Dr. Hall, superintendent of South Madison School Corporation, told the board the Indiana Department of Education has issued guidance to districts reflecting a set of recent state laws that will change screening, enrollment and incentive rules.
The superintendent said the state will require a K–2 math screener beginning in the 2627 school year and that districts must provide “specific math interventions based on the results of that screener.” He also said the state will “auto enroll any middle school student in the advanced math class” (at South Madison, that is algebra I) if the student has a C average in math and a proficient iLearn score; parents will be permitted to withdraw students from the advanced class.
The update covered new diploma seals and financial incentives. Dr. Hall said the state will pay districts $2,495 the year after a student earns an academic‑honors‑plus or employment‑honors‑plus seal, and $873 for an enlistment/service‑honors‑plus seal. District staff noted the new seals are being rolled out in stages and that the district does not expect students to graduate with the new seals until later (the superintendent said the district would not have these seals in 2026 but “we might in ’27”).
Dr. Hall also summarized changes to educator licensure and administrative qualifications, saying Senate Enrollment Act 255 establishes a pathway for STEM licensure for grades 5–12 and creates an alternative middle‑school license pathway to allow middle‑school teachers to teach high‑school credit classes. He reported that another measure, Senate Enrollment Act 366, “no longer requires a school superintendent to hold a master’s degree from an accredited post‑secondary institution,” which changes the board’s hiring options for superintendents.
On compensation and evaluation, Dr. Hall said the state raised the minimum full‑time teacher salary to $45,000 (the district’s current minimum is $50,000) and increased the portion of tuition support required to go to teacher salary and benefits from 62% to 65%. He warned the TAG (teacher appreciation) grant has been restructured into a competitive program limited to roughly 20% of teachers statewide and said, “there’s no longer the TAG grant…that is gone now.”
Dr. Hall told the board the state removed the requirement that teacher‑evaluation plans use the four categories “highly effective, effective, needs improvement and ineffective,” and that district staff are working to determine what the local evaluation plan will look like going forward.
Board members asked clarifying questions about rollout, timing and how incentives might be implemented at the district level. Dr. Hall said the district will break the legislative guidance into parts to brief the board over several meetings and will return with further details on the new evaluation and compensation processes.
The update was presented as informational; no formal board action was taken on the items summarized here.