photo by: Josie Heimsoth/Journal-World

The Lawrence Education Association gave a presentation at the school board meeting on Monday, June 23, 2025.

A vote from the Lawrence school district’s classified staff has united all district employees into one local union, and school board members were briefed on the new milestone Monday.

On June 10, 2025, Educational Support Professionals, ESPs, in the Lawrence school district voted with a 95% majority to unionize under the Lawrence Education Association, LEA. This vote unites both the certified and classified district employees into one local union and connects ESPs with larger statewide and national teacher organizations.

On Monday, Lawrence school board members heard about the joining of unions during their business meeting, and Emerson Hoffzales, President of Lawrence Education Association, said this type of unity was a first for the state of Kansas.

“We are one of the first in Kansas that has this very unique, very fun thing that’s going to be happening very soon, where we have two bargaining tables, we have two conversations, we have two contracts under one union,” Hoffzales said.

The unionization happens ahead of the negotiations between the district and its unionized staff, which is expected to take place later this summer. A key focus of these negotiations is securing raises and improving working conditions for all staff. Board member Shannon Kimball said she was excited for the LEA to have reached this milestone.

“It really is remarkable looking at what is or is not happening in districts across the state in this space,” Kimball said. “You all are leading and that’s very exciting.”

The decision to join forces came after months of organizing and building strong support among classified staff like food service workers, paraeducators, custodians, and secretaries. The addition of ESPs staff grew the union at the LEA by 61%, according to a press release from the LEA.

“Bringing us to this moment — a moment of unification — marks more than a local victory; it signals the beginning of a powerful movement across Kansas,” the press release said. “Classified staff in districts statewide are beginning to organize, standing up for a living wage, respect, and a voice on the job.”

While joining the LEA, the ESP will also be brought into the broader ranks of the Kansas NEA and the National Education Association, which is the largest union in the country, according to the press release.

“This move is not merely a change of affiliation; it is a strategic step toward advocating for better working conditions and funding for public schools,” Ross Allison-Natale, a special education teacher at Lawrence Public Schools, said in the release. “By becoming members of the Lawrence Education Association and the Kansas National Education Association, Education Support Professionals can take their fight for a living wage and fully-funded schools directly to the state legislature.”

Julie Donley, a paraeducator at Lawrence Public Schools, said in the release that ESP is excited to be in LEA and KNEA.

“We are going to be part of a statewide campaign to fight to win union rights and a living wage for thousands of ESPs all across our state,” Donley said in the release.

At Monday’s meeting, school board president Kelly Jones highlighted the potential for improved efficiency and thoughtful decision making moving forward.

“This is going to be, I think, another example of a way for us to do things more efficiently and smarter and be thinking about all the different areas that have competing values and how do we take care of all of them?” Jones said. “I look forward to seeing how this goes this summer and as we go forward.”

In other business, school board members:

• Approved a memorandum of understanding – a binding agreement outlining the partnership between Lawrence Public Schools and the University of Kansas – for the Jayhawk Blueprint program, which allows high school students to take college-level courses for college credit.

The agreement will have instructors teaching the courses receiving a payment of $1,000 per class per semester to recognize the additional responsibilities beyond the school district’s teaching duties and teaching courses for college credit. The extra compensation will be funded through KU and processed through the Lawrence school district, according to the agenda.

• Increased the meal prices by $0.10 per meal for students and adults paying full price for the 2025-2026 school year.

Lunch prices for the upcoming school year would be set at $3.10 for elementary students, $3.30 for middle school students and $3.35 for high school students. Adult lunches would cost $5.10. Breakfast prices would be $1 less than lunch prices for all students and $2 less for adults. Reduced-price meals would remain unchanged at 40 cents for lunch and 30 cents for breakfast.

• Approved the payment of the district’s excess workers’ compensation insurance policy with an annual premium of $71,113 for the period July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026.

School board members also renewed third-party administration of the district’s workers’ compensation program effective July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026, from the Thomas McGee Group for an annual fee of $55,500.

• Approved the district’s property and liability insurance coverage for the 2025-2026 fiscal year, including educators’ legal liability coverage through the Kansas Insurance Cooperative for Schools, at an estimated cost of $1,395,144.

• Purchased the FlexPoint platform, which is used by the Lawrence Virtual School, for an amount not to exceed $97,000.

• Purchased 300 student licenses for the eDynamic Learning platform, which supports high school staff in delivering career and elective courses to students at the Lawrence Virtual School, for an amount not to exceed $63,000.

• Purchased middle school replacement football uniforms from BSN Sports LLC in the amount of $39,110.

• Renewed the district’s IXL site license for English Language Arts classes for the 2025-2026 school year for the estimated amount of $36,875.

• Approved durables and consumables that are necessary to maintain and expand course offerings for the STEAM program at Liberty Memorial Central Middle School in an amount not to exceed $35,000.

• Added $15,000 to an existing contract with BrightStar Staffing Contracted Services approved on July 22, 2024, to cover one-on-one nursing services required by students’ individualized education plans.

• Held three executive sessions. The first was for the purposes of “evaluation of the Superintendent” and the other two sessions will be for the purposes of “discussing personnel matters pursuant to the non-elected personnel exception under KOMA.” No action was taken following the sessions.