Lawrence school board members on Tuesday will consider approving new contracts with teachers and district staff as well as an increase to the administrative salary pool. They’ll also vote on an increase to meal prices.
Meal prices for 2026-27 will increase by 10 cents for breakfasts and 15 cents for lunches for students who pay full price.
Under the proposed increase, breakfasts would cost $2.20 for elementary students, $2.30 for middle schoolers and $2.35 for high schoolers, and lunches would cost $3.25, $3.45 and $3.50, respectively.
Reduced-price breakfasts and lunches will remain 30 cents and 40 cents, respectively, for all grades. Free meals will still be available for students who qualify.
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Adult breakfasts would increase to $3.20, and lunches would increase to $5.25.
Administrators attached more information about increasing food service costs to the district at this link.
Union contracts, administrator pay raises
The Lawrence Education Association represents certified and classified staff members in the district. Union members were voting through the end of last week on whether to ratify the new contracts, and the school board will vote on them Tuesday.
If approved, under the new negotiated agreement for the 2026-27 year, teacher base salaries will increase to $51,000, and raises of at least $3,000 would be guaranteed for teachers across all salary levels, plus vertical and horizontal movement on the salary matrix.
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In addition, classified staff members will also see minimum pay of $20 per hour, and there will be at least a $1-per-hour increase across all pay levels for education support professionals. Employees who are making the current minimum of $15.46 per hour would see raises of $4.54 per hour.
The district’s classified staff members have pushed for years to be paid closer to a living wage, and they’ve gotten continually closer.
The current living wage for a single adult living in Douglas County is $21.11 per hour, according to MIT’s Living Wage Calculator, so the minimum wage for ESPs in the agreement comes close to that amount at about 95%. But some employees were being paid $11 per hour — about 64% of the living wage of $17 — just a few years ago.
“Key provisions include the creation of a joint Professional Development Committee to evaluate ESP training and advancement opportunities; strengthened health and safety language that allows staff to intervene proactively in unsafe situations and provides reimbursement for damaged personal medical devices; clarification of seniority and involuntary transfer procedures; and expanded leave protections for employees injured by students or patrons,” according to the agenda item.
The agreements also make Indigenous Peoples Day a paid holiday and establish eligibility criteria for summer holiday pay for qualifying ESPs, according to the agenda.
However, the district — facing a 32% overall increase in health care costs — also changed health plans, and staff members who want to keep the same insurance coverage they had this year will have to pay to cover the increased cost. More information about that is available at this link.
The meeting agenda as of Monday afternoon did not include the results of the union’s ratification votes.
Board members will also consider a 3% increase to the administrative salary pool, an estimated increase of about $202,000 for the district. The teacher salary pool will increase by about $4.62 million, and the ESP salary pool will increase about $2.48 million.
A memo from Superintendent Jeanice Swift to school board members in December said the district had 57 administrators, including those working in central offices and those working in school buildings; about 885 certified staff members; and about 644 ESPs.
Using those numbers, if the school board approves the proposed salary pool increases, the average 2026-27 salary for administrators will be approximately $121,700; for full-time teachers and other certified personnel, about $68,000; and for classified personnel, about $36,300.
Meeting info
The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 26 at district offices, 110 McDonald Drive. Meetings are open to the public, livestreamed on the district’s YouTube channel, youtube.com/@USD497, and broadcast on Midco channel 26.
This meeting is set to be the 11th in a row without general public comment on the agenda. The board hasn’t heard public comment since Nov. 17.
There were no executive sessions planned on the agenda as of Monday afternoon.
See the full meeting agenda at this link. See ways to contact the school board at lawrencekstimes.com/contact-usd497bd.
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Mackenzie Clark (she/her), reporter/founder of The Lawrence Times, can be reached at [email protected]. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
