168.515. Salary supplement for participants in career plan--method of distribution--amounts--matching funds, formula, contributions--bonus contribution, when--review of career pay--tax levy authorized - Missouri Statutes

Salary supplement for participants in career plan--method ofdistribution--amounts--matching funds, formula,contributions--bonus contribution, when--review of careerpay--tax levy authorized, when--use of funds--exception tocontribution.

168.515. 1. Each teacher selected to participate in a career planestablished under sections 168.500 to 168.515, who meets the requirementsof such plan, shall receive a salary supplement, the state's share of whichshall be distributed under section 163.031, RSMo, equal to the followingamounts applied to the career ladder entitlement of section 163.031, RSMo:

(1) Career stage I teachers may receive up to an additional onethousand five hundred dollars per school year;

(2) Career stage II teachers may receive up to an additional threethousand dollars per school year;

(3) Career stage III teachers may receive up to an additional fivethousand dollars per school year.

All teachers within each stage within the same school district shallreceive equal salary supplements.

2. The state shall make payments pursuant to section 163.031, RSMo,to the local school district for the purpose of reimbursing the localschool district for the payment of any salary supplements provided for inthis section, subject to the availability of funds as appropriated eachyear and distributed on a variable match formula which shall be based onassessed valuation of the district for the second preceding school year.

3. In distributing these matching funds, school districts shall beranked by the assessed valuation for the second preceding school year perweighted average daily attendance from the highest to the lowest anddivided into three groups. Group one shall contain the highest twenty-fivepercent of all public school districts, groups two and three combined shallcontain the remaining seventy-five percent of all public school districts.The districts in groups two and three shall be rank-ordered from largest tosmallest based on enrollment as of the last Wednesday in September duringthe second preceding school year, group two shall contain twenty-fivepercent of all public school districts that are larger on theenrollment-based rank-ordered list and group three shall contain theremaining fifty percent of all public school districts. Pursuant tosubsection 4 of this section, districts in group one shall receive fortypercent state funding and shall contribute sixty percent local funding,group two shall receive fifty percent state funding and shall contributefifty percent local funding and group three shall receive sixty percentstate funding and shall contribute forty percent local funding.

4. The incremental groups are as follows:

Percentage Percentage PercentageGroup of Districts of State Funding of Local Funding 1 25% 40% 60% 2 25% 50% 50% 3 50% 60% 40%

5. Beginning in the 1996-97 school year, any school district in anygroup which participated in the career ladder program in 1995-96 and paidless than the local funding percentage required by subsection 4 of thissection shall increase its local share of career ladder costs by fivepercentage points from the preceding year until the district pays thepercentage share of cost required by subsection 4 of this section, and inno case shall the local funding percentage be increased by a greater amountfor any year. For any district, the state payment shall not exceed thelocal payment times the state percentage share divided by the localpercentage share. Except as provided in subsection 10 of this section, anydistrict not participating in the 1995-96 school year or any district whichinterrupts its career ladder program for any subsequent year shall enterthe program on the cost-sharing basis required by subsection 4 of thissection.

6. Not less than every fourth year, beginning with calendar year1988, the general assembly, through the joint committee established undersection 160.254, RSMo, shall review the amount of the career pay providedfor in this section to determine if any increases are necessary to reflectthe increases in the cost of living which have occurred since the salarysupplements were last reviewed or set.

7. To participate in the salary supplement program established underthis section, a school district may submit to the voters of the district aproposition to increase taxes for this purpose. If a school district'scurrent tax rate ceiling is at or above the rate from which an increasewould require a two-thirds majority, the school board may submit to thevoters of the district a proposition to reduce or eliminate the amount ofthe levy reduction resulting from section 164.013, RSMo. If a majority ofthe voters voting thereon vote in favor of the proposition, the board maycertify that seventy-five percent of the revenue generated from this sourceshall be used to implement the salary supplement program established underthis section.

8. In no case shall a school district use state funds received underthis section nor local revenue generated from a tax established undersubsection 7 of this section to comply with the minimum salary requirementsfor teachers established pursuant to section 163.172, RSMo.

9. Beginning in the 1996-97 school year, for any teacher whoparticipated in the career program in the 1995-96 school year, continues toparticipate in the program thereafter, and remains qualified to receivecareer pay pursuant to section 168.510, the state's share of the teacher'ssalary supplement shall continue to be the percentage paid by the state inthe 1995-96 school year, notwithstanding any provisions of subsection 4 ofthis section to the contrary, and the state shall continue to pay suchpercentage of the teacher's salary supplement until any of the followingoccurs:

(1) The teacher ceases his or her participation in the program; or

(2) The teacher suspends his or her participation in the program forany school year after the 1995-96 school year. If the teacher laterresumes participation in the program, the state funding shall be subject tothe provisions of subsection 4 of this section.

10. Any school district that participated in the career ladderprogram prior to the 2001-02 school year but ceased its participation atany time from July 1, 2001, to July 1, 2005, may resume participation inthe program no later than July 1, 2006, at the same matching level,pursuant to subsections 4 and 5 of this section, for which the districtqualified during its last year of participation.

(L. 1985 H.B. 463, A.L. 1993 H.B. 354 merged with S.B. 380, A.L. 1996 S.B. 795, et al., A.L. 2004 S.B. 968 and S.B. 969, A.L. 2005 H.B. 297 merged with S.B. 287)

Effective 7-01-06