Arkansas Administrative Code
Agency 005 - DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Division 16 - Division of Human Resources ***
Rule 005.16.09-001 - ADE 278: Rules Governing Incentives for Teacher Recruitment & Retention in High Priority Districts
Universal Citation: AR Admin Rules 005.16.09-001
Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 9, September, 2024
1.00 Regulatory Authority
1.01 These
rules shall be known as the Arkansas Department of Education Rules Governing
Incentives for Teacher Recruitment and Retention in High Priority
Districts.
1.02 These rules are
enacted pursuant to the Arkansas State Board of Education's authority under
Ark. Code Ann. §§ 6-11 -105,
6-17-811,
25-15-201 et seq. and Act 969 of
2009.
2.00 Purpose
The purpose of this rule is to establish the procedures to provide incentives for teacher recruitment and retention in high priority districts.
3.00 Definitions
Unless otherwise specifically stated herein, the term:
3.01 Department - Means the Arkansas
Department of Education.
3.02 High
Priority District - Means a public school district identified by the Department
by April 15 of each year in which eighty percent (80%) or more of public school
students are eligible for the free or reduced-price lunch program under the
National School Lunch Act based on the October 1 student count of the previous
year submitted to the Department of Education; and
3.02.1 had a three-quarter average daily
membership in the previous year of one thousand (1,000) or fewer students,
or
3.02.2 qualifying teachers in
the resulting school district in an approved voluntary consolidation or in a
receiving district in an approved voluntary annexation shall continue to
receive the funding provided under this section if all school districts in the
voluntary consolidation or annexation were high-priority districts in the
immediately preceding school year, even if the average daily membership of the
resulting or receiving school district is one thousand (1,000) or
above.
3.03 New Teacher
Bonus - Means an incentive bonus provided under Sections 4.01.1 through 4.01.3
of these rules to a teacher who is within the first three (3) years of
employment with a single high priority district.
3.04 Previous year - Means the school year
immediately preceding the current school year.
3.05 Provision 2 School District - Means a
school district that participates, pursuant to Provision 2 of the National
School Lunch Act, in a program operated by the United States Department of
Agriculture that allows the district to make eligibility determinations for
free and reduced-price meals during an initial base year and continue providing
free and reduced-price meals using the base year calculations for up to three
additional years beyond the base year.
3.06 Retention Bonus - Means an incentive
bonus of three thousand dollars ($3,000) to be paid to a teacher who has
received a new teacher bonus and enters his or her fourth or subsequent year of
service in the same or other high- priority school district or for a teacher
employed in a high-priority district who does not meet the requirements of
Sections 4.01.1 through 4.01.3 of these rules.
3.07 Teacher - Means a licensed classroom
teacher who spends seventy percent (70%) of his or her time working directly
with students in a classroom setting teaching all grade-level or subject-matter
appropriate classes, including guidance counselors and
librarians.
4.00 Incentives
4.01 At the end of the
school year and upon completion on a licensed teacher's contracted teaching
obligation, a teacher who completes the entire current school year teaching in
a high-priority district may be entitled to receive, in addition to all
other_contracted salary and benefits:
4.01.1
A newly hired teacher who has not previously taught in a high-priority
district, a one-time signing bonus of five thousand dollars ($5,000) for the
first year of service in the district to be paid upon completion of the full
year of teaching.
4.01.2 A newly
hired teacher who meets the requirements of Section 4.01.1 of these rules, who
continues to teach in the same high-priority district and who completes the
second full year of contracted teaching obligations, a new teacher bonus of
four thousand dollars ($4,000).
4.01.3 A teacher who meets the requirements
of Sections 4.01.1 and 4.01.2 of these rules, who continues to teach in the
same high- priority district and who completes the third full year of
contracted teaching obligations, a new teacher bonus in the amount of four
thousand dollars ($4,000).
4.01.4 A
teacher who meets the requirements of Sections 4.01.1 through 4.01.3 of these
rules, who enters the fourth or subsequent year of service with the same
high-priority district or begins employment with a high-priority district other
than the high-priority district where he or she was employed when he or she
received any bonuses pursuant to Sections 4.01.1 through 4.01.3 above shall
receive a retention bonus of three thousand dollars ($3,000) for the fourth and
each subsequent complete year of service in the high-priority district to be
paid at the end of the school year after completing all contractual
obligations
4.01.5 A teacher
employed in a high priority district who does not meet the requirements of
Sections 4.01.1 through 4.01.3 of these rules, shall receive a retention bonus
of three thousand dollars ($3,000) for each complete year of service in the
high-priority district to be paid at the end of the school year after
completing all contractual obligations.
4.02 The Superintendent of the high-priority
district where the teacher is employed shall certify in writing to the
Department that the teacher has completed all contractual obligations for the
school year. The Superintendent shall submit such certification information for
applicable teachers to the Department no more than twenty-one (21) calendar
days after the end of the high-priority district's school year.
4.03 No teacher is entitled to any incentives
outlined in Section 4.01 above unless the teacher has fulfilled all contractual
obligations for the current school year.
4.04 If the funds appropriated and available
for the payment of the bonuses under this section are insufficient to pay the
maximum bonus amounts to each qualifying teacher, the Department shall
distribute the available funding to qualified teachers on a pro rata
basis.
4.05 The bonus amounts
provided under this section are the maximum amounts to be paid to qualifying
teachers in high-priority districts, and are subject to the appropriation and
availability of funding for the payment of the bonuses.
5.00 Documentation
5.01 Beginning in 2007-2008, the Department
shall issue by September 1 of each year a list of the high priority districts
in which eighty percent (80%) or more of the public school students are
eligible for the free or reduced-price lunch program under the National School
Lunch Act and that had a three-quarter average daily membership in the previous
year of one thousand (1,000) or fewer students.
5.02 Beginning in 2007-2008, the Free and
Reduced Price Meal calculation shall be based on the list of eligible students
in a district as verified by the Child Nutrition Unit of the Department based
on the October 1 list of eligible for grades K-12 for the previous school
year.
5.03 The determination of
eligibility for high priority district designation under Section 5.01 of these
Rules for a Provision 2 school district shall be made utilizing the number of
students eligible for free and reduced-price meals submitted by the district
for the Department during its base year. In order to be eligible for high
priority district designation, eighty percent (80%) or more of a Provision 2
school district's students must actually be eligible for the free or
reduced-price lunch program under the National School Lunch Act based on the
district's base year calculation.
5.04 The determination of eligibility for
high priority district designation in annexed or consolidated districts is made
based on the combination of enrollment, average daily membership and free and
reduced-price meal calculations for the two or more districts that were annexed
or consolidated.
5.05 Beginning in
2007-2008, high priority districts shall notify the Department on forms
provided by the Department, and identify all eligible teachers employed at the
high priority district for the current school year. The district shall list
teachers who were not employed by the high priority district during the
previous school year and teachers employed the previous school year who
continue to be employed for the current school year.
5.06 Upon receipt of the form from each high
priority district and the written certification from the Superintendent
required by Section 4.02 of these rules, the Department shall distribute the
funds to the districts who will distribute the appropriate bonuses to the
teachers employed by the high priority districts.
5.07 Districts will be responsible for the
payment of all matching benefit payments.
6.00 Monitoring of Program
6.01 It shall be the responsibility of each
high- priority district to monitor the incentive bonus distribution in their
district and provide data to the Arkansas Department of Education.
6.02 The Arkansas Department of Education's
Teacher Recruitment and Retention Unit will collect the data and monitor the
total program for the state.
Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. Arkansas may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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