AN ACT to provide that school social workers are eligible to receive education‑based salary supplements regardless of whether a master's degree is required for licensure.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.(a)  G.S. 115C‑302.10 reads as rewritten:

§ 115C‑302.10.  Qualifications for certain education‑based salary supplements.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, only the following teachers and instructional support personnel shall be paid on the M salary schedule or receive a salary supplement for academic preparation at the six‑year degree level or at the doctoral degree level:

(1)        All of the following:

a.         Certified school nurses and nurses.

b.         Certified school social workers with a degree at the master's, six‑year, or doctoral degree level who would have qualified for the salary supplement pursuant to State Board of Education policy TCP‑A‑006, as it was in effect on June 30, 2013.

c.         Certified instructional support personnel in positions for which a master's degree is required for licensure.

(2)        Teachers and instructional support personnel who were paid on that salary schedule or received that salary supplement prior to the 2014‑2015 school year.

(3)        Teachers and instructional support personnel who (i) complete a degree at the master's, six‑year, or doctoral degree level for which they completed at least one course prior to August 1, 2013, and (ii) would have qualified for the salary supplement pursuant to State Board of Education policy TCP‑A‑006, as it was in effect on June 30, 2013.

SECTION 1.(b)  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Public Instruction the sum of five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) in recurring funds for the 2025‑2026 fiscal year to provide that school social workers are eligible to receive education‑based salary supplements regardless of whether a master's degree is required for licensure, in accordance with G.S. 115C‑302.10, as amended by this act.

SECTION 2.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2025, and applies beginning with the 2025‑2026 school year.