Olathe Public Schools salary schedule: how teachers move to a higher column

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How is the Olathe teacher salary schedule organized?

The 2025-26 Negotiated Agreement, the most recent one posted on the district's Professional Council page, prints the salary schedule in Appendix A. It is a single schedule for all licensed staff, built on a 187-day contract, with ten columns across the top:

• BS, BS+12 and BS+24
• MS, then MS+12, MS+24, MS+36, MS+48 and MS+60
• Doctorate

Policy GBZEB, section B, covers steps. A teacher under contract for at least one semester is eligible for a step increase the next contract year. A teacher who moves columns keeps the same step, except on a move into the MS column, where years of experience are recounted as for a new hire. New hires are credited with up to fifteen years of comparable outside experience. If the grid is new to you, see how to read a salary schedule.

Which units count toward an Olathe column change?

Policy GBZEB, section C, sets the rules. Beyond the MS column, a teacher may combine "any combination of college credits, Professional Development hours/points, and/or CEUs that qualify for salary movement." The BS+12 and BS+24 columns need at least half, six, as college credits. The credit rules in C.6 are:

• Graduate-level credits count when they come "from a college or university accredited by a regional agency" and "directly apply to current position, future licensure, or District educational program." Non-semester hours convert at the awarding institution's own scale.
• Undergraduate credits count only if approved in writing by the Superintendent or designee before you enroll, and only if they lead to licensure in an area of district need, are encouraged by the district, or build skills to improve student learning with administrator support or an approved Action Plan.
• MS+ columns count only credits earned after the master's degree.
• Recency: credits, points and CEUs must be earned within the five years before August 1 of the current year.

Olathe professional development points count too, but only those earned through Olathe district, building or individual Action Plan activities approved by Leaders for Learning. GBZEB C.7 caps them at 120 a year for salary use, with one clock hour worth one point and one graduate-level credit worth 20 points. Points earned in another district may be used for license renewal but not for salary movement.

Two degree rules round this out. The MS column requires "a Master's Degree in Education or another job-related field," and a teacher can move only one column a year, except when a qualifying master's or doctorate places them further across (C.1, C.2). Our article on master's degrees versus credits covers how to weigh the two routes.

Does Olathe require approval before you take a course?

For graduate-level credits, Policy GBZEB does not require approval before you enroll; it requires that the credits apply to your position, future licensure or a district program, and HR checks that when you file. Undergraduate credits are different: C.6.b requires written approval from the Superintendent or designee before enrolling.

Tuition is mostly your own cost. Policy GBZED provides district-initiated tuition reimbursement only when Human Resources asks a teacher to take courses for an added endorsement or for the "highly qualified" designation, and the reimbursement is capped at a Kansas Regents graduate rate. If a teacher does not add the endorsement within one calendar year after the last district-paid course, GBZEB C.6.d returns the teacher to the column without those hours. Our pre-approval forms article covers what to keep in writing.

When are transcripts due, and when does the new column take effect?

The agreement's calendar and GBZEB C.5 set three dates for a column move in the current school year:

• July 31: coursework completed and transcripted, aligned with the end of the professional learning year.
• August 31: college credit entered in the district's online tracking system and official transcripts received by Human Resources. Professional development points earned August 1 to July 31 are also due.
• October 15: credits and points allocated to the column move in the salary tracker.

Degrees follow Policy GBZE. A degree completed by August 1, with official transcripts to the superintendent or designee by October 15, counts for the full contract year. A degree completed by January 1, with transcripts by February 15, counts for the second half of the year, and mid-year moves are made only into the MS or Doctorate column. The agreement's 2025-26 calendar lists February 10, 2026 as the deadline to submit transcripts for a first MS or PhD degree mid-year move, and February 15, 2026 for the request itself. Our page on transcript deadlines explains how to plan around a summer course.

Do the same units count toward Kansas license renewal?

Policy GBZEA ties professional learning to relicensure. For college hours to appear on your Olathe Professional Learning transcript, you send an official transcript to Human Resources and submit the courses through the district's tracking system. Under GBZEB C.7.c, points above the 120-a-year salary cap, points earned during the professional day and points from district-funded out-of-district learning are recorded for relicensure only.

Kansas renews a professional license on 120 points under an approved Individual Development Plan with an advanced degree, or 160 points without one, "including at least 80 points from college credit," at 20 points per college credit hour, according to the KSDE license information page. The Kansas renewal section has the full rules, and renewal credit versus salary credit explains why Olathe tracks the two separately.

Where can Olathe teachers earn graduate-level units?

Every district, Olathe 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 Olathe's human resources office is the safest record to have before you pay.

Before you enroll: Olathe's Policy GBZEB counts "graduate credits from a college or university accredited by a regional agency which directly apply to current position, future licensure, or District educational program" (2025-26 Negotiated Agreement, Policy GBZEB, C.6.a). Pick a course that ties to your current assignment, a license you are working toward or a district program, and ask Human Resources in writing if the link is not obvious.

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)
• CE Credits Online: self-paced, 180 days, units through Valley City State, Augustana, Adams State or Cal Poly Humboldt; from $449 for 3 credits (price notes)
• Connected Classroom Courses: self-paced, letter grade, units through CSU Pueblo; $389 + university fee for 3 credits (price notes)
• Credits for Teachers: self-paced, 6 months, units through Valley City State, Adams State, UMass Global or CSU Pueblo; from $349 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 Olathe has approved a provider or course; only the district can do that. TeacherPayGuide has commercial relationships with some providers it lists; how listings work.

Sources

1. 2025-26 Negotiated Agreement, including Policies GBZE, GBZEA, GBZEB, GBZED and Appendix A, Olathe Public Schools and Olathe NEA. Checked November 12, 2026
2. Professional Council, Olathe Public Schools. Checked November 12, 2026
3. License information and applications, Kansas State Department of Education. Checked November 12, 2026

Reviewed November 12, 2026 by TeacherPayGuide editors.Report an error