Apalachee High School, Wednesday, Sept. 4 and Joppatowne High School, Friday, Sept. 6. with hearts over maps of Georgia and Maryland

As we celebrated the start of the school year last week, two other school communities were struck by tragedy. Our hearts and prayers go out to everyone touched by the shootings Wednesday, Sept. 4 at Apalachee High School in Winder, Ga. and Friday, Sept. 6 at Joppatowne High School in Harford County, Md. Our staff, including our school counselors and social workers, will be available to talk to students here if they need support. Maintaining safe schools is a community-wide effort. If you see something, say something. Tips can be reported anonymously through Kent County Public Schools’ mobile app. The app also sends out push notifications to provide information and instructions should there be an incident. Our app is available for free on the Apple App Store and Google Play; search “Kent County Public Schools.”

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Pillar 2: High Quality and Diverse Teachers and Leaders

High Quality and Diverse Teachers and Leaders

Goal: To raise the standard and status of the teaching procession, including a performance-based career ladder and salaries comparable to other fields with similar education requirements

Historic Implementation

• $10,000 stipend for current National Board Certified (NBC) teachers

• Supported 11 teachers in NBC Cohort No. 1

• Provided mandated salary increase to all teachers to meet the 10% increase by fiscal year 2025

• Designed a Grow Your Own program to develop a pipeline of teachers and leaders

Current Implementation

• Supporting 11 additional teachers in NBC Cohort No. 2

• Provided a 4.25% teacher salary increase to meet the 10% increase by fiscal year 2025

• Partnering with Bowie State University to support conditionally licensed teachers and instructional assistants to earn teaching certificates

• Designing a Career Ladder for teachers

Future Implementation

• Continue to provide support to teachers pursuing NBC

• Continue to support aspiring teachers through our Grow Your Own program

• Implement a minimum starting salary of $60,000 for teachers by fiscal year 2027

• Implement a Career Ladder for teachers

A High-Quality and Diverse Teacher Workforce

Kent County Public Schools aims to increase the diversity of its workforce and is committed to ensure its hiring practices support this mission. Kent County Public Schools has worked with its Blueprint Technical Assistance consultant to conduct a review of its hiring practices. This report generated a number of recommendations that we are interested in pursuing.

Partnership with Bowie State University

Kent County Public Schools continues a three-pronged partnership with Bowie State University that has enabled current support staff, current conditionally certified staff and current certified and experienced staff to advance their education.

This includes a pathway for instructional assistants to earn a bachelor’s degree, for conditionally licensed teachers to earn a teaching license and for current teachers and administrators to earn a doctorate.

National Board Certification

The Blueprint provides a $10,000 salary increase for teachers who possess a National Board Certificate (NBC) in one of the approved content areas. As of the 2023-24 school year, we had two NBC staff members and 21 more pursuing their NBC. We support staff members pursuing NBC through a pair of facilitators who provide virtual and in-person coaching.

Educator Compensation

The Blueprint requires school systems to provide a 10% salary increase for teachers between fiscal years 2019 and 2024. Kent County Public Schools has met this mandate by awarding a 4.25% increase in fiscal year 2024.

The law also requires school systems to provide a $60,000 starting salary for teachers by fiscal year 2026. Kent County Public Schools is working with the Kent County Teachers Association to set projections to get to this base amount.

The Career Ladder

The Blueprint requires school systems to adopt a teacher career ladder that provides teachers with opportunities for advancement within their role as teachers and to earn additional compensation. To advance within the career ladder, teachers may demonstrate greater expertise and leadership by earning an advanced degree or a National Board Certification.


Professor Distinguished Teacher Level 4A-3
		Distinguished Principal Level 4B-2
Distinguished Teacher Level 4A-2
		Licensed Principal Level 4B-1
Lead Teacher Level 4A-1

TEACHER LEADERSHIP TRACK (Assume 12% of educators)		ADMINISTRATOR TRACK (Assume 5% of educators)

Arrow line pointing up from the lower right column to the columns on the left and right; paired with a dotted line arrow from the lower left column pointing up to the top right column


Level 3** APC (Assume 10% of educators)		Level 3** NBC (Assume 21% of educators)

Level 2 Pursuing master's degree or 30 credits* Year 4-10 (Assume 10% of educators)		Level 2 Pursuing National Board Certification Year 4-10 (Assume 25% of educators)

Level 1 | State Licensed Teacher | Year 1-3 | (Assume 17% of educators)

* 30 credits in an approved program of study.

** Educators in Level 3 include assistant principals.

Dotted lines are transition plan for existing teachers and administrators.

Teachers pursuing NBC may also be pursuing a master's degree.

For more information, visit the Maryland State Department of Education’s website: https://teach.maryland.gov/Pages/blueprint.aspx.