photo by: Josie Heimsoth/Journal-World

People gather outside the Lawrence school district offices on Monday, Sept. 8, 2025 to advocate for education support professionals.

The Lawrence school district and its unions have reached tentative agreements for teachers and support staff that include significant pay increases and expanded workplace protections.

The Lawrence Education Association’s bargaining teams reached tentative agreements for both certified staff – such as teachers and counselors – and education support professionals, including paraprofessionals, custodians and office staff, according to social media posts by the LEA.

Certified staff are expected to see a revised salary scale with a $51,000 base salary and at least $3,000 raises on every step, meaning each position on the pay grid — based on experience and role — will have its listed salary increased by at least $3,000.

The agreement for certified staff will maintain core health benefits and expand stipend-eligible extracurricular assignments, while adding or continuing district support for roles such as Flag Football, middle school cross country, and e-sports.

The agreement will strengthen safety and workplace protections, including clearer language for immediate response to safety concerns and reimbursement for damaged personal medical devices. It will also improve workers’ compensation-related language so employees injured during incidents at work do not have to use personal leave and can maintain better income protection. The agreements creates a Special Education subcommittee that will meet monthly to address workload, staffing, compensation, and safety concerns.

Other staff members will also see pay increases. The tentative agreement with ESPs would raise the base hourly wage from $15.46 to $20, with additional increases based on job classification and experience.

As the Journal-World reported, the LEA has been advocating for a living wage for ESPs for years. Last September, over 140 people stood outside the Lawrence school district offices prior to a school board meeting urging higher pay.

The ESP agreement will also set up a joint LEA-district committee that will be used to help redesign the pay scale “to better reward education, experience, longevity, and professional development,” one of the social media post’s said.

The agreement strengthens protections for employees dealing with student behavior and workplace injuries, ensuring workers do not have to use personal leave when injured on the job and requiring the district to cover lost wages not paid by workers’ compensation, as well as repair or replace damaged personal medical equipment.

Additionally, all of the positions will see additional paid holidays for some summer positions, and new health insurance options to help address rising costs.

Members of both unions will soon begin ratification voting. The agreement requires a majority vote of voting members as well as school board approval to take effect.

The Journal-World has reached out to the LEA, but members did not provide comment as of Friday afternoon.