Lawrence school board and teacher contract negotiators Monday night reached a tentative agreement for 2010-2011 that would give salary increases to a limited number of teachers.

“All in all, we worked on the things we could,” said Frank Harwood, the board’s chief negotiator. “We realized money is very tight.”

After more than four hours of talks at district headquarters, school board and Lawrence Education Association negotiators agreed to a package that would allow teachers who have earned extra graduate-level course hours to advance on the district’s salary schedule.

“That was absolutely essential because people have trusted that they would get compensated for that effort,” said Lois Orth-Lopes, the LEA’s negotiations chairwoman.

Teachers are paid according to a negotiated salary schedule, and they can advance to higher pay based on earning more hours up to a doctorate — known as horizontal movement. Although it won’t happen for most teachers next year, they can also typically earn annual raises for each year spent in the district for up to 13 years — known as vertical movement.

LEA negotiators asked for both vertical and horizontal movement as part of two of their offers Monday, but board negotiators said the district couldn’t afford it.

Harwood said that on average annual horizontal movement requires the board to add $132,000 to the salary schedule. Board negotiators did agree to remove the first step on the salary schedule that would increase the first-year salary for a teacher new to the district.

That move gives salary increases to dozens of teachers who just finished their first year in the district in 2009-2010 and will return for a second year. For example, a first-year teacher with a master’s degree would move from $36,830 to $37,430.

Harwood estimated that total movement would cost the board about $50,000, but Orth-Lopes, a general music teacher, said that cost is likely on the high end because some of those 48 first-year teachers lost their jobs because of recent budget cuts.

The state’s budget crisis forced board members in March to cut $4.6 million, including not renewing contracts for more than 30 teachers.

LEA negotiators originally asked for raises for both vertical and horizontal movement, saying the raises wouldn’t cost as much in past years because the district will have fewer employees next year.

“The point we’re trying to make is the board cut those positions because they didn’t have the money for them,” countered Harwood, the district’s chief operations officer.

The two sides did agree Monday on an offer for the board to contribute $497,000 more for 2010-2011 to cover an expected 14 percent increase in health insurance costs on the district’s single base plan for teachers. Employees must pay to upgrade plans or to insure family members, and costs for those plans are also expected to jump 14 percent.

Orth-Lopes said those increased costs will still come out of teachers’ paychecks.

Although vertical movement on the salary schedule will be frozen for 2010-2011, those teachers could get credit for this year in future years when the budget picture improves.

Under personal business leave, teachers with more than five years in the district will have 10 discretionary days versus only five days.

“We do recognize this was just a tight year financially,” Orth-Lopes said. “There is some language that we are very pleased about.”

The entire school board and LEA membership will still have to vote to ratify the contract.