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_ 186 Item Details($) Appropriations($) ITEM 125. First Year Second Year First Year Second Year FY2025 FY2026 FY2025 FY2026 instructional staff members to the employer's cost for a number not exceeding the number of instructional positions required by the Standards of Quality for each school division and for their salaries at the statewide prevailing salary levels as printed below. Instructional Position First Year Salary Second Year Salary Elementary Teachers $61,514 $61,514 Elementary Assistant Principals $84,990 $84,990 Elementary Principals $105,277 $105,277 Secondary Teachers $65,655 $65,655 Secondary Assistant Principals $91,978 $91,978 Secondary Principals $115,271 $115,271 Instructional Aides $24,673 $24,673 a.1) Payment by the state to a local school division shall be based on the state share of fringe benefit costs of 55 percent of the employer's cost distributed on the basis of the composite index. 2) A locality whose composite index exceeds 0.8000 shall be considered as having an index of 0.8000 for purposes of distributing fringe benefit funds under this provision. 3) The state payment to each school division for retirement, social security, and group life insurance costs for non-instructional personnel is included in and distributed through Basic Aid. b. Payments to school divisions from this Item shall be calculated using March 31 Average Daily Membership adjusted for half-day kindergarten programs. c. Payments for health insurance fringe benefits are included in and distributed through Basic Aid. 2. Each locality shall offer a school program for all its eligible pupils which is acceptable to the Department of Education as conforming to the Standards of Quality program requirements. 3. In the event the statewide number of pupils in March 31 ADM results in a state share of cost exceeding the general fund appropriation in this Item, the locality's state share of Basic Aid shall be reduced proportionately so that this general fund appropriation will not be exceeded. In addition, the required local share of Basic Aid shall also be reduced proportionately to the reduction in the state's share. 4. The Department of Education shall make equitable adjustments in the computation of indices of wealth and in other state-funded accounts for localities affected by annexation, unless a court of competent jurisdiction makes such adjustments. However, only the indices of wealth and other state-funded accounts of localities party to the annexation will be adjusted. 5. In the event that the actual revenues from the state sales and use tax dedicated to public education and those sales tax revenues transferred to the general fund from the Public Education Standards of Quality/Local Real Estate Property Tax Relief Fund and appropriated in this Item (both of which are returned on the basis of the latest yearly estimate of school age population provided by the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service) for sales in the fiscal year in which the school year begins are different from the number estimated as the basis for this appropriation, the estimated state sales and use tax revenues shall not be adjusted. 6. This appropriation shall be apportioned to the public schools with guidelines established by the Department of Education consistent with legislative intent as expressed in this act. 7.a. Appropriations of state funds in this Item include the number of positions required by the Standards of Quality. This Item includes a minimum of 51 professional instructional positions and aide positions (C 5); Education of the Gifted, 1.0 professional instructional position (C 6); Occupational-Vocational Education Payments and Special Education Payments; a minimum of 6.0 professional instructional positions and aide positions (C 7 and C 8) for each 1,000 pupils in March 31 ADM each year in support of the current Standards of Quality. Funding in support of one hour of additional instruction per day based on the percent of students eligible