§ 20-28-9-27 — Annual school corporation expenditure for teacher salaries; prohibited decrease in certain circumstances; notice; official minutes; posting

(a) As used in this section, "funding floor"
means the amount a school corporation expended for full-time teacher
salaries during a particular state fiscal year.
(b) Subject to subsections (d) and (e), if the amount of state tuition
support distributed to a school corporation for a particular state fiscal
year is greater than the amount of state tuition support distributed to the
school corporation for the preceding state fiscal year, the school
corporation may not expend an amount for full-time teacher salaries
during the particular state fiscal year that is less than the funding floor
for the preceding state fiscal year.
(c) For purposes of this section, the amount a school corporation
expends for full-time teacher salaries shall include the amount the
school corporation expends for participating in a special education
cooperative or a career and technical education cooperative that is
directly attributable to the salaries of full-time teachers employed by
the cooperative, as determined by the department.
(d) For purposes of this subsection, stipends paid using teacher
appreciation grants under IC 20-43-16 are not considered. If a school
corporation has awarded stipends to a majority of the school
corporation's teachers in each of the two (2) preceding consecutive
state fiscal years, an amount equal to the lesser of the total amount of
stipends awarded in each of those state fiscal years shall be added to
the school corporation's funding floor for the preceding state fiscal year
described under subsection (b).
(e) Beginning after June 30, 2024, for each state fiscal year that a
school corporation fails to meet the expenditure requirements regarding
full-time teacher salaries under subsection (b), the department shall
submit in both a written and an electronic format a notice to the school
corporation's:
(1) superintendent;
(2) school business officer; and
(3) governing body;
that the school corporation failed to meet the requirements set forth in
subsection (b) for the applicable state fiscal year.
(f) If a school corporation's governing body receives a notice from
the department under subsection (e), the school corporation shall do the
following:
(1) Publicly acknowledge receipt of the notice from the
department at the governing body's next public meeting.
(2) Enter into the governing body's official minutes for the
meeting described in subdivision (1) acknowledgment of the
notice.
(3) Not later than thirty (30) days after the meeting described in
subdivision (1), publish on the school corporation's website:
(A) the department's notice; and
(B) any relevant individual reports prepared by the department.
(g) If the department determines a school corporation that received
one (1) or more notices from the department under subsection (e) has
met the expenditure requirements required under subsection (b) for a
subsequent state fiscal year, the school corporation may remove from
the school corporation's website any:
(1) notices the school corporation received under subsection (e);
and
(2) relevant individual reports prepared by the department under
subsection (f)(3).

Legislative History

As added by P.L.165-2021, SEC.155. Amended by P.L.132-2022, SEC.1; P.L.150-2024, SEC.25; P.L.213-2025, SEC.171.