Lawrence public school teachers likely won’t start the 2004-2005 year with a new contract.

Negotiators from the district and the Lawrence Education Assn. agreed on Wednesday to wait until the Kansas Legislature meets again to determine school funding levels before approving next year’s contract. That might not occur until this fall.

“Our thinking is we’ll not set another (negotiation) meeting until we find out funding levels from the Legislature, and then decide what to do,” said Mary Rodriguez, executive director of human resources.

Sam Rabiola, president of LEA, the bargaining unit that represents the district’s nearly 900 teachers, said the delay wasn’t ideal but wasn’t unexpected, either.

“I think everyone understood this would happen,” he said.

The current contract will remain in place until a new contract is approved. It is possible teachers will be asked to ratify portions of the contract that deal with nonsalary issues, though the rest of the contract remained largely unchanged.

The school board in March cut $502,000 from its budget to offset less state aid due to declining enrollment and increases in property insurance and transportation costs. A large salary increase likely would mean cutting more from the budget or waiting for more money from the state.

Rabiola said one downside to delaying the contract would be for recruiting teachers for the fall to fill vacancies. Teachers might rather go to a school that was offering raises, he said.

Teachers and the district did receive good news on one front Wednesday. Coventry Health Care of Kansas, which provides health insurance coverage for the schools, has agreed to keep premium rates at the same level for the 2004-2005 school year.

The offer came after negotiations and analysis of payments in the district.

Legislature’s inaction puts district in limbo (5-11-04) 6News video: Budget woes force teacher layoffs (4-29-04) 6News video: School board approves 26 teacher layoffs (4-26-04) District plans fewer teacher layoffs (4-24-04) See more school news

The school board had planned to spend about $300,000 on a 4 percent premium increase next year. Rabiola said teachers now were hoping that money could be applied toward salaries.

“Certainly we’d advocate for that, but there are no guarantees,” he said. “Given the budget scenario, it gives us some wiggle room.”

The Legislature did not increase school funding levels during its 2004 session despite Shawnee County District Judge Terry Bullock’s ruling, in response to a state lawsuit, that the finance formula was unconstitutional because it was underfunded.

The state Supreme Court is expected to hear arguments in the case the week of Aug. 30, with a decision coming as early as Oct. 15.

The Legislature is expected to meet in response to the Supreme Court decision to discuss school funding. However, there is a slight chance a legislator will attempt to raise the issue today, which is the ceremonial end to the legislative session.