Assembly Bill No. 268–Assemblymen Gibbons, Buckley, Geddes, Giunchigliani, Goldwater, Grady, Hardy, Knecht, Manendo, Marvel, Oceguera and Weber

 

March 10, 2003

____________

 

Joint Sponsors: Senators Mathews and Cegavske

____________

 

Referred to Concurrent Committees on Education
and Ways and Means

 

SUMMARY—Requires increased salaries for certain speech pathologists employed by school districts. (BDR 34‑660)

 

FISCAL NOTE:    Effect on Local Government: Yes.

                             Effect on the State: No.

 

CONTAINS UNFUNDED MANDATE (§§ 2, 3)

(Not Requested by Affected Local Government)

 

~

 

EXPLANATION – Matter in bolded italics is new; matter between brackets [omitted material] is material to be omitted.

 

AN ACT relating to schools; requiring boards of trustees of school districts to pay increased salaries to certain speech pathologists employed by those school districts; requiring related information to be included in the annual budget report of each school district; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN

SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

 

1-1  Section 1.  NRS 387.303 is hereby amended to read as follows:

1-2  387.303  1.  Not later than November 10 of each year, the

1-3  board of trustees of each school district shall submit to the

1-4  Superintendent of Public Instruction and the Department of

1-5  Taxation a report which includes the following information:

1-6  (a) For each fund within the school district, including, without

1-7  limitation, the school district’s general fund and any special revenue

2-1  fund which receives state money, the total number and salaries of

2-2  licensed and nonlicensed persons whose salaries are paid from the

2-3  fund and who are employed by the school district in full-time

2-4  positions or in part-time positions added together to represent full-

2-5  time positions. Information must be provided for the current school

2-6  year based upon the school district’s final budget, including any

2-7  amendments and augmentations thereto, and for the preceding

2-8  school year. An employee must be categorized as filling an

2-9  instructional, administrative, instructional support or other position.

2-10      (b) The count of pupils computed pursuant to paragraph (a) of

2-11  subsection 1 of NRS 387.1233.

2-12      (c) The school district’s actual expenditures in the fiscal year

2-13  immediately preceding the report.

2-14      (d) The school district’s proposed expenditures for the current

2-15  fiscal year.

2-16      (e) The schedule of salaries for licensed employees in the

2-17  current school year and a statement of whether the negotiations

2-18  regarding salaries for the current school year have been completed.

2-19  If the negotiations have not been completed at the time the schedule

2-20  of salaries is submitted, the board of trustees shall submit a

2-21  supplemental report to the Superintendent of Public Instruction upon

2-22  completion of negotiations or the determination of an arbitrator

2-23  concerning the negotiations that includes the schedule of salaries

2-24  agreed to or required by the arbitrator.

2-25      (f) The number of teachers who received an increase in salary

2-26  pursuant to subsection 2 or 3 of NRS 391.160 for the current and

2-27  preceding fiscal years. If the board of trustees is required to pay an

2-28  increase in salary retroactively pursuant to subsection 2 of NRS

2-29  391.160, the board of trustees shall submit a supplemental report to

2-30  the Superintendent of Public Instruction not later than February 15

2-31  of the year in which the retroactive payment was made that includes

2-32  the number of teachers to whom an increase in salary was paid

2-33  retroactively.

2-34      (g) The number of employees eligible for health insurance

2-35  within the school district for the current and preceding fiscal years

2-36  and the amount paid for health insurance for each such employee

2-37  during those years.

2-38      (h) The rates for fringe benefits, excluding health insurance,

2-39  paid by the school district for its licensed employees in the

2-40  preceding and current fiscal years.

2-41      (i) The amount paid for extra duties, supervision of

2-42  extracurricular activities and supplemental pay and the number of

2-43  employees receiving that pay in the preceding and current fiscal

2-44  years.

3-1  (j) The expenditures from the account created pursuant to

3-2  subsection 3 of NRS 179.1187. The report must indicate the total

3-3  amount received by the district in the preceding fiscal year, and the

3-4  specific amount spent on books and computer hardware and

3-5  software for each grade level in the district.

3-6  2.  On or before November 25 of each year, the Superintendent

3-7  of Public Instruction shall submit to the Department of

3-8  Administration and the Fiscal Analysis Division of the Legislative

3-9  Counsel Bureau, in a format approved by the Director of the

3-10  Department of Administration, a compilation of the reports made by

3-11  each school district pursuant to subsection 1.

3-12      3.  The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall, in the

3-13  compilation required by subsection 2, reconcile the revenues and

3-14  expenditures of the school districts with the apportionment received

3-15  by those districts from the State Distributive School Account for the

3-16  preceding year.

3-17      Sec. 2.  NRS 391.160 is hereby amended to read as follows:

3-18      391.160  1.  The salaries of teachers and other employees must

3-19  be determined by the character of the service required. A school

3-20  district shall not discriminate between male and female employees

3-21  in the matter of salary.

3-22      2.  Each year when determining the salary of a teacher who

3-23  holds certification issued by the National Board for Professional

3-24  Teaching Standards, a school district shall add 5 percent to the

3-25  salary that the teacher would otherwise receive in 1 year for his

3-26  classification on the schedule of salaries for the school district if:

3-27      (a) On or before January 31 of the school year, the teacher has

3-28  submitted evidence satisfactory to the school district of his current

3-29  certification; and

3-30      (b) The teacher is assigned by the school district to provide

3-31  classroom instruction during that school year.

3-32  No increase in salary may be given pursuant to this subsection

3-33  during a particular school year to a teacher who submits evidence of

3-34  certification after January 31 of that school year. For the first school

3-35  year that a teacher submits evidence of his current certification, the

3-36  board of trustees of the school district to whom the evidence was

3-37  submitted shall pay the increase in salary required by this subsection

3-38  retroactively to the beginning of that school year. Once a teacher has

3-39  submitted evidence of such certification to the school district, the

3-40  school district shall retain the evidence in its records, as applicable,

3-41  for future school years. An increase in salary given in accordance

3-42  with this subsection is in addition to any other increase to which the

3-43  teacher may otherwise be entitled.

3-44      3.  Each year when determining the salary of a person who is

3-45  employed by a school district as a speech pathologist, the school

4-1  district shall add 5 percent to the salary that the employee would

4-2  otherwise receive in 1 year for his classification on the schedule of

4-3  salaries of the school district if:

4-4  (a) On or before September 15 of the school year, the employee

4-5  has submitted evidence satisfactory to the school district of his:

4-6       (1) Licensure as a speech pathologist by the Board of

4-7  Examiners for Audiology and Speech Pathology; and

4-8       (2) Certification as being clinically competent in speech-

4-9  language pathology by:

4-10              (I) The American Speech-Language-Hearing Associ-

4-11  ation; or

4-12              (II) A successor organization to the American Speech-

4-13  Language-Hearing Association that is recognized and determined

4-14  to be acceptable by the Board of Examiners for Audiology and

4-15  Speech Pathology; and

4-16      (b) The employee is assigned by the school district to serve as a

4-17  speech pathologist during that school year.

4-18  No increase in salary may be given pursuant to this subsection

4-19  during a particular school year to an employee who submits

4-20  evidence of licensure and certification after September 15 of that

4-21  school year. Once an employee has submitted evidence of such

4-22  licensure and certification to the school district, the school district

4-23  shall retain the evidence in its records, as applicable, for future

4-24  school years. An increase in salary given in accordance with this

4-25  subsection is in addition to any other increase to which the

4-26  employee may otherwise be entitled.

4-27      4.  In determining the salary of a licensed teacher who is

4-28  employed by a school district after the teacher has been employed

4-29  by another school district in this state, the present employer shall,

4-30  except as otherwise provided in subsection [6:] 7:

4-31      (a) Give the teacher the same credit for previous teaching

4-32  service as he was receiving from his former employer at the end of

4-33  his former employment;

4-34      (b) Give the teacher credit for his final year of service with his

4-35  former employer, if credit for that service is not included in credit

4-36  given pursuant to paragraph (a); and

4-37      (c) Place the teacher on the schedule of salaries of the school

4-38  district in a classification that is commensurate with the level of

4-39  education acquired by the teacher, as set forth in the applicable

4-40  negotiated agreement with the present employer.

4-41      [4.] 5. A school district may give the credit required by

4-42  subsection [3] 4 for previous teaching service earned in another state

4-43  if the Commission has approved the standards for licensing teachers

4-44  of that state. The Commission shall adopt regulations that establish

4-45  the criteria by which the Commission will consider the standards for

5-1  licensing teachers of other states for the purposes of this subsection.

5-2  The criteria may include, without limitation, whether the

5-3  Commission has authorized reciprocal licensure of educational

5-4  personnel from the state under consideration.

5-5  [5.] 6. In determining the salary of a licensed administrator,

5-6  other than the superintendent of schools, who is employed by a

5-7  school district after the administrator has been employed by another

5-8  school district in this state, the present employer shall, except as

5-9  otherwise provided in subsection [6:] 7:

5-10      (a) Give the administrator the same credit for previous

5-11  administrative service as he was receiving from his former

5-12  employer, at the end of his former employment;

5-13      (b) Give the administrator credit for his final year of service

5-14  with his former employer, if credit for that service is not otherwise

5-15  included in the credit given pursuant to paragraph (a); and

5-16      (c) Place the administrator on the schedule of salaries of the

5-17  school district in a classification that is comparable to the

5-18  classification the administrator had attained on the schedule of

5-19  salaries of his former employer.

5-20      [6.] 7. This section does not:

5-21      (a) Require a school district to allow a teacher or administrator

5-22  more credit for previous teaching or administrative service than the

5-23  maximum credit for teaching or administrative experience provided

5-24  for in the schedule of salaries established by it for its licensed

5-25  personnel.

5-26      (b) Permit a school district to deny a teacher or administrator

5-27  credit for his previous teaching or administrative service on the

5-28  ground that the service differs in kind from the teaching or

5-29  administrative experience for which credit is otherwise given by the

5-30  school district.

5-31      [7.] 8. As used in this section:

5-32      (a) “Previous administrative service” means the total of:

5-33          (1) Any period of administrative service for which an

5-34  administrator received credit from his former employer at the

5-35  beginning of his former employment; and

5-36          (2) His period of administrative service in his former

5-37  employment.

5-38      (b) “Previous teaching service” means the total of:

5-39          (1) Any period of teaching service for which a teacher

5-40  received credit from his former employer at the beginning of his

5-41  former employment; and

5-42          (2) His period of teaching service in his former employment.

5-43      Sec. 3.  Notwithstanding the provisions of section 2 of this act:

5-44      1.  A speech pathologist who desires to receive an increase in

5-45  salary for the 2003-2004 school year pursuant to subsection 3 of that

6-1  section may submit evidence of his licensure and certification not

6-2  later than November 1, 2003.

6-3  2.  If a speech pathologist:

6-4  (a) Submits evidence of his licensure and certification on or

6-5  before November 1, 2003; and

6-6  (b) Satisfies the requirements of paragraph (b) of subsection 3 of

6-7  section 2 of this act,

6-8  the board of trustees of the school district that employs the speech

6-9  pathologist shall pay to the speech pathologist the increase in salary

6-10  required by subsection 3 of section 2 of this act retroactively to the

6-11  beginning of the 2003-2004 school year.

6-12      Sec. 4.  The provisions of subsection 1 of NRS 354.599 do not

6-13  apply to any additional expenses of a local government that are

6-14  related to the provisions of this act.

6-15      Sec. 5.  This act becomes effective on July 1, 2003.

 

6-16  H