Representatives of the Lawrence Education Association meet with school district leaders as part of teacher contract negotiations on Tuesday, June 28, 2016, at the district offices, 110 McDonald Drive.

With the state’s new school funding plan under review by the Kansas Supreme Court, Lawrence teachers’ union representatives are holding off on proposing salary changes for the upcoming school year.

On Monday afternoon, around the same time district leaders met with the Lawrence Education Association to continue teacher contract negotiations for the upcoming school year, the Kansas Supreme Court issued a schedule for reviewing the new funding plan Gov. Sam Brownback signed into law last Thursday.

“We’re not quite ready to start throwing a salary proposal out here,” David Reber, lead contract negotiator for the LEA, told district representatives Monday afternoon. “We’ve seen what the state has done, and we’re going to wait and see what the court says.”

In its order Monday, the court said it would hear oral arguments from both sides of the case on July 18, with a ruling expected soon after. Also on Monday afternoon, shortly before the court issue was ordered, LEA and Lawrence district representatives agreed to tentatively meet again at 4:30 p.m. July 17 and July 31.

Union leaders and district administrators negotiate annually to update the district’s master teacher contract, though contract negotiations began later than usual this year, Reber said. The LEA and the district have met three times, including Monday’s meeting, since late April or early March, he said.

During meetings earlier this summer, district leaders proposed eliminating existing language in the master contract that guaranteed employees receive extra duty pay for any time they are required to supervise students outside the instructional day, aside from the 15 minutes before classes commence in the morning. A duty day differs from an instructional day in that duty days refer to work done outside teaching students in the classroom, including time spent at parent-teacher conferences, professional development and planning days.