§ 6-26-102 - Definitions.
6-26-102. Definitions.
As used in this chapter:
(1) "Board" means the Board of Trustees of the Arkansas Teacher Housing Development Foundation;
(2) "Department" means the Department of Education;
(3) "Director" means the Director of the Arkansas Teacher Housing Development Foundation;
(4) (A) "Eligible home" means the primary residence of a high-performing teacher that is located within thirty (30) miles of a high-priority school district.
(B) "Eligible home" shall not include any dwelling with a purchase price of more than one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000);
(5) "Foundation" means the Arkansas Teacher Housing Development Foundation;
(6) "High-performing school district" means a school district in the State of Arkansas that has fifty percent (50%) or more of its students performing above proficient on all benchmark examinations;
(7) "High-performing teacher" means a certified teacher who meets one (1) of the following criteria:
(A) Is currently employed at a high-performing school district as a classroom teacher and has three (3) years or more of experience teaching in the subject area that the high-priority school district is seeking;
(B) (i) Is not currently employed at a high-performing school district but in the past has taught at a high-performing school district for a minimum of three (3) years, obtains three (3) letters of recommendations from the high-performing school district at which the teacher has taught in the past that verifies the teacher's effectiveness as a classroom teacher, and explains in a sworn statement as to the reasons why he or she is currently not employed as a classroom teacher in a high-performing school district.
(ii) The three (3) letters of recommendation shall be provided by any of the following:
(a) A principal who supervised and evaluated the teacher when he or she taught at a school in the high-performing school district;
(b) An assistant principal who supervised and evaluated the teacher when he or she taught at a school in the high-performing school district;
(c) The superintendent of the high-performing school district; or
(d) Any other school official at the high-performing school district with knowledge of the teacher's performance during employment at the high-performing school district, including anyone with access to the teacher's personnel file or evaluations; or
(C) (i) Is currently employed at a high-priority school district as a classroom teacher and:
(ii) (a) Has three (3) years or more experience teaching in the subject area at the high-priority school district, has demonstrated the ability to successfully teach children in the high-priority school district, and obtains three (3) letters of recommendations from the high-priority school district at which the teacher is currently teaching that verifies the teacher's effectiveness as a classroom teacher.
(b) The three (3) letters of recommendation shall be provided by any of the following:
(1) The classroom teacher's current immediate supervisor;
(2) The current principal at the classroom teacher's school;
(3) An assistant principal who supervises and evaluates the classroom teacher;
(4) The superintendent of the school district where the classroom teacher teaches; or
(5) Any other school official at the high-priority school district where the classroom teacher currently teaches with knowledge of the classroom teacher's performance, including anyone with access to the classroom teacher's personnel file, evaluations, or student test scores;
(8) "High-priority school district" means a school district that meets the following criteria:
(A) It has had difficulty recruiting and retaining high-performing teachers for any kindergarten through grade twelve (K-12);
(B) It has a critical shortage of teachers qualified to teach for any kindergarten through grade twelve (K-12); and
(C) It has fifty percent (50%) or more students in the district performing below proficient on any or all benchmark examinations; and
(9) "State board" means the State Board of Education.