Committee narrows eligibility for principal stipend, adds assistant-principal language to Senate Bill 303

A state legislative education committee on Tuesday amended Senate Bill 303 to narrow which schools qualify for a principal stipend and to add assistant principals and certain alternative-administrator positions to the program, then gave the bill a favorable report.

The change responds to a federal redefinition of eligibility that committee members said expanded the pool of qualifying schools from roughly 300 to nearly every school. The amendment, provided by the state Department of Education, reduces that scope, restores a direct-certification standard and clarifies which administrator titles at standalone facilities (for example, some career-technical centers) will be treated as equivalent to principals for the stipend program.

Committee members said the bill preserves stipend amounts established earlier in the Principal Schools Act while narrowing eligibility. Under the provisions discussed, the base stipend…