1. (a) Incentive bonus.

   1. (1) The Division of Elementary and Secondary Education shall pay a:

      1. (A) Nine-thousand-dollar annual incentive bonus to a school district that employs a master principal designee as a full-time building-level principal for payment to the master principal designee as a bonus in the first school year after designation; and
      2. (B) Yearly bonus for each of the next four (4) consecutive years of eligibility.
   2. (2) The lifetime maximum for an incentive bonus is forty-five thousand dollars ($45,000).

   3. (3) A qualified applicant will establish eligibility for receipt of the incentive bonus by submitting to the division, on an annual basis, proof of:

      1. (A) Receiving the official master school principal designation from the Arkansas Leadership Academy;
      2. (B) At the time of receiving the bonus, being employed full-time as a building-level principal in an Arkansas public school district, verified by the school district; and
      3. (C) Not having received the nine-thousand-dollar annual incentive bonus for more than four (4) years.

2. (b) High-need school salary bonus.

   1. (1) The division shall pay a high-need salary bonus of twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) for every school year for no more than five (5) years to any building-level principal who:

      1. (A) Receives master school principal designation from the academy; and
      2. (B) Is employed full-time as a building-level principal at the time of receiving the bonus in a high-need public school.

   2. (2) The high-need school salary bonus shall be paid as follows:

      1. (A) Twenty thousand dollars ($20,000) for each school year that a master principal is employed in a high-need public school; and
      2. (B) An additional five thousand dollars ($5,000) to be set aside for each qualifying school year to be paid as follows:

3. (i) An initial hold-back longevity bonus of fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000) at the end of three (3) consecutive school years as a master principal in the same school; and

   1. (ii) A final hold-back longevity bonus of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) at the end of five (5) consecutive school years as a master principal in the same school.
   2. (3) The high-need school salary bonus with the hold-back longevity bonus payable under this section shall be paid in addition to the five-year incentive bonus allowed in subsection (a) of this section if the master principal is within the timeframe for eligibility for the five-year incentive bonus.
   3. (4) In the Master School Principal Program, a person shall not receive a yearly incentive bonus, a salary bonus, or a longevity bonus if the person leaves full-time employment as a principal of an Arkansas public school district.
   4. (5) No increase in the starting or yearly bonus is retroactive.

Codification Notes: This section as promulgated prior to codification into the Code of Arkansas Rules contained language at the end of the section that provided as follows: "Source: Ark. Code Ann. § 6-17-1604" This section as promulgated prior to codification into the Code of Arkansas Rules contained language immediately following subdivision (a)(3)(C) that provided as follows: "Source: Ark. Code Ann.§ 6-17-1603"