South Carolina § 59-21-1220 - Guidelines for development of program; campus incentive advisory committee; distribution of funds; regulations.

§ 59-21-1220. Guidelines for development of program; campus incentive advisory committee; distribution of funds; regulations.

The campus incentive program must be developed based on the following guidelines:

(1) exceptional improvement in or the maintenance of superior student performance, with consideration given to rewarding schools which demonstrate exceptional improvement or maintenance of superior performance by all the groups of students at various levels of performance;

(2) the school must have met or surpassed the goals and strategies outlined in its school improvement report;

(3) no faculty member may receive funds under the incentive program unless all the established eligibility criteria are met;

(4) faculty, for the purposes of this program, includes principals, assistant principals, vocational education directors, special education teachers, kindergarten teachers, classroom teachers, librarian/media specialists, guidance counselors, psychologists, school nurses, aides, and others as determined by the advisory committee;

(5) consideration must be given to using part of each campus incentive reward for faculty use for school improvement for such activities as research, planning meetings, curriculum development, where faculty are paid for their time and effort, and for allowing faculty to consider such uses of the faculty incentive reward;

(6) no later than August 1, 1991, a campus incentive advisory committee must be appointed to advise on the development and implementation of the program. The advisory committee must be appointed, after receiving nominations, as set forth in this item, and consists of six at-large members, three appointed by the Governor and three appointed by the State Superintendent of Education, and the following members appointed by the State Board of Education:

one school board member;

two elementary teachers;

two middle or junior high school teachers;

two secondary school teachers;

one elementary school principal;

one middle or junior high school principal;

one secondary school principal;

one district superintendent;

one guidance counselor;

one assistant principal; and

one teacher's aide.

The State Board of Education shall request:

(a) each statewide professional teacher organization to nominate at least two qualified continuing contract teachers for each teacher position on the committee;

(b) a statewide organization representing administrators (principals and superintendents) to nominate at least two qualified candidates for the administrator positions on the committee;

(c) a statewide organization to nominate at least two qualified candidates for the guidance counselor position on the committee;

(d) a statewide organization representing school boards to nominate at least two qualified candidates for the school board position on the committee.

Each nominating organization shall seek qualified candidates from the entire pool of persons eligible to serve and shall make nominations to the state board based on merit and without regard to membership in the nominating organization.

It is the intent of the General Assembly that funds for the campus incentive program must be distributed to districts on a per pupil basis but with a minimum amount per faculty member in schools qualifying for the program reward; however, the advisory committee may recommend an alternative distribution method. The per pupil allocation must be based on the one hundred thirty-five day count of average daily membership for the preceding fiscal year.

The State Board of Education, in consultation with the Education Oversight Committee, shall develop regulations to ensure that the campus incentive funds are used in an appropriate manner and to establish a procedure for redistributing funds from districts that do not require all of their allocations. The General Assembly shall determine each year in the general appropriations act the amount of campus incentive funds which must be included in the calculation of the South Carolina average teacher salary.

To enable school faculties to undertake needed work in the area of school improvement and planning, and such activities as research, curriculum development, coordination of courses, and special projects, or other activities the faculty may wish to undertake for improving student performance, development, and learning and coordination of services with other social and health agencies, the General Assembly shall set aside in the annual general appropriations act other campus incentive funds which must be used by the school districts and any interested schools to compensate faculty for their time and effort. The State Board of Education shall promulgate guidelines that ensure that the districts of the State utilize these funds in an appropriate manner and to establish a procedure for redistributing funds from districts that do not require all of their allocation.

HISTORY: 1991 Act No. 171, Part II, SECTION 59A; 1998 Act No. 400, SECTION 15.