Retired educators; revise provisions regarding return to work as teachers.

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To: Education;
Appropriations A
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Representative Zuber

HOUSE BILL NO. 577

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 25-11-126, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, 1
TO REDUCE THE REQUIRED SEPARATION PERIOD FOR RETIREES RETURNING TO 2
WORK AS TEACHERS FROM 90 DAYS TO 30 DAYS; TO REMOVE THE 3
REQUIREMENT OF A MINIMUM NUMBER OF YEARS OF CREDITABLE SERVICE FOR 4
SUCH A RETIREE TO RETURN TO WORK AS A TEACHER; TO REMOVE THE 5
REQUIREMENT THAT SUCH A RETIREE RETURNING TO WORK AS A TEACHER BE 6
HIRED TO TEACH ONLY IN A DISTRICT HAVING A CRITICAL TEACHER 7
SHORTAGE OR CRITICAL SUBJECT-AREA SHORTAGE; TO ADJUST THE PENSION 8
LIABILITY PARTICIPATION ASSESSMENT AND SUCH RETIREE'S SALARY FOR 9
RETURNING TO WORK AS A TEACHER, AS DETERMINED IN SECTION 37-19-7; 10
TO ALLOW LOCAL EDUCATION AGENCIES TO PAY, FROM LOCAL EDUCATION 11
FUNDING, ALL OR A PORTION OF THE HEALTH INSURANCE PREMIUMS FOR 12
SUCH RETIREES RETURNING TO WORK AS TEACHERS; TO ALLOW A MEMBER TO 13
CONTINUE AS A LICENSED TEACHER IN AN INSTRUCTIONAL POSITION IF THE 14
PERSON HAS REACHED THE AGE AND/OR SERVICE REQUIREMENT THAT WILL 15
NOT RESULT IN A PROHIBITED IN-SERVICE DISTRIBUTION AS DEFINED BY 16
THE INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE, PROVIDED THAT THE PERSON ELECTS TO 17
RECEIVE COMPENSATION AS PROVIDED FOR OTHER RETIREES RETURNING TO 18
WORK AS TEACHERS UNDER THIS SECTION; TO AMEND SECTIONS 25-11-127 19
AND 25-9-120, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CONFORM; TO AMEND 20
SECTION 37-19-7, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT A 21
SCHOOL DISTRICT MAY PAY NO MORE THAN 65% OF A RETIRED TEACHER'S 22
COMPENSATION AS SALARY, AND THE DISTRICT SHALL PAY TO THE BOARD OF 23
TRUSTEES OF THE PUBLIC EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT SYSTEM OF 24
MISSISSIPPI, A PENSION LIABILITY PARTICIPATION ASSESSMENT IN THE 25
AMOUNT OF THE EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE CONTRIBUTIONS ON THE FULL 26
AMOUNT OF THE REGULAR COMPENSATION FOR THE POSITION HELD BY THE 27
RETIRED TEACHER; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 28
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 29
SECTION 1. Section 25-11-126, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 30
amended as follows: 31
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25-11-126. (1) For purposes of this section, "retiree" 32
means any person who * * * is receiving a retirement 33
allowance * * * under this article and holds a standard teaching 34
license in Mississippi * * * at the time of reemployment. 35
(2) A retiree may be employed as a teacher in a public 36
school district after * * * having been retired at least thirty 37
(30) days, and choose to continue receiving the retirement 38
allowance under this article during his or her employment as a 39
teacher after retirement in addition to receiving the salary 40
authorized under this section, along with the local contribution 41
of the school district in which the retiree is employed, at the 42
discretion of the school district. * * * 43
( * * *3) * * * The base compensation authorized for 44
returning retired teachers under Section 37-19-7 shall not be 45
graduated annually in the same manner as teachers who are employed 46
by a school district under traditional employment guidelines, but 47
shall remain static for the entirety of his or her eligible 48
teaching period as a retired teacher. 49
( * * *4) (a) A * * * retiree may be employed as a teacher, 50
continue receiving his or her retirement allowance and be a 51
contributing member of the system without accruing additional 52
retirement benefits for a total of five (5) years, which may be 53
performed consecutively or intermittently. This method is 54
designed specifically to provide funding for the system to 55
actuarially offset any pension liability created by this section. 56
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Each school district hiring * * * retirees under * * * this 57
section * * * shall make a direct payment to PERS, which shall 58
serve as a pension liability participation assessment. The 59
pension liability participation assessment and the * * * retiree's 60
salary for returning to work as a teacher shall be determined 61
as * * * provided in Section 37-19-7(1)(b). 62
* * * 63
(b) If a * * * retiree, reemployed under * * * this 64
section, works in a school district for any portion of a 65
scholastic year less than a full contractual term of traditional 66
teachers, the time worked by the * * * retiree shall constitute 67
one (1) of the five (5) years of post-retirement teaching 68
eligibility. A * * * retiree, under * * * this section, shall be 69
entitled to work in any applicable school district and shall not 70
be obligated to remain in any one (1) school district for the 71
entirety of his or her post retirement teaching eligibility, but 72
shall be cumulative in nature so as not to exceed five (5) years. 73
The salary authorized under Section 37-19-7 for retired teachers 74
shall be prorated for any period worked by the * * * retiree that 75
is less than one (1) full academic year. 76
(c) The State Department of Education shall transfer to 77
the system the * * * total funding formula funds of local school 78
districts that on or after July 1, 2024, hire * * * retirees as 79
teachers under this section and other funds that otherwise would 80
have been payable to the districts if the districts had not taken 81
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advantage of this section. The crediting of assets and financing 82
shall follow * * * Section 25-11-123. 83
(d) Local educational agencies shall transfer to the 84
system * * * total funding formula funds of local school districts 85
that on or after July 1, 2024, hire * * * retirees as teachers 86
under this section and other funds that otherwise would have been 87
payable to the districts if the districts had not taken advantage 88
of this section. The crediting of assets and financing must 89
follow * * * Section 25-11-123. 90
(e) Local education agencies may pay, from local 91
education funding, all or a portion of the health insurance 92
premiums for retirees returning to work as teachers under this 93
section. 94
* * * 95
(5) A * * * retiree may be hired under this section subject 96
to the following conditions: 97
(a) The * * * retiree holds any teacher's professional 98
license or certificate as may be required in Section 37-3-2, and 99
holds the related standard teaching license and/or endorsements to 100
teach in the applicable subject area; 101
(b) The superintendent of the employing school district 102
certifies in writing to the State Department of Education that the 103
retired member has the requisite experience, training and 104
expertise for the position to be filled; 105
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(c) The superintendent of the school district certifies 106
or the principal of the school certifies that there was no 107
preexisting arrangement for the person to be hired; and 108
(d) The person had a satisfactory performance review 109
for the most recent period before retirement * * *. 110
* * * 111
(6) The State Superintendent of Public Education shall 112
report the persons who are employed under this section to the 113
Executive Director of the Public Employees' Retirement System. 114
(7) The Department of Education shall promulgate regulations 115
that prescribe a salary schedule that reflects the provisions of 116
this section. Each school district shall create a policy, 117
approved by the local school board, related to the hiring of * * * 118
retirees and including, but not limited to, the hiring of retirees 119
as full- and part-time * * * teachers * * * under this section and 120
Section 25-11-127. 121
(8) A member may retire and continue as a licensed teacher 122
in an instructional position if the member has reached the age 123
and/or service requirement that will not result in a prohibited 124
in-service distribution as defined by the Internal Revenue 125
Service, provided that the person elects to receive compensation 126
for that instructional position as provided in subsections (3) and 127
(4)(a) of this section. In order to receive such compensation, 128
the retiree shall file annually, in writing, in the office of the 129
employer and the office of the executive director of the system, 130
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an election to receive, in addition to a retirement allowance, 131
compensation as allowed in this subsection (8). 132
( * * *9) Any * * * retiree who returns to work as a teacher 133
in accordance with this section shall not be eligible to return to 134
work under * * * Section 25-11-127. 135
SECTION 2. Section 25-11-127, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 136
amended as follows: 137
25-11-127. (1) (a) Except as otherwise provided in Section 138
25-11-126, no person who is being paid a retirement allowance or a 139
pension after retirement under this article shall be employed or 140
paid for any service by the State of Mississippi, including 141
services as an employee, contract worker, contractual employee or 142
independent contractor, until the retired person has been retired 143
for not less than ninety (90) consecutive days from his or her 144
effective date of retirement. After the person has been retired 145
for not less than ninety (90) consecutive days from his or her 146
effective date of retirement or such later date as established by 147
the board, he or she may be reemployed while being paid a 148
retirement allowance under * * * this section * * *. 149
(b) No retiree of this retirement system who is 150
reemployed or is reelected to office after retirement shall 151
continue to draw retirement benefits while so reemployed, except 152
as provided in this section or in Section 25-11-126. 153
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(c) No person employed or elected under the exceptions 154
provided for in this section shall become a member under Article 3 155
of the retirement system. 156
(2) Except as otherwise provided in Section 25-11-126, any 157
person who has been retired under the provisions of Article 3 and 158
who is later reemployed in service covered by this article shall 159
cease to receive benefits under this article and shall again 160
become a contributing member of the retirement system. When the 161
person retires again, if the reemployment exceeds six (6) months, 162
the person shall have his or her benefit recomputed, including 163
service after again becoming a member, provided that the total 164
retirement allowance paid to the retired member in his or her 165
previous retirement shall be deducted from the member's retirement 166
reserve and taken into consideration in recalculating the 167
retirement allowance under a new option selected. 168
(3) The board shall have the right to prescribe rules and 169
regulations for carrying out * * * this section. 170
(4) * * * This section shall not be construed to prohibit 171
any retiree, regardless of age, from being employed and drawing a 172
retirement allowance either: 173
(a) For a period of time not to exceed one-half (1/2) 174
of the normal working days for the position in any fiscal year 175
during which the retiree will receive no more than one-half (1/2) 176
of the salary in effect for the position at the time of 177
employment, or 178
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(b) For a period of time in any fiscal year sufficient 179
in length to permit a retiree to earn not in excess of twenty-five 180
percent (25%) of retiree's average compensation. 181
To determine the normal working days for a position under 182
paragraph (a) of this subsection, the employer shall determine the 183
required number of working days for the position on a full-time 184
basis and the equivalent number of hours representing the 185
full-time position. The retiree then may work up to one-half 186
(1/2) of the required number of working days or up to one-half 187
(1/2) of the equivalent number of hours and receive up to one-half 188
(1/2) of the salary for the position. In the case of employment 189
with multiple employers, the limitation shall equal one-half (1/2) 190
of the number of days or hours for a single full-time position. 191
Notice shall be given in writing to the executive director, 192
setting forth the facts upon which the employment is being made, 193
and the notice shall be given within five (5) days from the date 194
of employment and also from the date of termination of the 195
employment. 196
(5) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (6) of this 197
section, the employer of any person who is receiving a retirement 198
allowance and who is employed in service covered by subsection (4) 199
of this section as an employee or a contractual employee shall pay 200
to the board the full amount of the employer's contribution on the 201
amount of compensation received by the retiree for his or her 202
employment in accordance with regulations prescribed by the board. 203
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The retiree shall not receive any additional creditable service in 204
the retirement system as a result of the payment of the employer's 205
contribution. This subsection does not apply to persons who are 206
receiving a retirement allowance and who contract with an employer 207
to provide services as a true independent contractor, as defined 208
by the board through regulation. 209
(6) (a) A member may retire and continue in municipal or 210
county elective office provided that the member has reached the 211
age and/or service requirement that will not result in a 212
prohibited in-service distribution as defined by the Internal 213
Revenue Service, or a retiree may be elected to a municipal or 214
county office, provided that the person: 215
(i) Files annually, in writing, in the office of 216
the employer and the office of the executive director of the 217
system before the person takes office or as soon as possible after 218
retirement, a waiver of all salary or compensation and elects to 219
receive in lieu of that salary or compensation a retirement 220
allowance as provided in this section, in which event no salary or 221
compensation shall thereafter be due or payable for those 222
services; however, any such officer or employee may receive, in 223
addition to the retirement allowance, office expense allowance, 224
mileage or travel expense authorized by any statute of the State 225
of Mississippi; or 226
(ii) Elects to receive compensation for that 227
elective office in an amount not to exceed twenty-five percent 228
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(25%) of the retiree's average compensation. In order to receive 229
compensation as allowed in this subparagraph, the retiree shall 230
file annually, in writing, in the office of the employer and the 231
office of the executive director of the system, an election to 232
receive, in addition to a retirement allowance, compensation as 233
allowed in this subparagraph. 234
(b) The municipality or county in which the retired 235
person holds elective office shall pay to the board the amount of 236
the employer's contributions on the full amount of the regular 237
compensation for the elective office that the retired person 238
holds. 239
(c) As used in this subsection, the term "compensation" 240
does not include office expense allowance, mileage or travel 241
expense authorized by a statute of the State of Mississippi. 242
(7) Any retired teacher who returns to work in accordance 243
with this section shall not be eligible to return to work under 244
the provisions of Section 25-11-126. 245
SECTION 3. Section 25-9-120, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 246
amended as follows: 247
25-9-120. (1) (a) Contract personnel, whether classified 248
as contract workers or independent contractors shall not be deemed 249
state service or nonstate service employees of the State of 250
Mississippi, and shall not be eligible to participate in the 251
Public Employees' Retirement System, nor be allowed credit for 252
personal and sick leave and other leave benefits as employees of 253
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the State of Mississippi, notwithstanding Sections 25-3-91 through 254
25-3-101; 25-9-101 through 25-9-151; 25-11-1 through 25-11-126; 255
25-11-128 through 25-11-131; 25-15-1 through 25-15-23 and for the 256
purpose set forth herein. Contract workers, i.e., contract 257
personnel who do not meet the criteria of independent contractors, 258
shall be subject to * * * Section 25-11-126 or 25-11-127. 259
(b) Contract workers for any department, agency or 260
institution of the state government, any school district, 261
community/junior college, public library or university-based 262
program, whether classified as contract workers or independent 263
contractors, may purchase the base plan of the State and School 264
Employees' Health Insurance Plan provided that such person pays 265
the full price of such plan without contribution from their 266
employer. Such government entities shall offer the base plan to 267
any such personnel who work at least one hundred thirty (130) 268
hours per month. The provisions of this paragraph (b) shall not 269
apply to independent contractors. The State and School Employees' 270
Health Insurance Management Board shall establish the premiums. 271
(2) The Personal Service Contract Review Board is abolished. 272
The Public Procurement Review Board shall be the Personal Service 273
Contract Review Board and shall retain all powers and duties 274
granted by law to the Personal Service Contract Review Board. All 275
equipment, inventories, records, personnel, resources and other 276
property, real or personal, tangible or intangible, of the 277
Personal Service Contract Review Board shall be transferred to the 278
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Public Procurement Review Board as provided in Section 27-104-7. 279
The transfer of personnel shall be commensurate with the number 280
and classification of positions (PINS) allocated to the Personal 281
Service Contract Review Board on June 30, 2017. Wherever the 282
terms "Personal Service Contract Review Board" or "board," when 283
referring to the Personal Service Contract Review Board, appear in 284
any law, rule, regulation or document the same shall be construed 285
to mean the Public Procurement Review Board. 286
SECTION 4. Section 37-19-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 287
amended as follows: 288
37-19-7. (1) (a) Teachers' salaries in each public school 289
district shall be determined and paid in accordance with the scale 290
for teachers' salaries as provided in this subsection. For 291
teachers holding the following types of licenses or the equivalent 292
as determined by the State Board of Education, and the following 293
number of years of teaching experience, the scale shall be as 294
follows: 295
2022-2023 AND SUBSEQUENT SCHOOL YEARS MINIMUM SALARY SCHEDULE 296
Exp. AAAA AAA AA A 297
0 45,500.00 44,000.00 43,000.00 41,500.00 298
1 46,100.00 44,550.00 43,525.00 41,900.00 299
2 46,700.00 45,100.00 44,050.00 42,300.00 300
3 47,300.00 45,650.00 44,575.00 42,700.00 301
4 47,900.00 46,200.00 45,100.00 43,100.00 302
5 49,250.00 47,500.00 46,350.00 44,300.00 303
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6 49,850.00 48,050.00 46,875.00 44,700.00 304
7 50,450.00 48,600.00 47,400.00 45,100.00 305
8 51,050.00 49,150.00 47,925.00 45,500.00 306
9 51,650.00 49,700.00 48,450.00 45,900.00 307
10 53,000.00 51,000.00 49,700.00 47,100.00 308
11 53,600.00 51,550.00 50,225.00 47,500.00 309
12 54,200.00 52,100.00 50,750.00 47,900.00 310
13 54,800.00 52,650.00 51,275.00 48,300.00 311
14 55,400.00 53,200.00 51,800.00 48,700.00 312
15 56,750.00 54,500.00 53,050.00 49,900.00 313
16 57,350.00 55,050.00 53,575.00 50,300.00 314
17 57,950.00 55,600.00 54,100.00 50,700.00 315
18 58,550.00 56,150.00 54,625.00 51,100.00 316
19 59,150.00 56,700.00 55,150.00 51,500.00 317
20 60,500.00 58,000.00 56,400.00 52,700.00 318
21 61,100.00 58,550.00 56,925.00 53,100.00 319
22 61,700.00 59,100.00 57,450.00 53,500.00 320
23 62,300.00 59,650.00 57,975.00 53,900.00 321
24 62,900.00 60,200.00 58,500.00 54,300.00 322
25 65,400.00 62,700.00 61,000.00 56,800.00 323
26 66,000.00 63,250.00 61,525.00 57,200.00 324
27 66,600.00 63,800.00 62,050.00 57,600.00 325
28 67,200.00 64,350.00 62,575.00 58,000.00 326
29 67,800.00 64,900.00 63,100.00 58,400.00 327
30 68,400.00 65,450.00 63,625.00 58,800.00 328
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31 69,000.00 66,000.00 64,150.00 59,200.00 329
32 69,600.00 66,550.00 64,675.00 59,600.00 330
33 70,200.00 67,100.00 65,200.00 60,000.00 331
34 70,800.00 67,650.00 65,725.00 60,400.00 332
35 333
& above 71,400.00 68,200.00 66,250.00 60,800.00 334
2024-2025 AND SUBSEQUENT SCHOOL YEARS MINIMUM SALARY SCHEDULE 335
The school district, with assistance from the Department of 336
Education, shall consider the teacher's years of service and 337
license type and determine the corresponding salary for the 338
retired teacher. 339
(b) After determining the retired teacher's 340
corresponding salary, the school district may allocate up to one 341
hundred twenty-five percent (125%) of the amount provided under 342
the salary schedule for such teacher, as applicable, as salary and 343
assessment under the program. * * * The school district may pay 344
no more than * * * sixty-five percent (65%) of the retired 345
teacher's compensation as salary to the retired teacher. * * * 346
The school district in which the retired teacher holds a position 347
shall pay to the board a pension liability participation 348
assessment in the amount of the employer and employee 349
contributions on the full amount of the regular compensation for 350
the position held by the retired teacher. 351
(c) It is the intent of the Legislature that any state 352
funds made available for salaries of licensed personnel in excess 353
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of the funds paid for such salaries for the 1986-1987 school year 354
shall be paid to licensed personnel pursuant to a personnel 355
appraisal and compensation system implemented by the State Board 356
of Education. The State Board of Education shall have the 357
authority to adopt and amend rules and regulations as are 358
necessary to establish, administer and maintain the system. 359
(d) All teachers employed on a full-time basis shall be 360
paid a minimum salary in accordance with the above scale. 361
However, no school district shall receive any funds under this 362
section for any school year during which the local supplement paid 363
to any individual teacher shall have been reduced to a sum less 364
than that paid to that individual teacher for performing the same 365
duties from local supplement during the immediately preceding 366
school year. The amount actually spent for the purposes of group 367
health and/or life insurance shall be considered as a part of the 368
aggregate amount of local supplement but shall not be considered a 369
part of the amount of individual local supplement. 370
(e) The level of professional training of each teacher 371
to be used in establishing the salary for the teacher for each 372
year shall be determined by the type of valid teacher's license 373
issued to that teacher on or before October 1 of the current 374
school year. However, school districts are authorized, in their 375
discretion, to negotiate the salary levels applicable to licensed 376
employees who are receiving retirement benefits from the 377
retirement system of another state. 378
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(2) (a) The following employees shall receive an annual 379
salary supplement in the amount of Six Thousand Dollars 380
($6,000.00), plus fringe benefits, in addition to any other 381
compensation to which the employee may be entitled: 382
(i) Any licensed teacher or retired teacher 383
employed by a school district under * * * Section 25-11-126 who 384
has met the requirements and acquired a Master Teacher certificate 385
from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards and 386
who is employed by a local school board or the State Board of 387
Education as a teacher and not as an administrator. Such teacher 388
shall submit documentation to the State Department of Education 389
that the certificate was received prior to October 15 in order to 390
be eligible for the full salary supplement in the current school 391
year, or the teacher shall submit such documentation to the State 392
Department of Education prior to February 15 in order to be 393
eligible for a prorated salary supplement beginning with the 394
second term of the school year. 395
(ii) A licensed nurse who has met the requirements 396
and acquired a certificate from the National Board for 397
Certification of School Nurses, Inc., and who is employed by a 398
local school board or the State Board of Education as a school 399
nurse and not as an administrator. The licensed school nurse 400
shall submit documentation to the State Department of Education 401
that the certificate was received before October 15 in order to be 402
eligible for the full salary supplement in the current school 403
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year, or the licensed school nurse shall submit the documentation 404
to the State Department of Education before February 15 in order 405
to be eligible for a prorated salary supplement beginning with the 406
second term of the school year. 407
(iii) Any licensed school counselor who has met 408
the requirements and acquired a National Certified School 409
Counselor (NCSC) endorsement from the National Board of Certified 410
Counselors and who is employed by a local school board or the 411
State Board of Education as a counselor and not as an 412
administrator. Such licensed school counselor shall submit 413
documentation to the State Department of Education that the 414
endorsement was received prior to October 15 in order to be 415
eligible for the full salary supplement in the current school 416
year, or the licensed school counselor shall submit such 417
documentation to the State Department of Education prior to 418
February 15 in order to be eligible for a prorated salary 419
supplement beginning with the second term of the school year. 420
However, any school counselor who started the National Board for 421
Professional Teaching Standards process for school counselors 422
between June 1, 2003, and June 30, 2004, and completes the 423
requirements and acquires the Master Teacher certificate shall be 424
entitled to the master teacher supplement, and those counselors 425
who complete the process shall be entitled to a one-time 426
reimbursement for the actual cost of the process as outlined in 427
paragraph (b) of this subsection. 428
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(iv) Any licensed speech-language pathologist and 429
audiologist who has met the requirements and acquired a 430
Certificate of Clinical Competence from the American 431
Speech-Language-Hearing Association and any certified academic 432
language therapist (CALT) who has met the certification 433
requirements of the Academic Language Therapy Association and who 434
is employed by a local school board. The licensed speech-language 435
pathologist and audiologist and certified academic language 436
therapist shall submit documentation to the State Department of 437
Education that the certificate or endorsement was received before 438
October 15 in order to be eligible for the full salary supplement 439
in the current school year, or the licensed speech-language 440
pathologist and audiologist and certified academic language 441
therapist shall submit the documentation to the State Department 442
of Education before February 15 in order to be eligible for a 443
prorated salary supplement beginning with the second term of the 444
school year. 445
(v) Any licensed athletic trainer who has met the 446
requirements and acquired Board Certification for the Athletic 447
Trainer from the Board of Certification, Inc., and who is employed 448
by a local school board or the State Board of Education as an 449
athletic trainer and not as an administrator. The licensed 450
athletic trainer shall submit documentation to the State 451
Department of Education that the certificate was received before 452
October 15 in order to be eligible for the full salary supplement 453
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in the current school year, or the licensed athletic trainer shall 454
submit the documentation to the State Department of Education 455
before February 15 in order to be eligible for a prorated salary 456
supplement beginning with the second term of the school year. 457
(b) An employee shall be reimbursed for the actual cost 458
of completing each component of acquiring the certificate or 459
endorsement, excluding any costs incurred for postgraduate 460
courses, not to exceed Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) for each 461
component, not to exceed four (4) components, for a teacher, 462
school counselor or speech-language pathologist and audiologist, 463
regardless of whether or not the process resulted in the award of 464
the certificate or endorsement. A local school district or any 465
private individual or entity may pay the cost of completing the 466
process of acquiring the certificate or endorsement for any 467
employee of the school district described under paragraph (a), and 468
the State Department of Education shall reimburse the school 469
district for such cost, regardless of whether or not the process 470
resulted in the award of the certificate or endorsement. If a 471
private individual or entity has paid the cost of completing the 472
process of acquiring the certificate or endorsement for an 473
employee, the local school district may agree to directly 474
reimburse the individual or entity for such cost on behalf of the 475
employee. 476
(c) All salary supplements, fringe benefits and process 477
reimbursement authorized under this subsection shall be paid 478
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directly by the State Department of Education to the local school 479
district and shall be in addition to its allotments from the total 480
funding formula provided in Sections 37-151-200 through 37-151-215 481
and not a part thereof in accordance with regulations promulgated 482
by the State Board of Education. Local school districts shall not 483
reduce the local supplement paid to any employee receiving such 484
salary supplement, and the employee shall receive any local 485
supplement to which employees with similar training and experience 486
otherwise are entitled. However, an educational employee shall 487
receive the salary supplement in the amount of Six Thousand 488
Dollars ($6,000.00) for only one (1) of the qualifying 489
certifications authorized under paragraph (a) of this subsection. 490
No school district shall provide more than one (1) annual salary 491
supplement under * * * this subsection to any one (1) individual 492
employee holding multiple qualifying national certifications. 493
(d) If an employee for whom such cost has been paid, in 494
full or in part, by a local school district or private individual 495
or entity fails to complete the certification or endorsement 496
process, the employee shall be liable to the school district or 497
individual or entity for all amounts paid by the school district 498
or individual or entity on behalf of that employee toward his or 499
her certificate or endorsement. 500
(3) The following employees shall receive an annual salary 501
supplement in the amount of Four Thousand Dollars ($4,000.00), 502
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plus fringe benefits, in addition to any other compensation to 503
which the employee may be entitled: 504
Effective July 1, 2016, if funds are available for that 505
purpose, any licensed teacher or retired teacher employed by a 506
local school district under * * * Section 25-11-126 who has met 507
the requirements and acquired a Master Teacher Certificate from 508
the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards and who is 509
employed in a public school district located in one (1) of the 510
following counties: Claiborne, Adams, Jefferson, Wilkinson, 511
Amite, Bolivar, Coahoma, Leflore, Quitman, Sharkey, Issaquena, 512
Sunflower, Washington, Holmes, Yazoo and Tallahatchie. The salary 513
supplement awarded under * * * this subsection (3) shall be in 514
addition to the salary supplement awarded under * * * subsection 515
(2) of this section. 516
Teachers who meet the qualifications for a salary supplement 517
under this subsection (3) who are assigned for less than one (1) 518
full year or less than full time for the school year shall receive 519
the salary supplement in a prorated manner, with the portion of 520
the teacher's assignment to the critical geographic area to be 521
determined as of June 15th of the school year. 522
(4) (a) This subsection shall be known and may be cited as 523
the "Mississippi Performance-Based Pay (MPBP)" plan. In addition 524
to the minimum base pay described in this section, only if funds 525
are available for that purpose, the State of Mississippi may 526
provide monies from state funds to school districts for the 527
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purposes of rewarding licensed teachers, administrators and 528
nonlicensed personnel at individual schools showing improvement in 529
student test scores. The MPBP plan shall be developed by the 530
State Department of Education based on the following criteria: 531
(i) It is the express intent of this legislation 532
that the MPBP plan shall utilize only existing standards of 533
accreditation and assessment as established by the State Board of 534
Education. 535
(ii) To ensure that all of Mississippi's teachers, 536
administrators and nonlicensed personnel at all schools have equal 537
access to the monies set aside in this section, the MPBP program 538
shall be designed to calculate each school's performance as 539
determined by the school's increase in scores from the prior 540
school year. The MPBP program shall be based on a standardized 541
scores rating where all levels of schools can be judged in a 542
statistically fair and reasonable way upon implementation. At the 543
end of each year, after all student achievement scores have been 544
standardized, the State Department of Education shall implement 545
the MPBP plan. 546
(iii) To ensure all teachers cooperate in the 547
spirit of teamwork, individual schools shall submit a plan to the 548
local school district to be approved before the beginning of each 549
school year. The plan shall include, but not be limited to, how 550
all teachers, regardless of subject area, and administrators will 551
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be responsible for improving student achievement for their 552
individual school. 553
(b) The State Board of Education shall develop the 554
processes and procedures for designating schools eligible to 555
participate in the MPBP. State assessment results, growth in 556
student achievement at individual schools and other measures 557
deemed appropriate in designating successful student achievement 558
shall be used in establishing MPBP criteria. 559
(5) (a) If funds are available for that purpose, each 560
school in Mississippi shall have mentor teachers, as defined by 561
Sections 37-9-201 through 37-9-213, who shall receive additional 562
base compensation provided for by the State Legislature in the 563
amount of One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) per each beginning 564
teacher that is being mentored. The additional state compensation 565
shall be limited to those mentor teachers that provide mentoring 566
services to beginning teachers. For the purposes of such funding, 567
a beginning teacher shall be defined as any teacher in any school 568
in Mississippi that has less than one (1) year of classroom 569
experience teaching in a public school. For the purposes of such 570
funding, no full-time academic teacher shall mentor more than two 571
(2) beginning teachers. 572
(b) To be eligible for this state funding, the 573
individual school must have a classroom management program 574
approved by the local school board. 575
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ST: Retired educators; revise provisions
regarding return to work as teachers.
(6) Effective with the 2014-2015 school year, the school 576
districts participating in the Pilot Performance-Based 577
Compensation System pursuant to Section 37-19-9 may award 578
additional teacher and administrator pay based thereon. 579
SECTION 5. This act shall take effect and be in force from 580
and after July 1, 2026. 581