During recent meetings with superintendents and business managers the South Dakota Department of Education (DOE) shared their interpretation of Senate Bill 127, which establishes a minimum teacher salary for all school districts to meet and requires increases based on the funding increases provided to state aid.
DOE’s understanding is different in the Minimum Teacher Salary portion of the bill from what ASBSD and SASD had inferred.
It is DOE’s understanding the 4 percent increase provided by the legislature during this session will NOT be applied to the Minimum Teacher Salary, which the bill established for the 2024-25 school year at $45,000.
The Department has determined the Minimum Teacher Salary of $45,000 increases every year after the 2024-25 school year by the percentage increase in state.
Their example is if a hypothetical increase of 3 percent to state aid is provided during the 2025 Session then the 2025-26 Minimum Teacher Salary will be $45,000 plus a 3 percent increase in state aid to reach a figure of $46,350.
DOE goes on to explain if during the 2026 legislative session another 3 percent increase in state aid is given, then the Minimum Teacher Salary for the 2026-27 school year, which is the first year the accountability will be in place for schools to meet, then $46,350 (as noted in the hypothetical above) plus 3 percent would equal $47,741.
Based on DOE’s interpretation, the $47,741 would be the figure school districts would need to pay teach teacher in their district at a minimum in order to meet the accountability in law.
Please note: dollar figures above, aside from the $45,000 figure established for the 2024-25 school year, are hypothetical and will change based on future legislative action.
ASBSD does recommend if you are below the $45,000 Minimum Teacher Salary you work toward that figure for the next school year to keep pace with potential increases to that figure in the years before the accountability is implemented for the 2026-27 school year.
For the Average Teacher Compensation accountability, the 4 percent increase in state aid MUST be applied to compensation for the 2024-25 school year. For each year thereafter, your district’s Average Teacher Compensation must cumulatively increase by the percentage increase provided by the legislature to state aid.
You can download the Department of Education Teacher Accountability calculator here and find additional resources at https://doe.sd.gov/ofm/schoolbudget.aspx.
SASD and the state Superintendent’s Association has also developed an Accountability Calculator to assist districts, which you can download here.
In addition, to assist in sharing with your district employees their changes in total compensation you can download the Total Compensation Statement Template in a Word Doc here or in a PDF here.
If you have questions or there’s anything we can help with, please contact an ASBSD representative: https://asbsd.org/about/contact-us/.