Winthrop School Committee approves college credit list to curb salary lane inflation

WINTHROP -- October 20, 2025, Winthrop School Committee unanimously approves a new list of colleges whose courses qualify for teacher salary lane changes. The board voted 7-0 Monday to adopt the list, presented by Superintendent Lisa Barry and Assistant Superintendent Laurie Powell, after administrators found that staff had been accumulating lane-change credits through asynchronous online courses costing as little as $275 for three credits, well below the standard of traditional graduate coursework. "It sort of really exploded last year when we did the data analysis of how many people moved lanes," Barry told the committee. Staff who have already received lane-change credit under prior practice will keep those benefits; the new standards apply going forward only. The committee also approved warrants totaling $1,272,374.30 and a prior-year invoice of $7,356.65 before entering executive session on collective bargaining.