E. Notice of the governing board's intention not to
reemploy the administrator or certificated school psychologist shall be made by
delivering the notice personally to the administrator or the certificated
school psychologist or by sending the notice by certified mail, postmarked on
or before the applicable deadline prescribed in subsection D of this section,
and directed to the administrator or the certificated school psychologist at
the person's place of residence as recorded in the school district records.

F. The governing board shall make available the
evaluation and performance classification of each principal in the school
district to school districts and charter schools that are inquiring about the
performance of the principal for hiring purposes.
END_STATUTE

Sec. 2.
Existing contracts; applicability

Section 15-503, Arizona Revised
Statutes, as amended by this act, applies to contracts that are executed or
renewed after the effective date of this act.