Indiana 2025 Regular Session

Indiana Senate Bill SB0335 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1
2	2	Introduced Version
3	3	SENATE BILL No. 335
4	4	_____
5	5	DIGEST OF INTRODUCED BILL
6	6	Citations Affected: IC 20-18-2-22; IC 20-28-9-27; IC 20-29-6;
7	7	IC 20-43-10-3.7.
8	8	Synopsis: Teacher retention grant program. Creates the teacher
9	9	retention grant (grant). Provides that certain schools qualify for a grant
10	10	if one or more licensed teachers employed by the school or directly
11	11	providing virtual education were rated as effective or highly effective.
12	12	Requires certain schools to create and submit policies to the
13	13	department of education (department) in order to receive a grant.
14	14	Provides that the amount of a grant is equal to $37.50 multiplied by a
15	15	school's current ADM. Provides that the department shall distribute the
16	16	grant in accordance with the following priorities: (1) to the extent
17	17	possible, to achieve geographic balance throughout Indiana and to
18	18	include urban, suburban, and rural schools; and (2) to address a
19	19	documented need for teacher retention grants based on a low teacher
20	20	retention rate as determined by the department. Makes conforming
21	21	changes treating teacher retention grants in the same manner as teacher
22	22	appreciation grants.
23	23	Effective: July 1, 2025.
24	24	Spencer
25	25	January 13, 2025, read first time and referred to Committee on Education and Career
26	26	Development.
27	27	2025 IN 335—LS 6782/DI 143 Introduced
28	28	First Regular Session of the 124th General Assembly (2025)
29	29	PRINTING CODE. Amendments: Whenever an existing statute (or a section of the Indiana
30	30	Constitution) is being amended, the text of the existing provision will appear in this style type,
31	31	additions will appear in this style type, and deletions will appear in this style type.
32	32	Additions: Whenever a new statutory provision is being enacted (or a new constitutional
33	33	provision adopted), the text of the new provision will appear in this style type. Also, the
34	34	word NEW will appear in that style type in the introductory clause of each SECTION that adds
35	35	a new provision to the Indiana Code or the Indiana Constitution.
36	36	Conflict reconciliation: Text in a statute in this style type or this style type reconciles conflicts
37	37	between statutes enacted by the 2024 Regular Session of the General Assembly.
38	38	SENATE BILL No. 335
39	39	A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning
40	40	education.
41	41	Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana:
42	42	1 SECTION 1. IC 20-18-2-22, AS AMENDED BY P.L.246-2023,
43	43	2 SECTION 24, IS AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE
44	44	3 JULY 1, 2025]: Sec. 22. (a) "Teacher" means a professional person
45	45	4 whose position in a school corporation requires certain educational
46	46	5 preparation and licensing and whose primary responsibility is the
47	47	6 instruction of students.
48	48	7 (b) Except as provided in subsections (d) and (e), for purposes of
49	49	8 IC 20-28, the term includes the following:
50	50	9 (1) A superintendent who holds a license under IC 20-28-5.
51	51	10 (2) A principal.
52	52	11 (3) A teacher.
53	53	12 (4) A librarian.
54	54	13 (5) A school counselor.
55	55	14 (6) A school psychologist.
56	56	15 (c) For purposes of IC 20-43-10-3.5 and IC 20-43-10-3.7, the term
57	57	16 means a professional person whose position with a:
58	58	17 (1) school corporation;
59	59	2025 IN 335—LS 6782/DI 143 2
60	60	1 (2) special education cooperative established under IC 20-35-5;
61	61	2 (3) cooperative career and technical education program;
62	62	3 (4) special education program established by an interlocal
63	63	4 agreement under IC 36-1-7;
64	64	5 (5) joint program agreement established under IC 20-26-10; or
65	65	6 (6) charter school;
66	66	7 requires a license (as defined in IC 20-28-1-7) and whose primary
67	67	8 responsibility is the instruction of students in the classroom or virtual
68	68	9 classroom.
69	69	10 (d) "Teacher" for purposes of IC 20-28-9-26 and IC 20-28-9-27,
70	70	11 means a classroom teacher licensed under IC 20-28-5 who provides
71	71	12 instruction to students for at least fifty percent (50%) of the teacher's
72	72	13 work day.
73	73	14 (e) For purposes of IC 20-28-9-28, the term includes an adjunct
74	74	15 teacher, school counselor, and permanent substitute teacher employed
75	75	16 by a school corporation.
76	76	17 SECTION 2. IC 20-28-9-27, AS AMENDED BY P.L.150-2024,
77	77	18 SECTION 25, IS AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE
78	78	19 JULY 1, 2025]: Sec. 27. (a) As used in this section, "funding floor"
79	79	20 means the amount a school corporation expended for full-time teacher
80	80	21 salaries during a particular state fiscal year.
81	81	22 (b) Subject to subsections (d) and (e), if the amount of state tuition
82	82	23 support distributed to a school corporation for a particular state fiscal
83	83	24 year is greater than the amount of state tuition support distributed to the
84	84	25 school corporation for the preceding state fiscal year, the school
85	85	26 corporation may not expend an amount for full-time teacher salaries
86	86	27 during the particular state fiscal year that is less than the funding floor
87	87	28 for the preceding state fiscal year.
88	88	29 (c) For purposes of this section, the amount a school corporation
89	89	30 expends for full-time teacher salaries shall include the amount the
90	90	31 school corporation expends for participating in a special education
91	91	32 cooperative or a career and technical education cooperative that is
92	92	33 directly attributable to the salaries of full-time teachers employed by
93	93	34 the cooperative, as determined by the department.
94	94	35 (d) For purposes of this subsection, stipends paid using teacher
95	95	36 appreciation grants under IC 20-43-10-3.5 and teacher retention
96	96	37 grants under IC 20-43-10-3.7 are not considered. If a school
97	97	38 corporation has awarded stipends to a majority of the school
98	98	39 corporation's teachers in each of the two (2) preceding consecutive
99	99	40 state fiscal years, an amount equal to the lesser of the total amount of
100	100	41 stipends awarded in each of those state fiscal years shall be added to
101	101	42 the school corporation's funding floor for the preceding state fiscal year
102	102	2025 IN 335—LS 6782/DI 143 3
103	103	1 described under subsection (b).
104	104	2 (e) Beginning after June 30, 2024, for each state fiscal year that a
105	105	3 school corporation fails to meet the expenditure requirements regarding
106	106	4 full-time teacher salaries under subsection (b), the department shall
107	107	5 submit in both a written and an electronic format a notice to the school
108	108	6 corporation's:
109	109	7 (1) superintendent;
110	110	8 (2) school business officer; and
111	111	9 (3) governing body;
112	112	10 that the school corporation failed to meet the requirements set forth in
113	113	11 subsection (b) for the applicable state fiscal year.
114	114	12 (f) If a school corporation's governing body receives a notice from
115	115	13 the department under subsection (e), the school corporation shall do the
116	116	14 following:
117	117	15 (1) Publicly acknowledge receipt of the notice from the
118	118	16 department at the governing body's next public meeting.
119	119	17 (2) Enter into the governing body's official minutes for the
120	120	18 meeting described in subdivision (1) acknowledgment of the
121	121	19 notice.
122	122	20 (3) Not later than thirty (30) days after the meeting described in
123	123	21 subdivision (1), publish on the school corporation's website:
124	124	22 (A) the department's notice; and
125	125	23 (B) any relevant individual reports prepared by the
126	126	24 department.
127	127	25 (g) If the department determines a school corporation that received
128	128	26 one (1) or more notices from the department under subsection (e) has
129	129	27 met the expenditure requirements required under subsection (b) for a
130	130	28 subsequent state fiscal year, the school corporation may remove from
131	131	29 the school corporation's website any:
132	132	30 (1) notices the school corporation received under subsection (e);
133	133	31 and
134	134	32 (2) relevant individual reports prepared by the department under
135	135	33 subsection (f)(3).
136	136	34 SECTION 3. IC 20-29-6-4, AS AMENDED BY P.L.217-2017,
137	137	35 SECTION 101, IS AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS
138	138	36 [EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2025]: Sec. 4. (a) A school employer shall
139	139	37 bargain collectively with the exclusive representative on the following:
140	140	38 (1) Salary.
141	141	39 (2) Wages.
142	142	40 (3) Salary and wage related fringe benefits, including accident,
143	143	41 sickness, health, dental, vision, life, disability, retirement benefits,
144	144	42 and paid time off as permitted to be bargained under
145	145	2025 IN 335—LS 6782/DI 143 4
146	146	1 IC 20-28-9-11.
147	147	2 (b) Salary and wages include the amounts of pay increases available
148	148	3 to employees under the compensation plan adopted under
149	149	4 IC 20-28-9-1.5, but do not include the teacher evaluation procedures
150	150	5 and criteria, any components of the teacher evaluation plan, rubric, or
151	151	6 tool, or any performance stipend or addition to base salary based on a
152	152	7 stipend to an individual teacher under IC 20-43-10-3.5 or
153	153	8 IC 20-43-10-3.7.
154	154	9 SECTION 4. IC 20-29-6-4.5, AS AMENDED BY P.L.217-2017,
155	155	10 SECTION 102, IS AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS
156	156	11 [EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2025]: Sec. 4.5. (a) For a contract entered into
157	157	12 after June 30, 2011, a school employer may not bargain collectively
158	158	13 with the exclusive representative on the following:
159	159	14 (1) The school calendar.
160	160	15 (2) Teacher dismissal procedures and criteria.
161	161	16 (3) Restructuring options available to a school employer under
162	162	17 federal or state statutes, regulations, or rules because of the failure
163	163	18 of the school corporation or a school to meet federal or state
164	164	19 accountability standards.
165	165	20 (4) The ability of a school employer to contract, partner, or
166	166	21 operate jointly with an educational entity that provides
167	167	22 postsecondary credits to students of the school employer or dual
168	168	23 credits from the school employer and the educational entity.
169	169	24 (5) Any subject not expressly listed in section 4 of this chapter.
170	170	25 (b) For a contract entered into after January 1, 2015, for a school
171	171	26 year beginning after June 30, 2015, a school employer may not bargain
172	172	27 collectively with the exclusive representative for the following:
173	173	28 (1) A matter described in subsection (a).
174	174	29 (2) A matter that another statute specifies is not subject to
175	175	30 collective bargaining, including IC 20-28-9-1.5, and
176	176	31 IC 20-43-10-3.5, and IC 20-43-10-3.7.
177	177	32 (c) A subject set forth in subsection (a) or (b) that may not be
178	178	33 bargained collectively may not be included in an agreement entered
179	179	34 into under this article.
180	180	35 SECTION 5. IC 20-29-6-16, AS AMENDED BY P.L.217-2017,
181	181	36 SECTION 104, IS AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS
182	182	37 [EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2025]: Sec. 16. (a) If an agreement has not been
183	183	38 reached on the items to be bargained collectively by November 1, as
184	184	39 provided in IC 6-1.1-17-5, the parties shall continue the terms of the
185	185	40 current contract that is in effect, and the school employer may issue
186	186	41 tentative individual contracts and prepare its budget on that basis.
187	187	42 During this period, in order to allow the successful resolution of the
188	188	2025 IN 335—LS 6782/DI 143 5
189	189	1 dispute, the school employer may not unilaterally change the terms or
190	190	2 conditions of employment that are issues in dispute.
191	191	3 (b) Upon the expiration of the current contract that is in effect,
192	192	4 except for teacher appreciation grant stipends, teacher retention grant
193	193	5 stipends, and additions to base salary provided under IC 20-43-10-3.5
194	194	6 or IC 20-43-10-3.7, the school employer shall continue under the
195	195	7 terms of the current contract that is in effect, with no increase or
196	196	8 increment in salary, wages, or benefits for any bargaining unit
197	197	9 employee until a new contract is executed.
198	198	10 (c) The only parts of the contract that must continue under this
199	199	11 section are the items contained in the contract and listed in section 4 of
200	200	12 this chapter.
201	201	13 (d) This section may not be construed as relieving the school
202	202	14 employer or the school employee organization from the duty to bargain
203	203	15 collectively until a mutual agreement has been reached and a contract
204	204	16 entered as called for in this chapter.
205	205	17 SECTION 6. IC 20-43-10-3.7 IS ADDED TO THE INDIANA
206	206	18 CODE AS A NEW SECTION TO READ AS FOLLOWS
207	207	19 [EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2025]: Sec. 3.7. (a) As used in this section,
208	208	20 "school" means a school corporation, charter school, and a virtual
209	209	21 charter school.
210	210	22 (b) Subject to the requirements of this section, a school qualifies
211	211	23 for a teacher retention grant as provided in this section for a state
212	212	24 fiscal year if one (1) or more licensed teachers:
213	213	25 (1) employed in the classroom by the school; or
214	214	26 (2) directly providing virtual education;
215	215	27 were rated as effective or as highly effective, using the most
216	216	28 recently completed teacher ratings.
217	217	29 (c) A school may not receive a teacher retention grant under this
218	218	30 section unless:
219	219	31 (1) the school has in the state fiscal year in which the teacher
220	220	32 retention grants are made under this section:
221	221	33 (A) adopted an annual policy concerning the distribution
222	222	34 of teacher retention grants; and
223	223	35 (B) submitted the policy to the department for approval;
224	224	36 and
225	225	37 (2) the department has approved the policy.
226	226	38 The department shall specify the date by which a policy described
227	227	39 in subdivision (1) must be submitted to the department.
228	228	40 (d) The amount of a teacher retention grant for a qualifying
229	229	41 school corporation or virtual charter school is equal to:
230	230	42 (1) thirty-seven dollars and fifty cents ($37.50); multiplied by
231	231	2025 IN 335—LS 6782/DI 143 6
232	232	1 (2) the school's current ADM.
233	233	2 However, the grant amount for a virtual charter school may not
234	234	3 exceed the statewide average grant amount.
235	235	4 (e) The following apply to the distribution of teacher retention
236	236	5 grants:
237	237	6 (1) If the total amount to be distributed as teacher retention
238	238	7 grants for a particular state fiscal year exceeds the amount
239	239	8 appropriated by the general assembly for teacher retention
240	240	9 grants for that state fiscal year, the total amount to be
241	241	10 distributed as teacher retention grants to schools shall be
242	242	11 proportionately reduced so that the total reduction equals the
243	243	12 amount of the excess. The amount of the reduction for a
244	244	13 particular school is equal to the total amount of the excess
245	245	14 multiplied by a fraction. The numerator of the fraction is the
246	246	15 amount of the teacher retention grant that the school would
247	247	16 have received if a reduction were not made under this section.
248	248	17 The denominator of the fraction is the total amount that
249	249	18 would be distributed as teacher retention grants to all schools
250	250	19 if a reduction were not made under this section.
251	251	20 (2) If the total amount to be distributed as teacher retention
252	252	21 grants for a particular state fiscal year is less than the amount
253	253	22 appropriated by the general assembly for teacher retention
254	254	23 grants for that state fiscal year, the total amount to be
255	255	24 distributed as teacher retention grants to schools for that
256	256	25 particular state fiscal year shall be proportionately increased
257	257	26 so that the total amount to be distributed equals the amount
258	258	27 of the appropriation for that particular state fiscal year.
259	259	28 (f) The annual teacher retention grant to which a school is
260	260	29 entitled for a state fiscal year shall be distributed to the school
261	261	30 before December 5 of that state fiscal year. The department shall
262	262	31 distribute the annual teacher retention grant in accordance with
263	263	32 the following priorities:
264	264	33 (1) To the extent possible, to achieve geographic balance
265	265	34 throughout Indiana and to include urban, suburban, and
266	266	35 rural schools.
267	267	36 (2) To address a documented need for teacher retention
268	268	37 grants based on a low teacher retention rate as determined by
269	269	38 the department.
270	270	39 (g) The following apply to a school's policy under subsection (c)
271	271	40 concerning the distribution of teacher retention grants:
272	272	41 (1) The governing body shall differentiate between a teacher
273	273	42 rated as a highly effective teacher and a teacher rated as an
274	274	2025 IN 335—LS 6782/DI 143 7
275	275	1 effective teacher. The policy must provide that the amount of
276	276	2 a stipend awarded to a teacher rated as a highly effective
277	277	3 teacher must be at least twenty-five percent (25%) more than
278	278	4 the amount of a stipend awarded to a teacher rated as an
279	279	5 effective teacher.
280	280	6 (2) The governing body of a school may differentiate between
281	281	7 school buildings.
282	282	8 (3) A stipend to an individual teacher in a particular year is
283	283	9 not subject to collective bargaining and is in addition to the
284	284	10 minimum salary or increases in salary set under
285	285	11 IC 20-28-9-1.5. The governing body may provide that an
286	286	12 amount not exceeding fifty percent (50%) of the amount of a
287	287	13 stipend to an individual teacher in a particular state fiscal
288	288	14 year becomes a permanent part of and increases the base
289	289	15 salary of the teacher receiving the stipend for school years
290	290	16 beginning after the state fiscal year in which the stipend is
291	291	17 received. The addition to base salary is not subject to
292	292	18 collective bargaining.
293	293	19 (h) A teacher retention grant received by a school shall be
294	294	20 allocated among and used only to pay cash stipends to all licensed
295	295	21 teachers employed in the classroom who are rated as effective or
296	296	22 as highly effective and employed by the school as of December 1.
297	297	23 A school may allocate up to twenty percent (20%) of the grant
298	298	24 received by the school to provide a supplemental award to teachers
299	299	25 with less than five (5) years of service who are rated as effective or
300	300	26 as highly effective. A school may allocate up to ten percent (10%)
301	301	27 of the grant received by the school to provide a supplemental
302	302	28 award to teachers who serve as mentors to teachers who have less
303	303	29 than two (2) years of service. The supplemental awards are in
304	304	30 addition to the award made from the part of the grant that is
305	305	31 allocated to all eligible teachers.
306	306	32 (i) The lead school corporation or interlocal cooperative
307	307	33 administering a cooperative or other special education program or
308	308	34 administering a career and technical education program, including
309	309	35 programs managed under IC 20-26-10, IC 20-35-5, IC 20-37, or
310	310	36 IC 36-1-7, shall award teacher retention grant stipends to and
311	311	37 carry out the other responsibilities of an employing school
312	312	38 corporation under this section for the teachers in the special
313	313	39 education program or career and technical education program.
314	314	40 (j) A school shall distribute all stipends from a teacher retention
315	315	41 grant to individual teachers within twenty (20) business days of the
316	316	42 date the department distributes the teacher appreciation grant to
317	317	2025 IN 335—LS 6782/DI 143 8
318	318	1 the school. Any part of the teacher retention grant not distributed
319	319	2 as stipends to teachers before February must be returned to the
320	320	3 department on the earlier of the date set by the department or June
321	321	4 30 of that state fiscal year.
322	322	5 (k) The department, after review by the budget committee, may
323	323	6 waive the December 5 deadline under subsection (f) to distribute
324	324	7 an annual teacher retention grant to the school under this section
325	325	8 for that state fiscal year and approve an extension of that deadline
326	326	9 to a later date within that state fiscal year, if the department
327	327	10 determines that a waiver and extension of the deadline are in the
328	328	11 public interest.
329	329	12 (l) The state board may adopt rules under IC 4-22-2 as
330	330	13 necessary to implement this section.
331	331	14 (m) This section expires June 30, 2027.
332	332	2025 IN 335—LS 6782/DI 143