Lawrence school district classified employees left a Monday meeting feeling a little better about their paychecks.

A letter sent last week to about 300 classified workers warned them to expect a week’s less pay in August as the district instituted a new payroll system, pay that would not be issued until they left the district. But by Monday, after reviewing the changes and “trying to be fair and reasonable,” district officials altered the policy to reduce the delay in pay for employees, said Bob Arevalo, the district’s classified personnel director.

“I feel much better standing up here presenting this to you,” Arevalo told about 60 employees who attended an information meeting about the policy changes. A second meeting is scheduled for 2 p.m. today at district headquarters, 110 McDonald Drive, and classified employees should get a revised letter in the mail before school resumes.

The new policy is designed to increase efficiency by eliminating the practice of allowing employees to estimate beforehand their hours worked.

The change will affect the first paycheck in August. Employees normally would be paid Aug. 2 for work completed July 14-July 27. The new system will require employees to turn in timesheets three days after the end of a pay period so they can be paid for actual hours worked. So, the first checks in August will be paid on Aug. 7, and the regular, biweekly pay day will change from Friday to Wednesday.

The five-day delay might put some employees in a temporary pinch, but Linda Condra, a paraeducator at Pinckney School, said change was welcome.

“It’s going to be a really good thing to not guess the hours you are going to work,” she said.

Such guesswork had caused administrative headaches for the nearly 20 years the system had been in place, Arevalo said. Ideally, supervisors would make adjustments to estimated timecards after checks were issued.

“The adjustments didn’t always happen,” he said.

Aside from the fiscal responsibility the district had, especially in tight budget times, to pay employees only for hours worked, Arevalo said it also was important for the district to maintain accurate records. The district decided to introduce the change during August because it would affect fewer people. Just 300 of the district’s 850 classified employees work during the summer.

Steve Raulsten, a full-time substitute teacher for the district, said it would probably take a few paychecks for him to get used to the change.

“It’s kind of confusing,” he said.