Post updated at 10:37 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 11:
The Lawrence school board on Monday approved a 3% increase to salaries for district administrators.
Administrators include the superintendent and district-level staff as well as school principals. The increase adds $194,258 to the administrative salary pool, according to the agenda item.
The increase brings the administrative salary pool to approximately $6.67 million.
Board members unanimously approved the raise as part of their consent agenda – a list of items routinely approved in one motion unless a board member or the superintendent pulls an item for discussion. No discussion took place.
On July 28, the board approved an $800 raise to the base pay for teachers. That’s a slightly more than 3% increase, or $1.68 million, to the certified salary pool, for a total pool of approximately $54.75 million.
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The board on Sept. 24 approved a $1 hourly raise for education support professionals, increasing the minimum hourly wage from $14.02 to $15.46. That amounts to a $1.13 million addition to the ESP salary pool — a close to 6% increase overall for a total salary pool of approximately $20.1 million.
The living wage for a single adult living in Lawrence with no children is currently $20.87.
During her report at the beginning of the meeting Monday, Superintendent Jeanice Swift said approving the administrator raises rounds out salary contracts for the 2025-26 year.
“We are just getting started, so we’ll be organizing our work and continuing to move forward to achieve that livable wage for all members of our team,” she said.
Expansion project at Langston Hughes
Additionally, the Lawrence school board on Monday hired architectural and engineering firms to plan and design an expansion of Langston Hughes Elementary School.
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At the Oct. 20 board meeting, however, Swift said the district had extended the timeline to complete construction from summer 2026 to summer 2027. She said the district wanted more time for public engagement, specifically about current traffic patterns in the neighborhood of Langston Hughes, this coming fall and winter.
But the board on Monday unanimously approved four proposals to hire firms for the design and planning of the project, totaling about $575,000. Board members did not discuss the contracts as part of their consent agenda.
At their Oct. 20 meeting, board members had voted to hire ACI Boland to plan and develop a capital outlay project at the former Centennial Elementary School building. Centennial Choice School, an alternative high school program, is still set to open in August 2026.
The district has frequently contracted with ACI Boland in the past. Included in the approval Monday, the board hired the Kansas City, Missouri-based firm for architectural planning for the Langston Hughes project. The services cost $300,000.
Langston Hughes has the highest enrollment of all elementary schools, and Swift has said it’s the only currently over capacity.
Seven new classrooms will be added and other areas, including storm shelters and the cafeteria, will be expanded, according to the agenda items. Minor changes will be made to drives and parking areas on the east side of the building.
The agenda item said a second proposal from ACI Boland, which could recommend “support services of additional architectural firms to enhance the development of the Langston Hughes Elementary School renovation as a prototype for possible future projects at other school buildings,” will be provided at a future date.
Other related proposals the board approved Monday include:
• Landplan Engineering’s proposal to provide civil engineering and planning services for $58,000;
• Lankford | Fendler and Associates Consulting Engineers Inc.’s proposal to provide mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire protection engineering services for $157,159; and
• Norton and Schmidt Consulting Engineers LLC’s proposal to provide structural engineering and construction administration for $60,000.
Expenditures will be paid from the capital outlay fund. Money in that fund is mostly spent on facilities and technology and cannot be used for staff salaries or ongoing expenses.
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Maya Hodison (she/her), equity reporter, can be reached at mhodison@lawrencekstimes.com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
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