A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to PROVIDE A BONUS IN THE SALARY OF NATIONALLY CERTIFIED SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGISTS.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  Effective for the 2005‑2006 school year, a school psychologist who is designated a Nationally Certified School Psychologist by the National School Psychology Certification Board shall receive an annual salary supplement of two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500), paid on a monthly basis, in addition to the compensation provided for a certified psychologist with his or her level of academic preparation.
The Department of Public Instruction shall adopt rules for the provision of the bonus pursuant to this act to include, but not be limited to, a process by which a nationally certified school psychologist may verify that:
(1)	The individual is still employed by a school district as a full‑time employee;
(2)	The required certification has been attained and has not lapsed; and
(3)	The individual is licensed to practice in this State.
SECTION 2.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Public Instruction the sum of three hundred seventy‑five thousand dollars ($375,000) for the 2005‑2006 fiscal year and the sum of three hundred seventy‑five thousand dollars ($375,000) for the 2006‑2007 fiscal year to implement the provisions of this act.
SECTION 3.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2005.