It will soon be time for Lawrence school district Supt. Randy Weseman and the school board to talk contract.

Weseman, whose salary was recently boosted to $132,483, has one year left on his three-year deal. He said he expected to discuss his contract with the board in coming weeks. But, like many similar conversations, it’s on hold until the state finalizes a 2005-06 budget.

“We won’t talk money with him until we have some money to talk about,” board president Leni Salkind said.

The board last week agreed to give Weseman a retroactive salary increase of 1.66 percent, from $130,320 to $132,483. The increase is for the 2004-05 school year.

According to a February report by the Kansas Department of Education, Weseman’s contracted salary, including fringe benefits, ranked 14th in the state among school superintendents. Lawrence is the seventh largest school district in the state.

“His salary is certainly not on the high end,” she said. “For the kind of work that he does, he deserves a good raise. I don’t think something like that is going to happen right away.”

City Manager Mike Wildgen’s base salary is $121,144. County Administrator Craig Weinaug said he made about $109,000.

The board recently completed Weseman’s performance evaluation.

Reviews were positive, Salkind said, but she wouldn’t elaborate because the evaluation is considered a private personnel matter.

Weseman said the board identified his strengths, such as his ability to organize systems and communicate the district’s vision among other things. He said it pointed to improved test scores and the passage of two bond issues as positive.

Weseman was out of town, but said he would make the evaluation available.

Contract negotiations for teachers continue with the next meeting set for Friday

“I don’t want to take a pay raise if we can’t do anything for teachers or classified (staff),” Weseman said. “I don’t consider myself to be anyone special.”