Short answer
How do Boise teachers move to a higher column on the salary schedule?
Boise's schedule has eight lanes, from I (BA) to VIII (MA+30 ES/DR), with semester credit hours earned after initial certification. Official transcripts date-stamped in Human Resources by October 1 move a teacher for the full year, retroactive to the first day; transcripts arriving later apply the following school year.
Source: Boise School District 2026–2027 Negotiated Agreement, Article XII. Checked .
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How is the Boise teacher salary schedule organized?
Article XII.A prints the Certified Salary Schedule for teachers, counselors, nurses and social workers, based on a 190-day contract year that includes two Collaborative Learning Cycle (CLC) days. The district also posts it as a separate 2026–27 schedule on its salary schedules page. The lanes run:
- I: BA
- II: BA+9
- III: BA+15
- IV: BA+30
- V: BA+45 or MA
- VI: MA+9
- VII: MA+15
- VIII: MA+30, ES or DR
Rows are labeled by an experience index from A to Q. The grid has a feature teachers in the lower lanes should notice: pay in lanes I and II stops rising at index F, lane III stops at H and lane IV at I. Lanes V through VIII keep climbing to P or Q. For a teacher with several years of experience, then, crossing into lane V does more than add a small lane increment; it reopens step growth that had stalled. Our article on reading a salary schedule explains how to spot plateaus like these.
For 2026–27, Article XII.A adds a 0.5% increase to the base schedule and a possible one-time 0.5% stipend in March 2027 that depends on state revenue. Teachers new to the district are placed by experience index and lane, subject to a maximum starting cell and an experience portability adjustment. The agreement states that this schedule is adopted only for 2026–27 and that any future lane or step increases are advisory.
The memorandum describing the new schedule says the district will move to an expanded "BSD Career Ladder" schedule. Across columns, movement would still be based on verified educational credits or degrees; down the rows, it would follow Idaho career ladder requirements. Teachers who held a BA+45 lane without a master's would be placed in the Master's column and stay there until earning a master's plus 15 credits.
Which units count toward a Boise column change?
The agreement's definitions say a credit hour is a semester hour from an accredited college or university, or a quarter hour that has been or will be converted to a semester hour. Article XII.A then sets four filters:
- Timing: only credits earned after initial certification count toward the education factor.
- Subject: credits must be in the field of education, toward an advanced degree, or in the teacher's major or minor field.
- Exclusion: credit hours the State Department of Education required for initial certification do not count.
- MA+ lanes: credits must come after a master's degree that was itself received after initial state certification.
Coaches have a narrow extra route. A teacher with an extra-curricular assignment may count physical education credits regardless of major or minor, but only credits identified as physical education on the official transcript, earned after joining the Boise School District, and no more than three of them. Under Article XII.D, a registered nurse needs a master's degree to move past the BA+45 lane.
Pupil personnel staff, including counselors, school nurses, psychologists and speech-language pathologists, may count continuing education under Article XII.T, at one credit per 15 hours of supervisor-approved coursework, for training completed after initial Idaho certification and while employed by the district. Our units that count article covers the same questions for other districts.
Does Boise require approval before you take a course?
For teachers, no. The agreement does not require advance approval of coursework used for lane movement; the subject and timing rules above are applied when Human Resources receives the transcript. The approval that does appear is for pupil personnel CEUs, which need the applicable district supervisor's approval to count.
Because there is no pre-approval step, the burden falls on the teacher to pick coursework that clearly fits the education, advanced-degree or major/minor test. The Certified Credits & Transcripts page lets teachers check the credits already recorded through the Employee WorkSpace in WinOcular, and notes that only official transcripts are accepted. Our article will my district accept it? suggests ways to get an answer in writing.
When are transcripts due, and when does the new column take effect?
October 1 is the single cutoff. Article XII.E says a teacher who completes the academic requirements will have the contract rewritten for a full year's increment if official transcripts are submitted and date-stamped in the Human Resources Department by October 1 of the contract year. The pay is retroactive to the beginning of the school year.
Transcripts arriving after October 1 are accepted for advancement starting with the contract issued at the beginning of the next school year, and the agreement adds "(if funded)." A teacher who finishes nine credits in the summer and gets the transcript stamped in September moves from lane I to lane II for all of 2026–27; the same credits stamped on October 2 wait until 2027–28.
Step advancement runs separately under Article XII.F: one step for the following year after the equivalent of a semester of full-time work. See transcript deadlines for timing a summer course against an October cutoff.
Do the same units count toward Idaho license renewal?
Idaho's State Department of Education renews certificates on six semester credits per five-year term, at least three of them college credits on a transcript, with up to three from in-service at 15 hours per credit. Boise's lane rules are stricter in places: subject limits apply, and only official transcripts count.
A course can serve both purposes. The Idaho renewal section lists the state requirements, and the Idaho state guide explains the career ladder that Boise's next schedule will follow.
Where can Boise teachers earn graduate-level units?
Every district, Boise included, decides for itself whether a course counts for the purpose a teacher needs it for: a column move, a stipend, license renewal or an added endorsement. No provider, university or website can make that decision, so the rules above come first, and written approval from Boise's human resources office is the safest record to have before you pay.
| Question | What Boise says | What to look for on the provider's site |
|---|---|---|
| Type of unit | Boise: Semester hours after initial certification; education, degree or major/minor | Semester or quarter units, graduate-level or not, and the university named on the transcript and its accreditor |
| Grade | See units that count | Letter grade or pass/fail on the transcript |
| Deadline | Boise: October 1, date-stamped in HR | Published grading and transcript-posting time, and any rush option |
| Approval | Boise: Not required for teachers | Course descriptions or syllabi you can attach to an approval form |
| Price | Not set by the district | All-in price per credit, including any university or first-course fee (compare) |
Graduate-level credit providers, listed with the same facts
With those rules in hand, compare providers on the same points. Providers listed on this site, each with the same facts:
- Teacher Friendly: self-paced online, units through University of the Pacific; $336 first course for 3 credits (price notes)
- Credits for Educators: self-paced online, units through University of the Pacific; $297 for 3 credits (price notes)
- Teaching Channel: self-paced, units through a choice of eight universities; $489 for 3 credits (price notes)
- TLC Graduate Credits: self-paced, units through CSU Pueblo; $425 for 3 credits (price notes)
- Upward Teachers: self-paced, 1 to 6 months, letter grade, units through UMass Global; $240 sale for 3 credits (price notes)
- VESi: self-paced online, 2- or 3-unit courses on special-needs instruction, units through University of the Pacific; $444 for 3 credits (price notes)
The provider directory lists 28 providers and programs by what teachers need them for, and Compare sets published prices for 16 of them side by side, with transcripts from 11 universities. A listing on this site does not mean Boise has approved a provider or course; only the district can do that. TeacherPayGuide has commercial relationships with some providers it lists; how listings work.
Boise salary questions teachers ask
What is the Boise School District transcript deadline?
October 1. Official transcripts date-stamped in Human Resources by then move you for the full contract year, retroactive to the start of the year.
Does Boise accept quarter credits?
Yes, converted to semester hours. The agreement defines a credit hour as a semester hour, or a quarter hour converted to a semester hour.
Do credits I took before my first Idaho certificate count in Boise?
No. Only credits earned after initial certification count, and hours required for initial certification are excluded.
Is Boise changing its salary schedule?
The 2026–27 schedule is adopted for that year only. A memorandum in the agreement describes a new career-ladder-based schedule in which credits and degrees still decide the column.
Where can Boise teachers take graduate-level courses for salary credit or renewal?
Boise decides which courses count, under the rules on this page, so check with human resources before you enroll. Providers that teachers compare include Teacher Friendly, Credits for Educators, Teaching Channel, TLC Graduate Credits, Upward Teachers and VESi. They differ in format, transcript university, grading time and price; the provider directory and the Compare page list 16 providers with the same facts for each.
Sources
- 2026–2027 Negotiated Agreement, Independent School District of Boise City and Boise Education Association, Boise School District. Checked
- 2026–27 Certified Salary Schedule: Teacher, Counselor, Nurse, Social Workers, Boise School District. Checked
- Certified Credits & Transcripts, Boise School District Human Resources. Checked
- Renewal of an Idaho certificate, Idaho State Department of Education. Checked
Reviewed November 11, 2026 by TeacherPayGuide editors.Report an error