photo by: Contributed

Several Lawrence school district staff at Sunflower Elementary School participate in the Thursday morning walk-in.

Several employees of the Lawrence school district held rallies and walk-ins at school buildings on Thursday, urging district officials to provide a living wage for all staff.

According to a press release from the Lawrence Education Association, the events occurred less than a week before education support professionals, or ESPs, are set to resume contract negotiations with district officials. The workers are pushing for more than the 54-cent hourly raise that district representatives proposed during the initial bargaining session in August.

photo by: Contributed

Several Lawrence school district staff at Lawrence High School participate in the Thursday morning walk-in.

ESPs include para-educators, custodians, administrative assistants, food service professionals and more. As the Journal-World reported, the ESPs voted with a 95% majority to unionize under the 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.

The release cited the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s living wage calculator, which estimates that the 2025 living expenses in Douglas County, including housing, transportation, food, medical and utilities for an adult with no children, requires an hourly wage of $20.87 per hour.

The City of Lawrence doesn’t have an official living wage. The closest the city has is a Lawrence City Hall requirement that companies that receive a tax abatement pay their employees a wage that is at or above a wage floor, which is equal to 130% of the federal poverty level for a family of three. For 2024, that wage floor amount is $16.14 an hour. It was immediately clear what the level is for 2025. When the University of Kansas last year announced it was bringing approximately 190 employees up to a living wage, it used a figure of $17.42 per hour. That amount was based on federal guidelines related to the minimum amount federal contractors must be paid.

On Aug. 14, LEA ESP bargaining committee members asked the district for a wage increase of $3.10 per hour. The district countered with an offer of 54-cents. District employees at the bottom of the wage matrix currently earn $14.02 per hour, the release said.

photo by: Contributed

Several Lawrence school district staff at Liberty Memorial Central Middle School participate in the Thursday morning walk-in.

The release also said the LEA political action committee, LEA Advocacy, has begun gathering input on Aug. 30 to endorse Lawrence school board candidates in the upcoming election. However, due to ongoing concerns over ESP salaries, it is withholding endorsements while assessing the district’s response. LEA Advocacy may endorse candidates in the future and urges them to publicly share plans for achieving a living wage for all district ESPs.

LEA also is planning to make a statement at the school board’s 5:45 p.m. meeting on Monday, Sept. 8. The association is working to fill the meeting room with supporters, dressed in red, according to the press release

photo by: Contributed

Several Lawrence school district staff at Hillcrest Elementary School participate in the Thursday morning walk-in.