Short answer
How do CCSD teachers move to a higher column on the salary schedule?
CCSD teachers move one column, from I toward XI, after earning 225 contact units under the Professional Growth System: once every three years, or every two at Title I Tier 1 and Tier 2 schools. Approved-university coursework earns 8 units per semester credit. Activities are due in CCSD ELMS by October 1 of the advancing year.
Source: CCSD–CCEA Negotiated Agreement 2025-2027, Article 26 and PGS Reference Guide. Checked .
TeacherPayGuide is not affiliated with or endorsed by Clark County School District. This guide summarizes the district's published documents as read on ; those documents and the district's human resources office decide your placement. It is general information, not legal or employment advice. Disclaimer Report an error
How is the CCSD teacher salary schedule organized?
The Licensed Professional Salary Table for fiscal year 2026-2027 is a grid of 11 columns, numbered I to XI, and 10 steps, lettered A to J. Steps track years of service. Columns track professional growth.
Only the first eight columns carry an education label, and those labels mostly matter at hiring:
- Column I: BA (shared with Business and Industry licenses, shown as "B&I")
- Column II: BA+16; Column III: BA+32
- Column IV: MA; Column V: MA+16; Column VI: MA+32; Column VII: MA+48
- Column VIII: PhD
- Columns IX, X and XI: no degree label; reached through the Professional Growth System
A printed note on the table spells out the design: employees "can progress on the salary schedule through the PGS system without having to attain degrees or college credits." Another note requires every class to be "in a field pertinent to subject taught," with degrees and credits from an accredited institution. Article 26-6 of the agreement places a new licensed employee with no prior contracted experience in Column 1, Step A.
Movement is diagonal. Article 26-2-1(b) moves a teacher "across and one step down," and no one advances more than one step in a school year. Our walkthrough of how to read a salary schedule uses the same row-and-column logic.
Which units count toward a CCSD column change?
The unit that counts is the contact unit (CU). Article 26-1(b) ties CUs to the September 1, 2023 PGS Reference Guide, and Article 26-3-1 says CUs may be earned "only as provided" in that guide. Its general rules:
- One CU equals 180 minutes of activity outside the contract day; site-based collaboration time does not count.
- Every activity has to connect to the job you hold or the license you carry.
- 225 CUs complete one column move, and the same units cannot be reused for a second move (Article 26-2-1(e)).
College coursework is converted at two rates. An "Approved University" is a Nevada Department of Education–approved teacher-preparation provider or a Carnegie-classified Doctoral University; the guide makes it the employee's "sole responsibility" to check the lists.
- Approved University: 8 CUs per semester credit, 5 per quarter credit.
- Non-Approved University: 5 CUs per semester credit, 3 per quarter credit.
- Education-department courses count at the 300 level or higher; a 200-level course needs supervisor sign-off. The guide lists coursework outside education at the same rates, and every course must relate to your assignment or license, or lead to an endorsement or another district position. Multicultural courses can count from the 100 level, capped at 30 CUs there.
- Each course needs a B- (2.7) or better on an official transcript. Pass/fail is accepted only from an NDE-approved teacher-preparation provider or within a required graduate degree program.
Article 26-5 adds that college credit must be upper-division or graduate-level credit, earned in semester hours or the equivalent quarter hours after the requirements for your degree were complete.
Worked example: a teacher who relies on college coursework alone at an Approved University needs 29 semester credits, because 28 credits yield 224 CUs. At a non-approved institution the same 225 CUs would take 45 semester credits. Blending sources is common: district PD logged in ELMS has no cap, while live conferences top out at 80 CUs and presentations at 50 per column move. Our article on which units count compares this approach with credit-only lanes elsewhere.
One exclusion sits in Regulation R-4292: when the district's general operating fund pays your tuition, per diem or travel, that work earns no professional growth credit for salary advancement.
Does CCSD require approval before you take a course?
Approval is built into the plan rather than each course. Article 26-3-3 lists the Professional Growth Plan steps: develop an action plan, design the plan, "propose and receive authorization" for it, keep evidence, go through a yearly review, and document what you accomplished.
Two course-level approvals exist in the guide. A 200-level course (or a 100-level multicultural course) needs the Contact Unit Approval Form – Lower-Level College Coursework, signed by your supervisor and uploaded with the activity. And because the Approved University list sets your conversion rate, checking an institution against it before you register decides whether a three-credit course is worth 24 CUs or 15.
Some coursework does not count at all. In a notice posted September 13, 2022, CCSD and CCEA said self-designed courses, which let participants submit their own professional development hours to be converted into credit on a university transcript, "are not accepted for Contact Unit accrual" through the PGS. Ask the PGS department about any course built that way before you enroll.
If a supervisor denies coursework or units, Article 26-2-4 sets the route: talk it through informally first, then file the standard appeal form with the PGS Advisory Panel, which has two weeks to finish. Unresolved appeals go to grievance and arbitration; choosing the grievance route from the start waives the panel. For what to settle before you enroll anywhere, see our guide to pre-approval forms.
When are transcripts due, and when does the new column take effect?
The PGS Reference Guide sets one cutoff: every activity completed in the advancement cycle must be submitted by October 1 of the year you are advancing. District courses post automatically to the "Advancement Status" view in CCSD ELMS. Self-reported work goes through "Add Advancement Activity," with documentation shared from your CCSD Google Drive as a single link. Original college transcripts cannot go through ELMS; they are delivered to the PGS office. Activities from an earlier advancement window are not accepted, and the PGS department may audit any submission.
For the 2025-2027 agreement, Article 26-2-7 commits the district to pay a column advancement for every employee who completes 225 CUs in 2025-26 and in 2026-27, effective the first pay period of that employee's school year. Funding comes partly from SB 500 (2025).
R-4292, last revised February 11, 2010, still sits on the district's policy site with an older timeline: credit units completed before the last working day of September, transcripts on file by November 1, and a possible 10-day extension. Where the two documents differ, the agreement directs CUs to the PGS Reference Guide. R-4292 does state plainly that retroactive payment is not allowed, so a late submission waits for the next contract year. Our transcript deadline guide covers why arrival dates decide these cases.
Do the same units count toward Nevada license renewal?
Some do, under a different yardstick. Nevada renewal asks for 90 clock hours or six semester credits, or a mix, and treats one semester credit as 15 clock hours. A three-credit university course can therefore advance a CCSD growth plan and cover half of a renewal. Contact units are a district measure the state does not use. The Nevada renewal rules are on our Nevada state guide.
Where can CCSD teachers earn graduate-level units?
Every district, CCSD 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 CCSD's human resources office is the safest record to have before you pay.
In a notice posted September 13, 2022, CCSD and CCEA said self-designed courses, where teachers submit their own professional development hours to be converted into credit on a university transcript, are not accepted for contact units. The PGS Reference Guide also sets a lower conversion rate for universities outside its Approved University lists, so check both before you choose any provider or course.
Because CCSD screens courses and providers under its own rules, this page does not point to any one provider. Check a course against those rules and get written approval before you pay for it. Published prices for 16 providers are on Compare; check each one against CCSD's rules.
CCSD salary questions teachers ask
How many contact units does a CCSD column move take?
225, under Article 26-2-1 of the 2025-2027 agreement. Units used for one column move cannot be counted again for the next one.
Does CCSD accept quarter credits for PGS?
Yes. The PGS Reference Guide converts quarter credits at 5 CUs each from an Approved University and 3 CUs each from a non-approved institution, compared with 8 and 5 for semester credits.
When is the CCSD PGS deadline?
October 1 of the year you are advancing. Activities from an earlier advancement window are not accepted, and the move takes effect the first pay period of that school year.
Can Title I teachers in CCSD move columns faster?
Yes. Teachers assigned to a Title I Tier 1 or Tier 2 school for two consecutive years can move every two years instead of three. Transferring out shifts the accumulated units to the three-year track.
Sources
- Negotiated Agreement between CCSD and CCEA, 2025-2027, posted by the Nevada Government Employee-Management Relations Board. Checked
- Licensed Professional Salary Table, Fiscal Year 2026-2027, Clark County School District (listed on its employee salary information page). Checked
- PGS Reference Guide, effective September 1, 2023, CCSD and CCEA (copy hosted by NCTQ). Checked
- Self-Designed Graduate Course Transcripts, posted September 13, 2022, CCSD and CCEA announcements. Checked
- Regulation R-4292, Placement and Advancement on the Teacher Salary Schedule, Clark County School District. Checked
- Licensure Renewals, Nevada Department of Education. Checked
Reviewed November 11, 2026 by TeacherPayGuide editors.Report an error