Arkansas Administrative Code
Agency 005 - DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Division 28 - Division of Elementary and Secondary Education
Rule 005.28.21-004 - Master Principal
Universal Citation: AR Admin Rules 005.28.21-004
Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 9, September, 2024
Governing Eligibility and Financial Incentives for Arkansas Leadership Academy Master Principal Program Effective Date June 2,2022
1.00 Regulatory Authority
1.01 These rules shall be known as the
Arkansas Department of Education Division of Elementary and Secondary Education
(Division) Rules Governing the Arkansas Leadership Academy Master Principal
Program.
1.02 These rules are
enacted under the Arkansas State Board of Education's (State Board) authority
pursuant to Ark. Code. Ann.§§ 611-105, 6-17- 1601 et seq., and
25-15-201 et
seq.
2.00 Purpose
2.01 The purpose of these rules is:
2.1.1 The improvement of student learning by
strengthening principal leadership;
2.1.2 The encouragement of principals to
participate in and complete the Master Principal Program by authorizing the
Division to pay full incentive bonuses to participants;
2.1.3 The establishment of eligibility
requirements; and
2.1.4 The
establishment of the mechanism for the payment to principal participants, as
determined by the amount of funding available for the program.
Source: Ark. Code Ann.§ 6-17-1602
3.00 Definitions
For the purposes of these rules, the following terms shall mean:
3.01 "Building Level Principal"
means a principal who holds a standard building-level administrator license
from the Division or is working under an approved licensure exception, and who
serves as a full-time school principal in an Arkansas public school.
3.02 "High-need public school" means an
Arkansas public school that at the time a master principal first becomes
entitled to a high-need school salary bonus, is identified as failing to meet
certain established levels of academic achievement under rules adopted by the
State Board.
3.03 "High-need school
salary bonus" means an annual bonus to a Master Principal serving as a
principal of a high-need public school. High needs schools will be schools that
are identified every three years as in need of comprehensive support and
improvement (CSI) using the ESSA School Index score as approved in Arkansas
ESSA plan:
3.03.1 Lowest performing 5% of all
schools receiving Title I Part A funds.
3.03.2 High schools with a four-year Adjusted
Cohort Graduation Rate below 66.667 percent
3.04 "Hold-back longevity bonus" means a
portion of the high-need school salary bonus held back to be paid at the end of
three (3) years and five (5) years of serving as a principal of the same
high-need public school.
3.05
"Incentive bonus" means a bonus paid to a Master Principal serving as a
principal of any public school in the state.
3.06 "Successful completion" of the Master
Principal Designation process is defined as officially being designated as a
Master Principal by the Arkansas Leadership Academy.
3.07 "The Arkansas Leadership Academy" is
defined as a collaborative partnership which identifies and designates
principals who meet rigorous standards by effectively demonstrating student
learning in their schools as well as demonstrating high levels of knowledge,
skills, dispositions, and commitments approved by the State Board of Education.
Source: Ark. Code Ann.§ 6-17-1601
4.00 Selection Process and Requirements
4.01 The Arkansas Leadership
Academy administers the Master Principal Program.
4.01.1 Program applications are available
from the Arkansas Leadership Academy.
4.01.2 All Arkansas public school building
level principals with one (1) year of experience as a building-level principal
may apply. Preference will be given to applicants with three (3) or more years
of leadership experience. The years of experience preference may be evaluated
on a case by case basis.
4.01.3 The
number of participants each year in each phase may be determined by the amount
of funding available for the program.
4.02 Criteria and Selection to the Master
Principal Program
4.02.1 Phase I:
4.02.1.1 Phase I shall expand the knowledge
base and leadership skills of the principal.
4.02.1.2 Selection of participants for Phase
I will be based on responses to the application and on a balance of demographic
information.
4.02.1.3 The number of
participants each year may be determined by the amount of funding available for
the program.
4.02.2
Phase II:
4.02.2.1 Phase II shall require the
principal to apply strategies and to collect evidence of improvement in student
learning and school processes.
4.02.2.2 Phase II participants are those who
have successfully demonstrated a thorough understanding and implementation of
Arkansas Leadership Standards addressed in Phase I as evidenced by Phase I
assessments, which may include portfolios, student achievement data, site
visits, self-assessments, and other forms of evidence.
4.02.3 Phase III: Selection of participants
for Phase III will be based on a participant's successful completion of Phase
II assessments, evidence of school results, and letters of recommendation.
4.02.3.1 Phase III shall require the
principal to publicly demonstrate the ability and skills that lead to sustained
academic improvement in a school and a school district.
4.02.3.2 Phase III participants are those who
have successfully demonstrated a thorough understanding and implementation of
Arkansas Leadership Standards addressed in Phase II as evidenced by Phase II
assessments, which may include portfolios, student achievement data, site
visits, self-assessments, and other forms of evidence.
4.02.4 Master Principal Designation: The
Arkansas Leadership Academy will make a Master Principal Designation after a
participant successfully completes Phase III, passes extensive reviews of
school results, and passes rigorous assessments based on the performance areas
of the assessment.
4.02.5
Participants in the Master Principal Program will have up to two (2) years to
complete the assessments for each phase for a maximum time of six (6) years to
complete the program and earn designation, unless extended at the discretion of
the Arkansas Leadership Academy due to extenuating circumstances.
Source: Ark. Code Ann. § 6-17-1602
5.00 Payment of Fees and Bonuses
5.01 Incentive Bonus
5.01.1 The Division of Elementary and
Secondary Education shall pay a $9,000 annual incentive bonus to a school
district that employs a Master Principal Designee as a full-time building-level
principal for payment to the Master Principal Designee as a bonus in the first
school year after designation and a yearly bonus for each of the next four (4)
consecutive years of eligibility.
5.01.2 The lifetime maximum for an incentive
bonus is $45,000.
5.01.3 A
qualified applicant will establish eligibility for receipt of the incentive
bonus by submitting to the Division, on an annual basis, proof of:
5.01.3.1 Receiving the official Master
Principal Designation from the Arkansas Leadership Academy;
5.01.3.2 At the time of receiving the bonus,
being employed full-time as a building-level principal in an Arkansas public
school district, verified by the school district;
5.01.3.3 Not having received the $9,000
annual incentive bonus for more than four (4) years.
Source: Ark. Code Ann.§ 6-17-1603
5.02 High-need School
Salary Bonus
5.02.1 The Division shall pay a
high-need salary bonus of twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) for every
school year for no more than five (5) years to any building-level principal
who:
5.02.1.1 Receives Master Principal
Designation from the Leadership Academy; and
5.02.1.2 Is employed full time as a
building-level principal at the time of receiving the bonus in a high-need
public school.
5.02.2
The high-need school salary bonus shall be paid as follows:
5.02.2.1 Twenty thousand dollars ($20,000)
for each school year that a Master Principal is employed in a high-need public
school; and
5.02.2.2 An additional
five thousand dollars ($5,000) to be set aside for each qualifying school year
to be paid as follows:
5.02.2.2.1 An initial
hold-back longevity bonus of fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000) at the end of
three (3) consecutive school years as a Master Principal in the same school;
and
5.02.2.2.2 A final hold-back
longevity bonus of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) at the end of five (5)
consecutive school years as a Master Principal in the same school.
5.02.3 The high-need
school salary bonus with the hold-back longevity bonus payable under this
section shall be paid in addition to the five-year incentive bonus allowed in
5.01 if the Master Principal is within the timeframe for eligibility for the
five-year incentive bonus.
5.02.4
In the Master Principal Program, a person shall not receive a yearly incentive
bonus, a salary bonus, or a longevity bonus if the person leaves the full-time
employment as a principal of an Arkansas public school district.
5.02.5 No increase in the starting or yearly
bonus is retroactive.
Source: Ark. Code Ann. § 6-17-1604
6.00 Repayment of Yearly Incentive Bonus
6.01 Repayment of state funds
for the Arkansas Leadership Academy Master Principal is required if a recipient
does not complete the school-year in which the bonus was received as a
full-time buildinglevel principal. The repayment amount shall be prorated for
the time not served.
6.02 The State
Board may revoke a building-level administrator license for failure to repay
state funds under these rules.
7.00 Monitoring
7.01 The local public school district that
employs a Master Principal must verify to the Division annually the employment
status of that principal for each year of the five-year annual incentive bonus
eligibility.
8.00 Funding
8.01 The payment for any bonus under these
rules is subject to the appropriation and availability of funds.
8.02. To the extent funds as provided for by
Ark. Code Ann§
6-17-1601 et seq. are available,
such funds may be used to fund the incentive bonus, high-need salary bonus, and
hold-back longevity bonus.
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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