Durham board approves administration's master's-pay plan; social-worker expansion held contingent on funding

The Durham Public Schools Board of Education voted 5-1 to approve the administration's recommended local master's pay program for classroom teachers, with a request to seek funding for including 11 school social workers listed as an expansion item contingent on county or other funding.

Board members and administration framed the measure as a retention and competitiveness strategy for classroom teachers; public commenters and union members pressed the district to apply the policy more broadly and provide retroactive pay for this school year.

The administration told the board the immediate recommendation is to apply the local master's supplement only to staff who have the appropriate master's on their North Carolina license and to classroom teachers and school social workers as an expansion item. "At this time, given our…