An Act to provide for a minimum teacher salary.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of South Dakota:
Section 1. That a NEW SECTION be added to chapter 13-13:
Beginning July 1, 2026, each public school district must pay each full-time teacher a salary at least equal to the state minimum salary. For each fiscal year, if a district's minimum salary for a full-time teacher is less than the state minimum salary, state aid to general education funding to the district in the following fiscal year must be reduced by an amount equal to five hundred dollars for each teacher employed in the school district.
A school district may request a waiver from any penalty imposed under this section from the School Finance Accountability Board.
For the purposes of this section, the term "state minimum salary" is forty-five thousand dollars for fiscal year 2025. For fiscal year 2026 and thereafter, the state minimum salary is calculated by increasing the previous year's state minimum salary by the cumulative increases approved by the Legislature in fiscal year 2026 and thereafter to the target teacher salary, as defined in 13-13-10.1.
Section 2. That 1-45-38 be AMENDED:
1-45-38.
There is hereby
created the School Finance Accountability Board within the Department
of Education. The board
shall consist
consists of
five members appointed by the Governor. The members
shall
serve a term of four years.
The board may recommend that the provisions of 13-13-73.5 be waived for a school district if the district can demonstrate that its lowest monthly general cash fund cash balance percentage is the result of special circumstances.
The board may recommend that a penalty against a school district imposed under section 1 of this Act or 13-13-73.6 be waived, in whole or in part, if the district can demonstrate that its failure to comply with section 1 of this Act or 13-13-73.6 is due to special circumstances.
The School Finance Accountability Board shall promulgate rules, pursuant to chapter 1-26, to establish the appeals process provided for in section 1 of this Act or 13-13-73.6, and to establish the factors that may be considered in considering a waiver requested by a school district, which shall include the impact of retirements.
The Joint Committee on
Appropriations or the Interim Committee on Appropriations shall
review any waivers of 13-13-73.5
or,
13-13-73.6,
or section 1 of this Act
recommended by the School Finance Accountability Board. For a waiver
recommended by the board under this section, the committee may
provide any suggested change to the waiver. Not more than thirty days
following receipt of a suggested change from the committee, the board
may amend the recommended waiver in accordance with the suggested
change and shall resubmit the recommended waiver. The Joint Committee
on Appropriations or the Interim Committee on Appropriations shall
approve, amend, or deny any waiver recommended by the board. The
Department of Education shall annually report to the Governor and the
Legislature the information collected pursuant to 13-8-47
and,
13-13-73.6,
and section 1 of this Act.