This bill amends RCW 28A.405.415 to change how annual bonuses are paid to certificated instructional staff who hold national board certification. It continues the existing annual bonus (baseline $5,000 in 2007-08 with subsequent inflation increases except for 2013-14 and 2014-15), adds a separate additional $5,000 bonus for certificated staff working in certain high-poverty instructional assignments, requires bonuses to be paid in a lump sum, and excludes these bonuses from district average salary and related salary limitation calculations. The change is a modification of existing law governing compensation and payment procedure rather than creation of a new criminal or regulatory offense. The bill ties additional bonus eligibility to schools meeting high-poverty thresholds (including a 70 percent free and reduced-price lunch threshold in some provisions and eligibility related to schools providing no-charge meals under RCW 28A.235.135 that met OSPI’s 2022-23 high poverty definition for certain school years). It references OSPI for a rule definition of “high poverty school,” the USDA community eligibility provision, and involves school districts and OFM (the bill is by OFM request). The text includes a categorical prohibition stating no bonus may be paid for the 2025-26, 2026-27, 2027-28, or 2028-29 school years, but the extracted material also contains a separate provision that would make individuals eligible for the additional bonus in 2025-26 under specified conditions. The material as provided is unclear and appears internally inconsistent on 2025-26 eligibility. The full prior statute text, the OSPI rule defining “high poverty school,” and the contents of the referenced RCWs are not included in the extracted facts, so those details and how the apparent conflict is resolved cannot be determined from the available information.

If enacted, national board certified teachers would be entitled to an annual lump-sum bonus that started at $5,000 in 2007-08 and generally rises with inflation, plus an extra $5,000 for those placed in high-poverty instructional assignments in qualifying years. School districts would pay those lump sums but would exclude them from district average salary and related salary limit calculations, which could lower reported salary bases for budgeting and state funding formulas; however the bill also says no bonuses may be paid for the 2025-26 through 2028-29 school years, which would reduce district costs in those years. The people most affected are certificated instructional staff with national board certification (who may see intermittent extra income) and school districts (which must pay and account for those lump sums but face a window with no payments). Practical uncertainty remains because the bill relies on OSPI’s rule definition of “high poverty school” and cross-references other statutes it does not quote, and it contains an apparent conflict about eligibility and the prohibition on payments in 2025-26 that could create administrative confusion or require clarification before implementation.