The Committee on Education proposes the following amendment (SEDU-3196.DB0004S):

Amend the bill, as and if amended, SECTION 3, by striking Section 59-25-47(B) and inserting:

 (B) A local school district board of trustees or, in the case of a charter school, the governing body of a charter school, must adopt a policy enabling all certified and noncertifieddistrict or charter school employees to contribute any unused sick or annual leave in excess of sixty days to a sick leave bank that is made available to all district or charter school employees. Such policy must include criteria for employee eligibility to apply for use of the sick leave bank, procedures for review of applications for use of the sick leave bank, and criteria for the maximum number of days an employee may access from the sick leave bank during a single fiscal year.

Amend the bill further, SECTION 3, Section 59-25-47, by adding a subsection to read:

 (D) A local district, prior to the effective date of this act, who has implemented a leave bank policy or a policy that advances the full annual leave balance to a new employee with the first payroll disbursement shall be exempt from the requirements of this section.

Amend the bill further, SECTION 4, by striking Section 59-25-410(A), (B), and (C) and inserting:

 (A) The boards of trustees of the several school districts annually before May first shall decide and notify, in writing through the superintendent, a teacher, as defined in Section 59-1-130, whom the district employs concerning his reemployment for the ensuing year. If a board of trustees fails to provide notification as provided in this section, the Department of Education shall assess a penalty of ten thousand dollars to be deducted from a district's state allocated funding per occurrence. If the superintendent board of trustees fails fail to notify a teacher who has been employed by a school district for a majority of the current school year of his status for the ensuing year, the teacher is considered to be reemployed for the ensuing year and the board shall issue a contract to him as though the board had reemployed him in the usual manner. Notice of the superintendent's recommendation not to renew an employment contract must be given in writing before May first. The board of trustees must comply with the reporting requirements created by the Department of Education to ensure compliance with this section.
 (B) The written notification of reemployment must include a projected minimum salary schedule for the district for the coming school year as well as an agreement to provide a final salary schedule as soon as practicable upon completion of annual state and local appropriations processes. The district upon request shall provide a teacher with the factors used to determine their pay category on the salary schedule. The written notification of employment should indicate downward adjustments to the projected minimum salary schedule only in the event of a loss or reduction in the amount of state, local, or federal funding anticipated by the district at the time of adoption of the projected minimum salary schedule.
 (B)(C) On or before August fifteenthNo later than fourteen calendar days before students are scheduled to return to school at the start of the school year, the superintendent, principal, where applicable, or supervisor shall notify the teacher of his tentative assignment for the ensuing school year. Once assigned to a school, the teacher shall not be reassigned to work at another location in the district unless the superintendent can demonstrate the need for reassignment. Such reassignment must be approved by a majority vote of the board of trustees, and the teacher must be afforded written notice at least five school days in advance of the reassignment.A teacher must be afforded written notice of at least five school days in advance of the reassignment unless the superintendent demonstrates that advance notice can not be accomplished because of a critical student need or the teacher requested the reassignment. The local board of trustees must be notified in writing of all teacher reassignments.

Amend the bill further, SECTION 4, by striking Section 59-25-410(E) and inserting:

 (D)(E) For purposes of this article, "teacher" means an employee possessing a professional certificate issued by the State Department of Education, except an employee working pursuant to a multiyear contract, employed by any school district to teach students in an academic setting.

Amend the bill further, by adding an appropriately numbered SECTION to read:

SECTION X. Section 59-25-160 of the S.C. Code is amended to read:

 Section 59-25-160. "Just cause" may consist of any one or more of the following:
 (1) Incompetence;
 (2) Wilful neglect of duty;
 (3) Wilful violation of the rules and regulations of the State Board of Education;
 (4) Unprofessional conduct;
 (5) Drunkenness;
 (6) Cruelty;
 (7) Crime against the law of this State or the United States;
 (8) Immorality;
 (9) Any conduct involving moral turpitude;
 (10) Dishonesty;
 (11) Evident unfitness for position for which employed; or
 (12) Sale or possession of narcotics.;or
 (13) Breach of contract.

Amend the bill further, SECTION 6, by striking Section 59-25-530 and inserting:

 Section 59-25-530. (A) Any teachereducator who fails to comply with the provisions of his contract without the written consent of the school board shall be deemed guilty of unprofessional is considered to be in breach of contract. Notwithstanding Section 59-25-150 ,A a breach of contract resulting from the execution of an employment contract with another board within the State without the consent of the board first employing the teachereducator makes void any subsequent contract with any other school district in South Carolina for the same employment period. Upon the formal complaint of the school board, substantiated by conclusive evidence, the State board shallmay suspend or revoke the teacher'seducator's certificate, for a period not to exceed one calendar year. State education agencies in other states with reciprocal certification agreements shall be notified of the revocation of the certificate. The State Board shall not hear a complaint from a school board pursuant to this section unless it is received within sixty days of the breach of contract. The period for educator certificate suspension due to breach of contract must begin on the date such contract is breached with the district and run for a period of time deemed appropriate by the State Board of Education, not to exceed six months from the date of breach. During this suspension period, the educator may not be signed to an employment contract by any public school board in South Carolina. The department shall provide notification of the suspension to other state educator licensing authorities. (B) An educator who has a bona-fide residence change to a non-contiguous county during the term of the educator's contract is not considered to be in breach of contract as provided in this section. An educator has the burden of proving a bona-fide residence change to the local school board. Factors to consider in determining a bona-fide residence change shall include but are not limited to the following:
  (1) address on legal documents and bank accounts;
  (2) qualification for the reduced four percent property tax assessment on a primary residence;
  (3) address on driver's license or official identification cards; and
  (4) voter registration address.

Amend the bill further, SECTION 8, by striking Section 59-26-45(A)(3) and inserting:

  (3) does not hold another valid South Carolina educator certificate and has never held a valid South Carolina educator certificate that has been suspended, revoked, or voluntarily surrendered; and

Amend the bill further, SECTION 8, by striking Section 59-26-45(B)(2) and (3) and inserting:

  (2) A certificate may be renewed and, if approved, is valid for five years from the date of each issuance.Once issued, a retired educator in good standing must provide written notification of their desire to continue an active certificate may be maintained upon written request from a retired educator in good standing to the department at the end of a every five-year period.
  (3) Department guidelines shall include the timeline, forms, and a process for submitting a request to maintain aan active retired educator certificate.and approving or denying certificate or renewal requests. (4) Renewal of a retired educator certificate does not require completion of professional learning or renewal credit.

Amend the bill further, by striking SECTION 11 and inserting:

SECTION 11. This act takes effect July 1, 2025. Section 59-25-410(A) shall have a delayed implementation date of July 1, 2026.

Renumber sections to conform.

Amend title to conform.