Public education; provide annual salary supplement to certain occupational therapists.

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To: Education;
Appropriations
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Senator(s) Boyd

SENATE BILL NO. 2241

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 37-19-7, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO 1
PROVIDE AN ANNUAL SALARY SUPPLEMENT OF $6,000.00, PLUS FRINGE 2
BENEFITS, TO AN OCCUPATIONAL THERAPIST WHO HAS MET THE 3
REQUIREMENTS AND ACQUIRED INITIAL CERTIFICATION AS AN OCCUPATIONAL 4
THERAPIST REGISTERED FROM THE NATIONAL BOARD FOR CERTIFICATION IN 5
OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY, INC., AND WHO IS EMPLOYED BY A LOCAL SCHOOL 6
BOARD OR THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION AS AN OCCUPATIONAL THERAPIST 7
AND NOT AN ADMINISTRATOR; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 8
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 9
SECTION 1. Section 37-19-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 10
amended as follows: 11
37-19-7. (1) Teachers' salaries in each public school 12
district shall be determined and paid in accordance with the scale 13
for teachers' salaries as provided in this subsection. For 14
teachers holding the following types of licenses or the equivalent 15
as determined by the State Board of Education, and the following 16
number of years of teaching experience, the scale shall be as 17
follows: 18
2022-2023 AND SUBSEQUENT SCHOOL YEARS MINIMUM SALARY SCHEDULE 19
Exp. AAAA AAA AA A 20
0 45,500.00 44,000.00 43,000.00 41,500.00 21
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1 46,100.00 44,550.00 43,525.00 41,900.00 22
2 46,700.00 45,100.00 44,050.00 42,300.00 23
3 47,300.00 45,650.00 44,575.00 42,700.00 24
4 47,900.00 46,200.00 45,100.00 43,100.00 25
5 49,250.00 47,500.00 46,350.00 44,300.00 26
6 49,850.00 48,050.00 46,875.00 44,700.00 27
7 50,450.00 48,600.00 47,400.00 45,100.00 28
8 51,050.00 49,150.00 47,925.00 45,500.00 29
9 51,650.00 49,700.00 48,450.00 45,900.00 30
10 53,000.00 51,000.00 49,700.00 47,100.00 31
11 53,600.00 51,550.00 50,225.00 47,500.00 32
12 54,200.00 52,100.00 50,750.00 47,900.00 33
13 54,800.00 52,650.00 51,275.00 48,300.00 34
14 55,400.00 53,200.00 51,800.00 48,700.00 35
15 56,750.00 54,500.00 53,050.00 49,900.00 36
16 57,350.00 55,050.00 53,575.00 50,300.00 37
17 57,950.00 55,600.00 54,100.00 50,700.00 38
18 58,550.00 56,150.00 54,625.00 51,100.00 39
19 59,150.00 56,700.00 55,150.00 51,500.00 40
20 60,500.00 58,000.00 56,400.00 52,700.00 41
21 61,100.00 58,550.00 56,925.00 53,100.00 42
22 61,700.00 59,100.00 57,450.00 53,500.00 43
23 62,300.00 59,650.00 57,975.00 53,900.00 44
24 62,900.00 60,200.00 58,500.00 54,300.00 45
25 65,400.00 62,700.00 61,000.00 56,800.00 46
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26 66,000.00 63,250.00 61,525.00 57,200.00 47
27 66,600.00 63,800.00 62,050.00 57,600.00 48
28 67,200.00 64,350.00 62,575.00 58,000.00 49
29 67,800.00 64,900.00 63,100.00 58,400.00 50
30 68,400.00 65,450.00 63,625.00 58,800.00 51
31 69,000.00 66,000.00 64,150.00 59,200.00 52
32 69,600.00 66,550.00 64,675.00 59,600.00 53
33 70,200.00 67,100.00 65,200.00 60,000.00 54
34 70,800.00 67,650.00 65,725.00 60,400.00 55
35 56
& above 71,400.00 68,200.00 66,250.00 60,800.00 57
* * * 58
The school district, with assistance from the Department of 59
Education, shall consider the teacher's years of service and 60
license type and determine the corresponding salary for * * * a 61
retired teacher. After determining the retired teacher's 62
corresponding salary, the school district may allocate up to one 63
hundred twenty-five percent (125%) of the amount provided under 64
the salary schedule for such teacher, as applicable, as salary and 65
assessment under the program. 66
After determining the retired teacher's salary, the school 67
district may pay no more than fifty percent (50%) of the retired 68
teacher's compensation as salary to the retired teacher. The 69
remaining fifty percent (50%) of the retired teacher's 70
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compensation as salary shall be paid by the school district to 71
PERS as a pension liability participation assessment. 72
It is the intent of the Legislature that any state funds made 73
available for salaries of licensed personnel in excess of the 74
funds paid for such salaries for the 1986-1987 school year shall 75
be paid to licensed personnel pursuant to a personnel appraisal 76
and compensation system implemented by the State Board of 77
Education. The State Board of Education shall have the authority 78
to adopt and amend rules and regulations as are necessary to 79
establish, administer and maintain the system. 80
All teachers employed on a full-time basis shall be paid a 81
minimum salary in accordance with the above scale. However, no 82
school district shall receive any funds under this section for any 83
school year during which the local supplement paid to any 84
individual teacher shall have been reduced to a sum less than that 85
paid to that individual teacher for performing the same duties 86
from local supplement during the immediately preceding school 87
year. The amount actually spent for the purposes of group health 88
and/or life insurance shall be considered as a part of the 89
aggregate amount of local supplement but shall not be considered a 90
part of the amount of individual local supplement. 91
The level of professional training of each teacher to be used 92
in establishing the salary for the teacher for each year shall be 93
determined by the type of valid teacher's license issued to that 94
teacher on or before October 1 of the current school year. 95
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However, school districts are authorized, in their discretion, to 96
negotiate the salary levels applicable to licensed employees who 97
are receiving retirement benefits from the retirement system of 98
another state. 99
(2) (a) The following employees shall receive an annual 100
salary supplement in the amount of Six Thousand Dollars 101
($6,000.00), plus fringe benefits, in addition to any other 102
compensation to which the employee may be entitled: 103
(i) Any licensed teacher or retired teacher 104
employed by a school district under the authority of Section 105
25-11-126 who has met the requirements and acquired a Master 106
Teacher certificate from the National Board for Professional 107
Teaching Standards and who is employed by a local school board or 108
the State Board of Education as a teacher and not as an 109
administrator. Such teacher shall submit documentation to the 110
State Department of Education that the certificate was received 111
prior to October 15 in order to be eligible for the full salary 112
supplement in the current school year, or the teacher shall submit 113
such documentation to the State Department of Education prior to 114
February 15 in order to be eligible for a prorated salary 115
supplement beginning with the second term of the school year. 116
(ii) A licensed nurse who has met the requirements 117
and acquired a certificate from the National Board for 118
Certification of School Nurses, Inc., and who is employed by a 119
local school board or the State Board of Education as a school 120
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nurse and not as an administrator. The licensed school nurse 121
shall submit documentation to the State Department of Education 122
that the certificate was received before October 15 in order to be 123
eligible for the full salary supplement in the current school 124
year, or the licensed school nurse shall submit the documentation 125
to the State Department of Education before February 15 in order 126
to be eligible for a prorated salary supplement beginning with the 127
second term of the school year. 128
(iii) Any licensed school counselor who has met 129
the requirements and acquired a National Certified School 130
Counselor (NCSC) endorsement from the National Board of Certified 131
Counselors and who is employed by a local school board or the 132
State Board of Education as a counselor and not as an 133
administrator. Such licensed school counselor shall submit 134
documentation to the State Department of Education that the 135
endorsement was received prior to October 15 in order to be 136
eligible for the full salary supplement in the current school 137
year, or the licensed school counselor shall submit such 138
documentation to the State Department of Education prior to 139
February 15 in order to be eligible for a prorated salary 140
supplement beginning with the second term of the school year. 141
However, any school counselor who started the National Board for 142
Professional Teaching Standards process for school counselors 143
between June 1, 2003, and June 30, 2004, and completes the 144
requirements and acquires the Master Teacher certificate shall be 145
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entitled to the master teacher supplement, and those counselors 146
who complete the process shall be entitled to a one-time 147
reimbursement for the actual cost of the process as outlined in 148
paragraph (b) of this subsection. 149
(iv) Any licensed speech-language pathologist and 150
audiologist who has met the requirements and acquired a 151
Certificate of Clinical Competence from the American 152
Speech-Language-Hearing Association and any certified academic 153
language therapist (CALT) who has met the certification 154
requirements of the Academic Language Therapy Association and who 155
is employed by a local school board. The licensed speech-language 156
pathologist and audiologist and certified academic language 157
therapist shall submit documentation to the State Department of 158
Education that the certificate or endorsement was received before 159
October 15 in order to be eligible for the full salary supplement 160
in the current school year, or the licensed speech-language 161
pathologist and audiologist and certified academic language 162
therapist shall submit the documentation to the State Department 163
of Education before February 15 in order to be eligible for a 164
prorated salary supplement beginning with the second term of the 165
school year. 166
(v) Any licensed athletic trainer who has met the 167
requirements and acquired Board Certification for the Athletic 168
Trainer from the Board of Certification, Inc., and who is employed 169
by a local school board or the State Board of Education as an 170
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athletic trainer and not as an administrator. The licensed 171
athletic trainer shall submit documentation to the State 172
Department of Education that the certificate was received before 173
October 15 in order to be eligible for the full salary supplement 174
in the current school year, or the licensed athletic trainer shall 175
submit the documentation to the State Department of Education 176
before February 15 in order to be eligible for a prorated salary 177
supplement beginning with the second term of the school year. 178
(vi) An occupational therapist who has met the 179
requirements and acquired initial certification as an Occupational 180
Therapist Registered from the National Board for Certification in 181
Occupational Therapy, Inc., and who is employed by a local school 182
board or the State Board of Education as an occupational therapist 183
and not an administrator. The certified occupational therapist 184
shall submit documentation to the State Department of Education 185
that the certification was received before October 15 in order to 186
be eligible for the full salary supplement in the current school 187
year, or the occupational therapist shall submit the documentation 188
to the State Department of Education before February 15 in order 189
to be eligible for a prorated salary supplement beginning with the 190
second term of the school year. 191
(b) An employee shall be reimbursed for the actual cost 192
of completing each component of acquiring the certificate or 193
endorsement, excluding any costs incurred for postgraduate 194
courses, not to exceed Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) for each 195
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component, not to exceed four (4) components, for a teacher, 196
school counselor * * *, speech-language pathologist and 197
audiologist, or occupational therapist, regardless of whether or 198
not the process resulted in the award of the certificate or 199
endorsement. A local school district or any private individual or 200
entity may pay the cost of completing the process of acquiring the 201
certificate or endorsement for any employee of the school district 202
described under paragraph (a), and the State Department of 203
Education shall reimburse the school district for such cost, 204
regardless of whether or not the process resulted in the award of 205
the certificate or endorsement. If a private individual or entity 206
has paid the cost of completing the process of acquiring the 207
certificate or endorsement for an employee, the local school 208
district may agree to directly reimburse the individual or entity 209
for such cost on behalf of the employee. 210
(c) All salary supplements, fringe benefits and process 211
reimbursement authorized under this subsection shall be paid 212
directly by the State Department of Education to the local school 213
district and shall be in addition to its allotments from the total 214
funding formula provided in Sections 37-151-200 through 37-151-215 215
and not a part thereof in accordance with regulations promulgated 216
by the State Board of Education. Local school districts shall not 217
reduce the local supplement paid to any employee receiving such 218
salary supplement, and the employee shall receive any local 219
supplement to which employees with similar training and experience 220
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otherwise are entitled. However, an educational employee shall 221
receive the salary supplement in the amount of Six Thousand 222
Dollars ($6,000.00) for only one (1) of the qualifying 223
certifications authorized under paragraph (a) of this subsection. 224
No school district shall provide more than one (1) annual salary 225
supplement under the provisions of this subsection to any one (1) 226
individual employee holding multiple qualifying national 227
certifications. 228
(d) If an employee for whom such cost has been paid, in 229
full or in part, by a local school district or private individual 230
or entity fails to complete the certification or endorsement 231
process, the employee shall be liable to the school district or 232
individual or entity for all amounts paid by the school district 233
or individual or entity on behalf of that employee toward his or 234
her certificate or endorsement. 235
(3) The following employees shall receive an annual salary 236
supplement in the amount of Four Thousand Dollars ($4,000.00), 237
plus fringe benefits, in addition to any other compensation to 238
which the employee may be entitled: 239
Effective July 1, 2016, if funds are available for that 240
purpose, any licensed teacher or retired teacher employed by a 241
local school district under the authority of Section 25-11-126 who 242
has met the requirements and acquired a Master Teacher Certificate 243
from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards and 244
who is employed in a public school district located in one (1) of 245
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the following counties: Claiborne, Adams, Jefferson, Wilkinson, 246
Amite, Bolivar, Coahoma, Leflore, Quitman, Sharkey, Issaquena, 247
Sunflower, Washington, Holmes, Yazoo * * * or Tallahatchie. The 248
salary supplement awarded under the provisions of this subsection 249
(3) shall be in addition to the salary supplement awarded under 250
the provisions of subsection (2) of this section. 251
Teachers who meet the qualifications for a salary supplement 252
under this subsection (3) who are assigned for less than one (1) 253
full year or less than full time for the school year shall receive 254
the salary supplement in a prorated manner, with the portion of 255
the teacher's assignment to the critical geographic area to be 256
determined as of June 15th of the school year. 257
(4) (a) This subsection shall be known and may be cited as 258
the "Mississippi Performance-Based Pay (MPBP)" plan. In addition 259
to the minimum base pay described in this section, only if funds 260
are available for that purpose, the State of Mississippi may 261
provide monies from state funds to school districts for the 262
purposes of rewarding licensed teachers, administrators and 263
nonlicensed personnel at individual schools showing improvement in 264
student test scores. The MPBP plan shall be developed by the 265
State Department of Education based on the following criteria: 266
(i) It is the express intent of this legislation 267
that the MPBP plan shall utilize only existing standards of 268
accreditation and assessment as established by the State Board of 269
Education. 270
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(ii) To ensure that all of Mississippi's teachers, 271
administrators and nonlicensed personnel at all schools have equal 272
access to the monies set aside in this section, the MPBP program 273
shall be designed to calculate each school's performance as 274
determined by the school's increase in scores from the prior 275
school year. The MPBP program shall be based on a standardized 276
scores rating where all levels of schools can be judged in a 277
statistically fair and reasonable way upon implementation. At the 278
end of each year, after all student achievement scores have been 279
standardized, the State Department of Education shall implement 280
the MPBP plan. 281
(iii) To ensure all teachers cooperate in the 282
spirit of teamwork, individual schools shall submit a plan to the 283
local school district to be approved before the beginning of each 284
school year. The plan shall include, but not be limited to, how 285
all teachers, regardless of subject area, and administrators will 286
be responsible for improving student achievement for their 287
individual school. 288
(b) The State Board of Education shall develop the 289
processes and procedures for designating schools eligible to 290
participate in the MPBP. State assessment results, growth in 291
student achievement at individual schools and other measures 292
deemed appropriate in designating successful student achievement 293
shall be used in establishing MPBP criteria. 294
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ST: Public education; provide annual salary
supplement to certain occupational therapists.
(5) (a) If funds are available for that purpose, each 295
school in Mississippi shall have mentor teachers, as defined by 296
Sections 37-9-201 through 37-9-213, who shall receive additional 297
base compensation provided for by the State Legislature in the 298
amount of One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) per each beginning 299
teacher that is being mentored. The additional state compensation 300
shall be limited to those mentor teachers that provide mentoring 301
services to beginning teachers. For the purposes of such funding, 302
a beginning teacher shall be defined as any teacher in any school 303
in Mississippi that has less than one (1) year of classroom 304
experience teaching in a public school. For the purposes of such 305
funding, no full-time academic teacher shall mentor more than two 306
(2) beginning teachers. 307
(b) To be eligible for this state funding, the 308
individual school must have a classroom management program 309
approved by the local school board. 310
(6) Effective with the 2014-2015 school year, the school 311
districts participating in the Pilot Performance-Based 312
Compensation System pursuant to Section 37-19-9 may award 313
additional teacher and administrator pay based thereon. 314
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from 315
and after July 1, 2026. 316