School employee salary supplement; provide for occupational therapists, behavior analysts and school psychologists.

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To: Education;
Appropriations
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Senator(s) McLendon

SENATE BILL NO. 2248

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 37-19-7, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO 1
REQUIRE THE PAYMENT OF AN ANNUAL SALARY SUPPLEMENT TO LICENSED 2
OCCUPATIONAL THERAPISTS, BEHAVIOR ANALYSTS AND CERTIFIED SCHOOL 3
PSYCHOLOGISTS AS PART OF THEIR COMPENSATION AS SCHOOL EMPLOYEES; 4
AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 5
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 6
SECTION 1. Section 37-19-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 7
amended as follows: 8
37-19-7. (1) Teachers' salaries in each public school 9
district shall be determined and paid in accordance with the scale 10
for teachers' salaries as provided in this subsection. For 11
teachers holding the following types of licenses or the equivalent 12
as determined by the State Board of Education, and the following 13
number of years of teaching experience, the scale shall be as 14
follows: 15
2022-2023 AND SUBSEQUENT SCHOOL YEARS MINIMUM SALARY SCHEDULE 16
Exp. AAAA AAA AA A 17
0 45,500.00 44,000.00 43,000.00 41,500.00 18
1 46,100.00 44,550.00 43,525.00 41,900.00 19
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2 46,700.00 45,100.00 44,050.00 42,300.00 20
3 47,300.00 45,650.00 44,575.00 42,700.00 21
4 47,900.00 46,200.00 45,100.00 43,100.00 22
5 49,250.00 47,500.00 46,350.00 44,300.00 23
6 49,850.00 48,050.00 46,875.00 44,700.00 24
7 50,450.00 48,600.00 47,400.00 45,100.00 25
8 51,050.00 49,150.00 47,925.00 45,500.00 26
9 51,650.00 49,700.00 48,450.00 45,900.00 27
10 53,000.00 51,000.00 49,700.00 47,100.00 28
11 53,600.00 51,550.00 50,225.00 47,500.00 29
12 54,200.00 52,100.00 50,750.00 47,900.00 30
13 54,800.00 52,650.00 51,275.00 48,300.00 31
14 55,400.00 53,200.00 51,800.00 48,700.00 32
15 56,750.00 54,500.00 53,050.00 49,900.00 33
16 57,350.00 55,050.00 53,575.00 50,300.00 34
17 57,950.00 55,600.00 54,100.00 50,700.00 35
18 58,550.00 56,150.00 54,625.00 51,100.00 36
19 59,150.00 56,700.00 55,150.00 51,500.00 37
20 60,500.00 58,000.00 56,400.00 52,700.00 38
21 61,100.00 58,550.00 56,925.00 53,100.00 39
22 61,700.00 59,100.00 57,450.00 53,500.00 40
23 62,300.00 59,650.00 57,975.00 53,900.00 41
24 62,900.00 60,200.00 58,500.00 54,300.00 42
25 65,400.00 62,700.00 61,000.00 56,800.00 43
26 66,000.00 63,250.00 61,525.00 57,200.00 44
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27 66,600.00 63,800.00 62,050.00 57,600.00 45
28 67,200.00 64,350.00 62,575.00 58,000.00 46
29 67,800.00 64,900.00 63,100.00 58,400.00 47
30 68,400.00 65,450.00 63,625.00 58,800.00 48
31 69,000.00 66,000.00 64,150.00 59,200.00 49
32 69,600.00 66,550.00 64,675.00 59,600.00 50
33 70,200.00 67,100.00 65,200.00 60,000.00 51
34 70,800.00 67,650.00 65,725.00 60,400.00 52
35 53
& above 71,400.00 68,200.00 66,250.00 60,800.00 54
* * * 55
The school district, with assistance from the Department of 56
Education, shall consider the teacher's years of service and 57
license type and determine the corresponding salary for the 58
retired teacher. After determining the retired teacher's 59
corresponding salary, the school district may allocate up to one 60
hundred twenty-five percent (125%) of the amount provided under 61
the salary schedule for such teacher, as applicable, as salary and 62
assessment under the program. 63
After determining the retired teacher's salary, the school 64
district may pay no more than fifty percent (50%) of the retired 65
teacher's compensation as salary to the retired teacher. The 66
remaining fifty percent (50%) of the retired teacher's 67
compensation as salary shall be paid by the school district to 68
PERS as a pension liability participation assessment. 69
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It is the intent of the Legislature that any state funds made 70
available for salaries of licensed personnel in excess of the 71
funds paid for such salaries for the 1986-1987 school year shall 72
be paid to licensed personnel pursuant to a personnel appraisal 73
and compensation system implemented by the State Board of 74
Education. The State Board of Education shall have the authority 75
to adopt and amend rules and regulations as are necessary to 76
establish, administer and maintain the system. 77
All teachers employed on a full-time basis shall be paid a 78
minimum salary in accordance with the above scale. However, no 79
school district shall receive any funds under this section for any 80
school year during which the local supplement paid to any 81
individual teacher shall have been reduced to a sum less than that 82
paid to that individual teacher for performing the same duties 83
from local supplement during the immediately preceding school 84
year. The amount actually spent for the purposes of group health 85
and/or life insurance shall be considered as a part of the 86
aggregate amount of local supplement but shall not be considered a 87
part of the amount of individual local supplement. 88
The level of professional training of each teacher to be used 89
in establishing the salary for the teacher for each year shall be 90
determined by the type of valid teacher's license issued to that 91
teacher on or before October 1 of the current school year. 92
However, school districts are authorized, in their discretion, to 93
negotiate the salary levels applicable to licensed employees who 94
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are receiving retirement benefits from the retirement system of 95
another state. 96
(2) (a) The following employees shall receive an annual 97
salary supplement in the amount of Six Thousand Dollars 98
($6,000.00), plus fringe benefits, in addition to any other 99
compensation to which the employee may be entitled: 100
(i) Any licensed teacher or retired teacher 101
employed by a school district under the authority of Section 102
25-11-126 who has met the requirements and acquired a Master 103
Teacher certificate from the National Board for Professional 104
Teaching Standards and who is employed by a local school board or 105
the State Board of Education as a teacher and not as an 106
administrator. Such teacher shall submit documentation to the 107
State Department of Education that the certificate was received 108
prior to October 15 in order to be eligible for the full salary 109
supplement in the current school year, or the teacher shall submit 110
such documentation to the State Department of Education prior to 111
February 15 in order to be eligible for a prorated salary 112
supplement beginning with the second term of the school year. 113
(ii) A licensed nurse who has met the requirements 114
and acquired a certificate from the National Board for 115
Certification of School Nurses, Inc., and who is employed by a 116
local school board or the State Board of Education as a school 117
nurse and not as an administrator. The licensed school nurse 118
shall submit documentation to the State Department of Education 119
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that the certificate was received before October 15 in order to be 120
eligible for the full salary supplement in the current school 121
year, or the licensed school nurse shall submit the documentation 122
to the State Department of Education before February 15 in order 123
to be eligible for a prorated salary supplement beginning with the 124
second term of the school year. 125
(iii) Any licensed school counselor who has met 126
the requirements and acquired a National Certified School 127
Counselor (NCSC) endorsement from the National Board of Certified 128
Counselors and who is employed by a local school board or the 129
State Board of Education as a counselor and not as an 130
administrator. Such licensed school counselor shall submit 131
documentation to the State Department of Education that the 132
endorsement was received prior to October 15 in order to be 133
eligible for the full salary supplement in the current school 134
year, or the licensed school counselor shall submit such 135
documentation to the State Department of Education prior to 136
February 15 in order to be eligible for a prorated salary 137
supplement beginning with the second term of the school year. 138
However, any school counselor who started the National Board for 139
Professional Teaching Standards process for school counselors 140
between June 1, 2003, and June 30, 2004, and completes the 141
requirements and acquires the Master Teacher certificate shall be 142
entitled to the master teacher supplement, and those counselors 143
who complete the process shall be entitled to a one-time 144
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reimbursement for the actual cost of the process as outlined in 145
paragraph (b) of this subsection. 146
(iv) Any licensed speech-language pathologist and 147
audiologist who has met the requirements and acquired a 148
Certificate of Clinical Competence from the American 149
Speech-Language-Hearing Association and any certified academic 150
language therapist (CALT) who has met the certification 151
requirements of the Academic Language Therapy Association and who 152
is employed by a local school board. The licensed speech-language 153
pathologist and audiologist and certified academic language 154
therapist shall submit documentation to the State Department of 155
Education that the certificate or endorsement was received before 156
October 15 in order to be eligible for the full salary supplement 157
in the current school year, or the licensed speech-language 158
pathologist and audiologist and certified academic language 159
therapist shall submit the documentation to the State Department 160
of Education before February 15 in order to be eligible for a 161
prorated salary supplement beginning with the second term of the 162
school year. 163
(v) Any licensed athletic trainer who has met the 164
requirements and acquired Board Certification for the Athletic 165
Trainer from the Board of Certification, Inc., and who is employed 166
by a local school board or the State Board of Education as an 167
athletic trainer and not as an administrator. The licensed 168
athletic trainer shall submit documentation to the State 169
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Department of Education that the certificate was received before 170
October 15 in order to be eligible for the full salary supplement 171
in the current school year, or the licensed athletic trainer shall 172
submit the documentation to the State Department of Education 173
before February 15 in order to be eligible for a prorated salary 174
supplement beginning with the second term of the school year. 175
(vi) Any occupational therapist who has met the 176
requirements and acquired initial certification as an Occupational 177
Therapist Registered from the National Board Certification of 178
Occupational Therapy. The licensed occupational therapist shall 179
submit documentation to the State Department of Education that the 180
certification was received before October 15 of each year in order 181
to be eligible for the full salary supplement in the current 182
school year, or the occupational therapist shall submit the 183
documentation to the State Department of Education before February 184
15 of each year in order to be eligible for a prorated salary 185
supplement beginning with the second term of the school year. 186
(vii) Any behavior analyst who has met the 187
requirements and acquired the status of Board Certified Behavior 188
Analyst (BCBA) from the Behavior Analyst Certification Board 189
(BACB), is licensed to practice in the State of Mississippi by the 190
Mississippi Autism Board, and is employed by a local school board. 191
The licensed BCBA shall submit documentation to the State 192
Department of Education that the certificate or endorsement was 193
received before October 15 in order to be eligible for the full 194
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salary supplement in the current school year, or the licensed BCBA 195
shall submit the documentation to the State Department of 196
Education before February 15 in order to be eligible for a 197
prorated salary supplement beginning with the second term of the 198
school year. 199
(viii) Any school psychologist who has met the 200
requirements and acquired the proper certification, is licensed to 201
practice in the State of Mississippi, and is employed by a local 202
school board. The school psychologist shall submit documentation 203
to the State Department of Education that the certificate or 204
endorsement was received before October 15 in order to be eligible 205
for the full salary supplement in the current school year, or the 206
school psychologist shall submit the documentation to the State 207
Department of Education before February 15 in order to be eligible 208
for a prorated salary supplement beginning with the second term of 209
the school year. 210
(b) An employee shall be reimbursed for the actual cost 211
of completing each component of acquiring the certificate or 212
endorsement, excluding any costs incurred for postgraduate 213
courses, not to exceed Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) for each 214
component, not to exceed four (4) components, for a teacher, 215
school counselor or speech-language pathologist and audiologist, 216
regardless of whether or not the process resulted in the award of 217
the certificate or endorsement. A local school district or any 218
private individual or entity may pay the cost of completing the 219
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process of acquiring the certificate or endorsement for any 220
employee of the school district described under paragraph (a), and 221
the State Department of Education shall reimburse the school 222
district for such cost, regardless of whether or not the process 223
resulted in the award of the certificate or endorsement. If a 224
private individual or entity has paid the cost of completing the 225
process of acquiring the certificate or endorsement for an 226
employee, the local school district may agree to directly 227
reimburse the individual or entity for such cost on behalf of the 228
employee. 229
(c) All salary supplements, fringe benefits and process 230
reimbursement authorized under this subsection shall be paid 231
directly by the State Department of Education to the local school 232
district and shall be in addition to its allotments from the total 233
funding formula provided in Sections 37-151-200 through 37-151-215 234
and not a part thereof in accordance with regulations promulgated 235
by the State Board of Education. Local school districts shall not 236
reduce the local supplement paid to any employee receiving such 237
salary supplement, and the employee shall receive any local 238
supplement to which employees with similar training and experience 239
otherwise are entitled. However, an educational employee shall 240
receive the salary supplement in the amount of Six Thousand 241
Dollars ($6,000.00) for only one (1) of the qualifying 242
certifications authorized under paragraph (a) of this subsection. 243
No school district shall provide more than one (1) annual salary 244
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supplement under the provisions of this subsection to any one (1) 245
individual employee holding multiple qualifying national 246
certifications. 247
(d) If an employee for whom such cost has been paid, in 248
full or in part, by a local school district or private individual 249
or entity fails to complete the certification or endorsement 250
process, the employee shall be liable to the school district or 251
individual or entity for all amounts paid by the school district 252
or individual or entity on behalf of that employee toward his or 253
her certificate or endorsement. 254
(3) The following employees shall receive an annual salary 255
supplement in the amount of Four Thousand Dollars ($4,000.00), 256
plus fringe benefits, in addition to any other compensation to 257
which the employee may be entitled: 258
Effective July 1, 2016, if funds are available for that 259
purpose, any licensed teacher or retired teacher employed by a 260
local school district under the authority of Section 25-11-126 who 261
has met the requirements and acquired a Master Teacher Certificate 262
from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards and 263
who is employed in a public school district located in one (1) of 264
the following counties: Claiborne, Adams, Jefferson, Wilkinson, 265
Amite, Bolivar, Coahoma, Leflore, Quitman, Sharkey, Issaquena, 266
Sunflower, Washington, Holmes, Yazoo and Tallahatchie. The salary 267
supplement awarded under the provisions of this subsection (3) 268
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shall be in addition to the salary supplement awarded under the 269
provisions of subsection (2) of this section. 270
Teachers who meet the qualifications for a salary supplement 271
under this subsection (3) who are assigned for less than one (1) 272
full year or less than full time for the school year shall receive 273
the salary supplement in a prorated manner, with the portion of 274
the teacher's assignment to the critical geographic area to be 275
determined as of June 15th of the school year. 276
(4) (a) This subsection shall be known and may be cited as 277
the "Mississippi Performance-Based Pay (MPBP)" plan. In addition 278
to the minimum base pay described in this section, only if funds 279
are available for that purpose, the State of Mississippi may 280
provide monies from state funds to school districts for the 281
purposes of rewarding licensed teachers, administrators and 282
nonlicensed personnel at individual schools showing improvement in 283
student test scores. The MPBP plan shall be developed by the 284
State Department of Education based on the following criteria: 285
(i) It is the express intent of this legislation 286
that the MPBP plan shall utilize only existing standards of 287
accreditation and assessment as established by the State Board of 288
Education. 289
(ii) To ensure that all of Mississippi's teachers, 290
administrators and nonlicensed personnel at all schools have equal 291
access to the monies set aside in this section, the MPBP program 292
shall be designed to calculate each school's performance as 293
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determined by the school's increase in scores from the prior 294
school year. The MPBP program shall be based on a standardized 295
scores rating where all levels of schools can be judged in a 296
statistically fair and reasonable way upon implementation. At the 297
end of each year, after all student achievement scores have been 298
standardized, the State Department of Education shall implement 299
the MPBP plan. 300
(iii) To ensure all teachers cooperate in the 301
spirit of teamwork, individual schools shall submit a plan to the 302
local school district to be approved before the beginning of each 303
school year. The plan shall include, but not be limited to, how 304
all teachers, regardless of subject area, and administrators will 305
be responsible for improving student achievement for their 306
individual school. 307
(b) The State Board of Education shall develop the 308
processes and procedures for designating schools eligible to 309
participate in the MPBP. State assessment results, growth in 310
student achievement at individual schools and other measures 311
deemed appropriate in designating successful student achievement 312
shall be used in establishing MPBP criteria. 313
(5) (a) If funds are available for that purpose, each 314
school in Mississippi shall have mentor teachers, as defined by 315
Sections 37-9-201 through 37-9-213, who shall receive additional 316
base compensation provided for by the State Legislature in the 317
amount of One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) per each beginning 318
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ST: School employee salary supplement; provide
for occupational therapists, behavior analysts
and school psychologists.
teacher that is being mentored. The additional state compensation 319
shall be limited to those mentor teachers that provide mentoring 320
services to beginning teachers. For the purposes of such funding, 321
a beginning teacher shall be defined as any teacher in any school 322
in Mississippi that has less than one (1) year of classroom 323
experience teaching in a public school. For the purposes of such 324
funding, no full-time academic teacher shall mentor more than two 325
(2) beginning teachers. 326
(b) To be eligible for this state funding, the 327
individual school must have a classroom management program 328
approved by the local school board. 329
(6) Effective with the 2014-2015 school year, the school 330
districts participating in the Pilot Performance-Based 331
Compensation System pursuant to Section 37-19-9 may award 332
additional teacher and administrator pay based thereon. 333
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from 334
and after July 1, 2026. 335