Bill Text: MS SB2598 | 2025 | Regular Session | Comm Sub
Bill Title: Retired teachers; allow certain other public school retirees to return to work as teachers, librarians or counselors.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 4-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2025-01-31 - Title Suff Do Pass Comm Sub [SB2598 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2025-SB2598-Comm_Sub.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2025 Regular Session
To: Education
By: Senator(s) Parker, Boyd, Williams, McLendon
Senate Bill 2598
(COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE)
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 25-11-126, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO ALLOW ANY PERSON WHO WAS EMPLOYED AS A PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHER OR ADMINISTRATOR AT THE TIME OF RETIREMENT, HAS BEEN RETIRED AT LEAST 90 DAYS AND IS RECEIVING A RETIREMENT ALLOWANCE, AND HOLDS THE APPLICABLE EDUCATOR LICENSE, TO BE EMPLOYED AS A TEACHER IN A SCHOOL DISTRICT AFTER RETIREMENT, AND CHOOSE TO CONTINUE RECEIVING THE RETIREMENT ALLOWANCE IN ADDITION TO A SALARY, ALONG WITH THE LOCAL CONTRIBUTION OF THE DISTRICT IN WHICH THE RETIREE IS EMPLOYED; TO REMOVE THE REQUIREMENT OF HAVING AT LEAST 30 YEARS OF CREDITABLE SERVICE; TO AUTHORIZE THE SCHOOL DISTRICT TO ALLOCATE, AS SALARY AND ASSESSMENT OF A RETIRED TEACHER RETURNING TO WORK AS A TEACHER, UP TO 150% OF THE AMOUNT PROVIDED UNDER THE SALARY SCHEDULE COMPARABLE TO THE YEARS OF SERVICE AND LICENSE TYPE OF THE TEACHER; TO PROVIDE THAT LOCAL EDUCATION AGENCIES MAY PAY, FROM LOCAL EDUCATION FUNDING, ALL OR A PORTION OF THE HEALTH INSURANCE PREMIUMS FOR RETIRED EMPLOYEES RETURNING TO WORK AS TEACHERS; TO AMEND SECTION 37-19-7, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CONFORM; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 25-11-126, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
25-11-126. (1) Any person * * *
who was employed as a public school teacher or administrator at the time
of his or her retirement, has been retired at least ninety (90) days and is
receiving a retirement allowance, and holds a standard teaching license in
Mississippi, may be employed as a teacher in a public school district after
retirement, and choose to continue receiving the retirement allowance under
this article during his or her employment as a teacher after retirement,
in addition to receiving the salary authorized under this section, along with
the local contribution of the school district in which the retiree is employed,
at the discretion of the school district. * * *
(2) A retired teacher or administrator may only be hired to teach in a school district designated by the Department of Education as having critical shortages and/or critical subject-area shortages, and a retiree returning to work as a teacher shall hold the related standard teaching license and/or endorsements to teach in the subject area. The base compensation authorized for returning retired employees working as teachers under Section 37-19-7 shall not be graduated annually in the same manner as teachers who are employed by a school district under traditional employment guidelines, but shall remain static for the entirety of his or her eligible teaching period as a retired employee returning to work as a teacher.
(3) (a) A retired teacher or
administrator may be employed as a teacher, continue receiving his or her
retirement allowance and be a contributing member of the system without
accruing additional retirement benefits for a total of five (5) years, which
may be performed consecutively or intermittently. This method is designed
specifically to provide funding for the system to actuarially offset any
pension liability created by this section. Each school district hiring retired * * * employees under the authority
of this section, shall make a direct payment to PERS, which shall serve as
pension liability participation assessment. The pension liability
participation assessment and the retired * * * employee's salary for
returning to work as a teacher shall be determined as follows:
(i) A school
district shall rely on the salary schedule in Section 37-19-7 in considering
the salary for a retired teacher or administrator returning to work as a
teacher; provided, however, that the school district may allocate up to * * *
one hundred and fifty percent (150%) of the amount provided under the
salary schedule comparable to * * * such teacher's years of service and
license type as salary and assessment under the program.
(ii) After
determining the retired * * * teacher's employee's compensation, the school
district may pay no more than fifty percent (50%) of the retired * * * employee's compensation as
salary to the retired * * * employee; and
(iii) The remaining fifty percent (50%) of the
retired * * * employee's compensation as
salary shall be paid by the school district to PERS as a pension liability
participation assessment.
(b) If a retired
teacher or administrator, reemployed under the authority of this
section, works in a school district for any portion of a scholastic year less
than a full contractual term of traditional teachers, the time worked by the
retired * * *
employee shall constitute one (1) of the five (5) years of post-retirement * * * working eligibility. A
retired * * *
employee, under the authority of this section, shall be entitled to work
in any applicable school district and shall not be obligated to remain in any
one (1) school district for the entirety of his or her post-retirement
teaching eligibility, but shall be cumulative in nature so as not to exceed
five (5) years. The salary authorized under Section 37-19-7 for retired employees
returning to work as teachers shall be prorated for any period worked by
the retired employee returning to work as a teacher that is less than
one (1) full academic year.
(c) The State
Department of Education shall transfer to the system the * * * total
funding formula funds of local school districts that on or after July 1,
2024, hire retired members as teachers under this section and other funds that
otherwise would have been payable to the districts if the districts had not
taken advantage of this section. The crediting of assets and financing shall
follow the provisions of Section 25-11-123.
(d) Local educational
agencies shall transfer to the system * * * the
total funding formula funds of local school districts that on or after July
1, 2024, hire retired members as teachers under this section and other funds
that otherwise would have been payable to the districts if the districts had
not taken advantage of this section. The crediting of assets and financing
must follow the provisions of Section 25-11-123.
(e) Local education agencies may pay, from local education funding, all or a portion of the health insurance premiums for retired employees returning to work as teachers under this section.
(4) Under the authority of this section, school districts may employ retired teachers or administrators based on criteria established by the department of education for critical teacher shortage areas and critical subject-matter areas. A school district that is not within a critical teacher shortage area may employ teachers for critical subject-matter areas.
(5) A person may be hired under this section subject to the following conditions:
(a) The retired member holds any teacher's professional license or certificate as may be required in Section 37-3-2, and holds the related standard teaching license and/or endorsements to teach in the applicable subject area;
(b) The superintendent of the employing school district certifies in writing to the State Department of Education that the retired member has the requisite experience, training and expertise for the position to be filled;
(c) The superintendent of the school district certifies or the principal of the school certifies that there was no preexisting arrangement for the person to be hired;
(d) The person had a satisfactory performance review for the most recent period before retirement; and
(e) The person is hired to teach in a critical subject-matter area or in a critical teacher shortage area.
(6) The State Superintendent of Public Education shall report the persons who are employed under this section to the Executive Director of the Public Employees' Retirement System.
(7) The department of
education shall promulgate regulations that prescribe a salary schedule that
reflects the provisions of this section. Each school district shall create a
policy, approved by the local school board, related to the hiring of retired
teachers or administrators and including, but not limited to, the hiring
of full- and part-time retired * * * employees to serve as teachers
under this section and Section 25-11-127.
(8) Any retired * * * employee who returns to work in
accordance with this section shall not be eligible to return to work under the
provisions of Section 25-11-127.
SECTION 2. Section 37-19-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
37-19-7. (1) Teachers' salaries in each public school district shall be determined and paid in accordance with the scale for teachers' salaries as provided in this subsection. For teachers holding the following types of licenses or the equivalent as determined by the State Board of Education, and the following number of years of teaching experience, the scale shall be as follows:
2022-2023 AND SUBSEQUENT SCHOOL YEARS MINIMUM SALARY SCHEDULE
Exp. AAAA AAA AA A
0 45,500.00 44,000.00 43,000.00 41,500.00
1 46,100.00 44,550.00 43,525.00 41,900.00
2 46,700.00 45,100.00 44,050.00 42,300.00
3 47,300.00 45,650.00 44,575.00 42,700.00
4 47,900.00 46,200.00 45,100.00 43,100.00
5 49,250.00 47,500.00 46,350.00 44,300.00
6 49,850.00 48,050.00 46,875.00 44,700.00
7 50,450.00 48,600.00 47,400.00 45,100.00
8 51,050.00 49,150.00 47,925.00 45,500.00
9 51,650.00 49,700.00 48,450.00 45,900.00
10 53,000.00 51,000.00 49,700.00 47,100.00
11 53,600.00 51,550.00 50,225.00 47,500.00
12 54,200.00 52,100.00 50,750.00 47,900.00
13 54,800.00 52,650.00 51,275.00 48,300.00
14 55,400.00 53,200.00 51,800.00 48,700.00
15 56,750.00 54,500.00 53,050.00 49,900.00
16 57,350.00 55,050.00 53,575.00 50,300.00
17 57,950.00 55,600.00 54,100.00 50,700.00
18 58,550.00 56,150.00 54,625.00 51,100.00
19 59,150.00 56,700.00 55,150.00 51,500.00
20 60,500.00 58,000.00 56,400.00 52,700.00
21 61,100.00 58,550.00 56,925.00 53,100.00
22 61,700.00 59,100.00 57,450.00 53,500.00
23 62,300.00 59,650.00 57,975.00 53,900.00
24 62,900.00 60,200.00 58,500.00 54,300.00
25 65,400.00 62,700.00 61,000.00 56,800.00
26 66,000.00 63,250.00 61,525.00 57,200.00
27 66,600.00 63,800.00 62,050.00 57,600.00
28 67,200.00 64,350.00 62,575.00 58,000.00
29 67,800.00 64,900.00 63,100.00 58,400.00
30 68,400.00 65,450.00 63,625.00 58,800.00
31 69,000.00 66,000.00 64,150.00 59,200.00
32 69,600.00 66,550.00 64,675.00 59,600.00
33 70,200.00 67,100.00 65,200.00 60,000.00
34 70,800.00 67,650.00 65,725.00 60,400.00
35
& above 71,400.00 68,200.00 66,250.00 60,800.00
2024-2025 AND SUBSEQUENT SCHOOL YEARS MINIMUM SALARY SCHEDULE
The school district, with
assistance from the Department of Education, shall consider the teacher's years
of service and license type and determine the corresponding salary for the
retired teacher or administrator returning to work as a teacher. After
determining the retired * * * teacher's employee's corresponding salary, the school
district may allocate up to * * * one
hundred and fifty percent (150%) of the amount provided under the salary
schedule for such retired employee returning to work as a teacher, as
applicable, as salary and assessment under the program.
After determining the * * * salary of the retired
employee returning to work as a teacher, the school district may pay no
more than fifty percent (50%) of the retired * * * employee's compensation as
salary to the retired * * * employee. The remaining fifty percent (50%) of the
retired * * *
employee's compensation as salary shall be paid by the school district
to PERS as a pension liability participation assessment.
It is the intent of the Legislature that any state funds made available for salaries of licensed personnel in excess of the funds paid for such salaries for the 1986-1987 school year shall be paid to licensed personnel pursuant to a personnel appraisal and compensation system implemented by the State Board of Education. The State Board of Education shall have the authority to adopt and amend rules and regulations as are necessary to establish, administer and maintain the system.
All teachers employed on a full-time basis shall be paid a minimum salary in accordance with the above scale. However, no school district shall receive any funds under this section for any school year during which the local supplement paid to any individual teacher shall have been reduced to a sum less than that paid to that individual teacher for performing the same duties from local supplement during the immediately preceding school year. The amount actually spent for the purposes of group health and/or life insurance shall be considered as a part of the aggregate amount of local supplement but shall not be considered a part of the amount of individual local supplement.
The level of professional training of each teacher to be used in establishing the salary for the teacher for each year shall be determined by the type of valid teacher's license issued to that teacher on or before October 1 of the current school year. However, school districts are authorized, in their discretion, to negotiate the salary levels applicable to licensed employees who are receiving retirement benefits from the retirement system of another state.
(2) (a) The following employees shall receive an annual salary supplement in the amount of Six Thousand Dollars ($6,000.00), plus fringe benefits, in addition to any other compensation to which the employee may be entitled:
(i) Any licensed teacher or retired employee returning to work as a teacher employed by a school district under the authority of Section 25-11-126 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 local school board or the State Board of Education 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 local school board or the State Board of Education 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 local school board or the State Board of Education 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. However, any school counselor who started the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards process for school counselors between June 1, 2003, and June 30, 2004, and completes the requirements and acquires the Master Teacher certificate shall be entitled to the master teacher supplement, and those counselors who complete the process shall be entitled to a one-time reimbursement for the actual cost of the process as outlined in paragraph (b) of this subsection.
(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 local school board or the State Board of Education 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.
(b) An 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. A local school district 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 school district 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 local school district may agree to directly reimburse the individual or entity for such cost on behalf of the employee.
(c) All salary supplements, fringe benefits and process reimbursement authorized under this subsection shall be paid directly by the State Department of Education to the local school district and shall be in addition to its allotments from the total funding formula provided in Sections 37-151-200 through 37-151-215 and not a part thereof in accordance with regulations promulgated by the State Board of Education. Local school districts shall not reduce the local supplement paid to any employee receiving such salary supplement, and the employee shall receive any local supplement to which employees with similar training and experience otherwise are entitled. 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 school district 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 local school district or private individual or entity fails to complete the certification or endorsement process, the employee shall be liable to the school district or individual or entity for all amounts paid by the school district or individual or entity on behalf of that employee toward his or her certificate or endorsement.
(3) The following employees shall receive an annual salary supplement in the amount of Four Thousand Dollars ($4,000.00), plus fringe benefits, in addition to any other compensation to which the employee may be entitled:
Effective July 1, 2016, if funds are available for that purpose, any licensed teacher or retired employee returning to work as a teacher employed by a local school district under the authority of Section 25-11-126 who has met the requirements and acquired a Master Teacher Certificate from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards and who is employed in a public school district located in one (1) of the following counties: Claiborne, Adams, Jefferson, Wilkinson, Amite, Bolivar, Coahoma, Leflore, Quitman, Sharkey, Issaquena, Sunflower, Washington, Holmes, Yazoo and Tallahatchie. The salary supplement awarded under the provisions of this subsection (3) shall be in addition to the salary supplement awarded under the provisions of subsection (2) of this section.
Teachers who meet the qualifications for a salary supplement under this subsection (3) who are assigned for less than one (1) full year or less than full time for the school year shall receive the salary supplement in a prorated manner, with the portion of the teacher's assignment to the critical geographic area to be determined as of June 15th of the school year.
(4) (a) This subsection shall be known and may be cited as the "Mississippi Performance-Based Pay (MPBP)" plan. In addition to the minimum base pay described in this section, only if funds are available for that purpose, the State of Mississippi may provide monies from state funds to school districts for the purposes of rewarding licensed teachers, administrators and nonlicensed personnel at individual schools showing improvement in student test scores. The MPBP plan shall be developed by the State Department of Education based on the following criteria:
(i) It is the express intent of this legislation that the MPBP plan shall utilize only existing standards of accreditation and assessment as established by the State Board of Education.
(ii) To ensure that all of Mississippi's teachers, administrators and nonlicensed personnel at all schools have equal access to the monies set aside in this section, the MPBP program shall be designed to calculate each school's performance as determined by the school's increase in scores from the prior school year. The MPBP program shall be based on a standardized scores rating where all levels of schools can be judged in a statistically fair and reasonable way upon implementation. At the end of each year, after all student achievement scores have been standardized, the State Department of Education shall implement the MPBP plan.
(iii) To ensure all teachers cooperate in the spirit of teamwork, individual schools shall submit a plan to the local school district to be approved before the beginning of each school year. The plan shall include, but not be limited to, how all teachers, regardless of subject area, and administrators will be responsible for improving student achievement for their individual school.
(b) The State Board of Education shall develop the processes and procedures for designating schools eligible to participate in the MPBP. State assessment results, growth in student achievement at individual schools and other measures deemed appropriate in designating successful student achievement shall be used in establishing MPBP criteria.
(5) (a) If funds are available for that purpose, each school in Mississippi shall have mentor teachers, as defined by Sections 37-9-201 through 37-9-213, who shall receive additional base compensation provided for by the State Legislature in the amount of One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) per each beginning teacher that is being mentored. The additional state compensation shall be limited to those mentor teachers that provide mentoring services to beginning teachers. For the purposes of such funding, a beginning teacher shall be defined as any teacher in any school in Mississippi that has less than one (1) year of classroom experience teaching in a public school. For the purposes of such funding, no full-time academic teacher shall mentor more than two (2) beginning teachers.
(b) To be eligible for this state funding, the individual school must have a classroom management program approved by the local school board.
(6) Effective with the 2014-2015 school year, the school districts participating in the Pilot Performance-Based Compensation System pursuant to Section 37-19-9 may award additional teacher and administrator pay based thereon.
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2025.
