Adopted

AMENDMENT NO 1 PROPOSED TO

Cmte Sub for House Bill No. 1683

BY: Representative Owen

     Amend on line 1064, by striking "brought forward" and inserting in lieu thereof: "amended".

Further, amend after line 1101, by inserting the following:

     "(4)  (a)  The following charter school employees shall receive an annual salary supplement in the amount of Six Thousand Dollars ($6,000.00), in addition to any other compensation to which the charter employee may be entitled:

              (i)  Any licensed teacher who has met the requirements and acquired a Master Teacher certificate from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards and who is employed by a charter school as a teacher and not as an administrator.  Such teacher shall submit documentation to the State Department of Education that the certificate was received prior to October 15 in order to be eligible for the full salary supplement in the current school year, or the teacher shall submit such documentation to the State Department of Education prior to February 15 in order to be eligible for a prorated salary supplement beginning with the second term of the school year.

              (ii)  A licensed nurse who has met the requirements and acquired a certificate from the National Board for Certification of School Nurses, Inc., and who is employed by a charter school as a school nurse and not as an administrator.  The licensed school nurse shall submit documentation to the State Department of Education that the certificate was received before October 15 in order to be eligible for the full salary supplement in the current school year, or the licensed school nurse shall submit the documentation to the State Department of Education before February 15 in order to be eligible for a prorated salary supplement beginning with the second term of the school year.

              (iii)  Any licensed school counselor who has met the requirements and acquired a National Certified School Counselor (NCSC) endorsement from the National Board of Certified Counselors and who is employed by a charter school as a counselor and not as an administrator.  Such licensed school counselor shall submit documentation to the State Department of Education that the endorsement was received prior to October 15 in order to be eligible for the full salary supplement in the current school year, or the licensed school counselor shall submit such documentation to the State Department of Education prior to February 15 in order to be eligible for a prorated salary supplement beginning with the second term of the school year. 

              (iv)  Any licensed speech language pathologist and audiologist who has met the requirements and acquired a Certificate of Clinical Competence from the American Speech Language Hearing Association and any certified academic language therapist (CALT) who has met the certification requirements of the Academic Language Therapy Association and who is employed by a local school board.  The licensed speech language pathologist and audiologist and certified academic language therapist shall submit documentation to the State Department of Education that the certificate or endorsement was received before October 15 in order to be eligible for the full salary supplement in the current school year, or the licensed speech language pathologist and audiologist and certified academic language therapist shall submit the documentation to the State Department of Education before February 15 in order to be eligible for a prorated salary supplement beginning with the second term of the school year.

              (v)  Any licensed athletic trainer who has met the requirements and acquired Board Certification for the Athletic Trainer from the Board of Certification, Inc., and who is employed by a charter school as an athletic trainer and not as an administrator.  The licensed athletic trainer shall submit documentation to the State Department of Education that the certificate was received before October 15 in order to be eligible for the full salary supplement in the current school year, or the licensed athletic trainer shall submit the documentation to the State Department of Education before February 15 in order to be eligible for a prorated salary supplement beginning with the second term of the school year.

              (vi)  An occupational therapist who has met the requirements and acquired initial certification as an Occupational Therapist Registered from the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy, Inc., and who is employed by a charter school as an occupational therapist and not an administrator.  The certified occupational therapist shall submit documentation to the State Department of Education that the certification was received before October 15 of each year in order to be eligible for the full salary supplement in the current school year, or the occupational therapist shall submit the documentation to the State Department of Education before February 15 of each year in order to be eligible for a prorated salary supplement beginning with the second term of the school year.

              (vii)  Any licensed school psychologist who has met the requirements and acquired certification as a Nationally Certified School Psychologist (NCSP) from the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP), and who is employed by a charter school as a school psychologist.  The licensed school psychologist shall submit documentation to the State Department of Education that the certificate was received before October 15 in order to be eligible for the full salary supplement in the current school year, or the licensed school psychologist shall submit the documentation to the State Department of Education before February 15 in order to be eligible for a prorated salary supplement beginning with the second term of the school year.

          (b)  A charter school employee shall be reimbursed for the actual cost of completing each component of acquiring the certificate or endorsement, excluding any costs incurred for postgraduate courses, not to exceed Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) for each component, not to exceed four (4) components, for a teacher, school counselor or speech language pathologist and audiologist, regardless of whether or not the process resulted in the award of the certificate or endorsement.  The charter school governing board or any private individual or entity may pay the cost of completing the process of acquiring the certificate or endorsement for any employee of the school district described under paragraph (a), and the State Department of Education shall reimburse the charter for such cost, regardless of whether or not the process resulted in the award of the certificate or endorsement.  If a private individual or entity has paid the cost of completing the process of acquiring the certificate or endorsement for an employee, the charter school may agree to directly reimburse the individual or entity for such cost on behalf of the employee.

          (c)  All salary supplements and process reimbursement authorized under this subsection shall be paid directly by the State Department of Education to the charter school and shall be in addition to its adequate education program allotments and not a part thereof in accordance with regulations promulgated by the State Board of Education.  However, an educational employee shall receive the salary supplement in the amount of Six Thousand Dollars ($6,000.00) for only one (1) of the qualifying certifications authorized under paragraph (a) of this subsection.  No charter school shall provide more than one (1) annual salary supplement under the provisions of this subsection to any one (1) individual employee holding multiple qualifying national certifications.

          (d)  If an employee for whom such cost has been paid, in full or in part, by a charter school governing board or private individual or entity fails to complete the certification or endorsement process, the employee shall be liable to the charter school or individual or entity for all amounts paid by the charter school governing board or individual or entity on behalf of that employee toward his or her certificate or endorsement."

Further, amend on line 1848 by inserting the following before the period:

", and shall stand repealed on June 30, 2024".

     Further, amend the title to conform on line 5 by striking "37-28-47".

     Further, amend the title to conform on line 8 by inserting the following after the semicolon:

"TO AMEND SECTION 37-28-47, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT CHARTER SCHOOL EMPLOYEES HAVING SATISFIED ALL THE REQUIREMENTS FOR NATIONAL BOARD CERTIFICATION IN THEIR RESPECTIVE PROFESSIONAL DISCIPLINES, SHALL BE ENTITLED TO A $6,000.00 ANNUAL SALARY SUPPLEMENT;".