001Okay, we'll move on to item 1.3. Can I get a motion, please? >> I move to recess to executive session for the purpose of discussing personnel matters of non-elected personnel in order to protect the privacy interests of the individuals to be discussed with legal counsel. Invited to be present with the board to return to open session in this room in 60 minutes at 7:01 p.m. with no action to follow. I >> second. >> Gordon Ross. >> Yes. Franklin, >> yes. >> Buyers, >> yes. >> Lancaster, >> yes. >> Jones, >> yes. >> Could you Blackwood? >> Yes. >> Motion passes 6. >> Okay. This next one is just a reminder that we're going to need a few minutes to update. We are back from We're all in Okay, >> let me Okay, we are back
002from executive session with no action to follow. So before we move on to the next item, >> uh I have to recuse myself from the next item. So I'm going to step out. >> Do you want me to read? >> Okay. So with that, can I get a motion for item 1.5? >> Let's see. This is Carol. I move the board recess to executive session for the purposes of discussing personnel matters of non-elected personnel in order to protect the privacy interests of the individuals to be discussed with Dr. Janice Kerswift, superintendent. Dr. Larry Ingleber, deputy superintendent and Samry Devon, assistant superintendent, human resources invited to be present with the board to return to open session in this room at 7:32 with possible action to follow. >> I second. Could you Blackwood? >> Yes. >> Buyers,
003>> yes. >> Lancaster, >> yes. >> Gordon Ross, >> yes. >> Franklin, >> yes. >> Motion. Motion passes. 5-0. Okay, we are back from executive session and at this point we are going to take a 15minute break. So we will restart the meeting at 7:48. He ate inside. Okay, we have returned from our break. Um the action to follow of our second um executive session is we have added an item under new business item 4.1 which we will get to in that spot in the agenda. So we're going to move on um we're going to um move on to the report of the superintendent of schools item 1.8. Um so Dr. Swift. >> Thank you Mr. President, members of the board, and everyone who's joining us in person, and those who are out there remotely,
004welcome. Uh we are just ready to cross the middle of May this week, and what an exciting time in the district as we wrap up this 2526 school year. Uh we are celebrating so many achievements and milestones during these culminating days of the year. And in addition to all the obvious ones, uh, graduations coming next week, we celebrate and applaud each child from preschool through high school graduation. We applaud them on their progress and growth throughout this school year. Uh, we are so thankful to our teachers and support staff, our families and community who have supported our students so beautifully through this school year. We'll move quickly through some May highlights. Uh we want to be sure we celebrate our teachers every single day. >> Every single day in class. >> There we go. Wait
005one second on that. We celebrate our amazing teachers every single day of the school year. And specifically during early May, we celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week. It's just another day to extend our sincere gratitude to our educators who are on the front lines of Lawrence Public Schools. We recognize the impact they make every day in the lives of students. Each classroom interaction, every moment of encouragement, every act of care helps shape student learning, confidence, and belonging across our schools. Thank you, teachers. If you haven't had a chance yet to see it, I invite you to watch this video. Um, Andrew Beavenon and Summer Workman Jake Potter shared this video in celebration of teacher appreciation. Every single day in classrooms across Lawrence, something remarkable happens. lost our sound. My apologies. We'll just deal with that technical issue.
006I know. >> You know what, Mr. Jarvis? If we need to come back to it later, we can. How about that? I promise you, it is worth the wait. Uh, so we'll return to that a little bit later in the evening. Um, we uh are so happy. Also, if you look to your right, members and everybody in the in the uh room this evening, we're also delighted to share uh a an exhibit of photos completed also uh by Andrew Beavenon. And uh this gallery titled Educators Make an Impact Every Day uh captures just everyday moments in the lives. And it really they celebrate uh those moments of care, commitment, and dedication demonstrated by our teachers and staff every day. So, I hope that you will take time as you have some this evening to wander
007by that wall and enjoy some of those beautiful photos. Uh we want to just visit our work around safe routes to school. Uh we do that in May particularly because um we celebrate National Bike and Roll to School Day uh this past week and also uh as part of this ongoing work the district is partnering with Lawrence Douglas County Health Department with the city of Lawrence and with Lawrence Douglas County Metropolitan Planning Organization to solicit input to inform and update to the community's safe routes to school plan. Families and caregivers are encouraged to provide feedback and I've shared the link in my report this evening and we'll be posting that and promoting it throughout the district. Community input is valuable. I've seen over many years the impact of those who work and live and walk
008to school and bike to school sharing their feedback so that our safe routes to school plan can be improved. That survey will remain open through May 16th. So please get out there whether you walk and bike to school or whether you don't get out there and give us your feedback. It is valuable. Free State High School DECA students earned international recognition um as they represented Lawrence Public Schools at the International Career Development Conference in Atlanta after earning top three finishes at the Kansas DECA state conference earlier this year. Students are uh are advised by Kimberly Hawks, our business teacher at Free State High School. She supports leadership and career readiness opportunities for students by these enriching student experiences that students receive in this valuable program. We have four students who qualified for international competition. They
009are Neil Sabberwai, senior Grace Muscone, sophomore, Ruth Yang, sophomore, and Allan Sha, sophomore. At the conference, students also completed written exams and participated in competitive roleplay presentations judged by business and industry professionals. Grace Muscone earned both a blue ribbon medallion and a top 10 medal in principles of entrepreneurship, while Ruth Yang earned a silver ribbon medallion for her written exam performance in principles of business management. Just a reminder, this was an international competition. So, our Free State students did a beautiful job. Free State High School speech and debate has swept for the seventh consecutive season 6A championship. They uh recently captured their seventh consecutive championship securing overall sweep stakes title with an impressive team performance across multiple competitive events. You can see the breakdown on the slide here. I just want to highlight uh one
010uh there are many individual performances there but want to highlight Briana Randall who earned first place finishes both in oratory and poetry. Congratulations. Coach Parker Hopkins praised the leadership of the senior team members and the commitment demonstrated by the program's younger competitors throughout the season. We are wrapping up spring sports and just want to give a shout out as spring sports season comes to an end. We're proud to celebrate the student athletes from both Lawrence High School and Free State who are completing their seasons and advancing to postseason competition at the regional and state level levels. Students will represent Lawrence public schools in upcoming boys tennis and girls swimming and diving competitions while several additional spring sports teams are gearing up for substate and regionals. We wish all of our student athletes and coaches the
011very best as they compete and represent our schools and community. community connections, uh, bakery grant expansion. It seems like so often this program is coming up for more awards and highlights. and we're delighted to share that they recently received a $50,000 grant through Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas, Pathways to a Healthy Kansas initiative to support the expansion of the community connections bakery and the launch of the new empowering brew coffee shop. The bakery and the coffee shop are designed, as you know, members, to expand hands-on learning opportunities for students while strengthening community connections and workplace readiness skills for students. The grant funding will be used to purchase bakery and coffee shop equipment and supplies that will support community transition students with additional realworld work and customer service experiences in a public facing environment. Plan
012to open this fall. Um member buyers and I heard a rumor at equity advisory committee. if you hear the same rumor that there could be a coffee truck in process. So, just stay tuned. Uh the excitement is building over there because they don't think it's just enough to bring the community in. They want to go out to the community with their coffee connections. So, it doesn't get any better than that. Um, if you have not seen it yet, the quarterly newsletter is in your mailbox, it's inside your newspaper, or it's perhaps at a community location where you're hanging out. But in case you missed it, James Jarvis is going to help us by demonstrating this cool interface for our spring 2026 uh, edition of the quarterly newsletter. Isn't that just the coolest? Now available in
013a digital format in addition to all those formats that you see around you as you move through the community. Our district newsletters highlight programs, student success stories, and community partnerships that continue to strengthen opportunities for students across Lawrence Public Schools. We often hear members, you all do and I do about our community communication efforts beyond those folks who have children in our schools. This is a key and critical component of that communication that goes to every single member of the community four times a year. And if it weren't good enough already, you have a copy at your place members this evening. Thank you. As we look ahead, uh it is so exciting as we wrap up the year, we are also starting the countdown clock uh for next year. Uh Lawrence Public Schools will debut
014an annual student enrollment for the 2627 school year and we're actually going to roll that out beginning in July. You'll notice that that's a little bit of an adjustment. This debuts right alongside a backtochool campaign that we believe will really build momentum and excitement through the second half of the summer and really better align our district processes so that our parents, our schools, uh our entire community community can benefit from the most accurate and update upto-date information for and from families prior to the start of the school year. Even things as fundamental as student contact numbers, a lot of times those addresses and numbers will change during the course of the summer and this will allow us to get the best information possible. Additional details, timelines, and resources for families will be shared across all
015of our communication channels later this week. We want to anchor into everyone's mind the timeline before we go out for summer break. But then watch out because right after the 4th of July, uh, everyone will get the beginning of that back to school and will build momentum all the way through the first day of school. Lots going on. We also uh have received our Kansas assessment program scores. They were just released. Uh so you'll see some scores this evening and we'll point out uh that the ones referred to here are just hot off the press as they say. Um this uh CAP includes a variety of assessments aligned to statewide curriculum standards. The state assessment system is designed to support educators and policymakers to evaluate student learning and to meet the requirements for federal and
016state accountability. The most important piece is just to remember that we know with any individual set of data that those scores represent only one snapshot at that one moment in time of a student's progress. So we always want to view them within the context of many other measures including formative day-to-day assessments. and the thing I value the most and that is the direct observation of our professional classroom teachers. So these cap assessments can uh be accessed by families. Uh those scores can be seen online right through the KSD kite parent portal and schools will also send home hard copies of the reports in the next week or two. Excuse me. Our facilities and operations team, many teams in the district in the district may be thinking about wrapping up, packing up and gearing down. Our
017facilities and operations team does it exactly the opposite. They are gearing up for full scale fullcourt press implementation. Here are some photos on uh facility improvement maintenance projects across the district. I appreciate that President Gordon Ross will likely update us uh from his work on the facilities committee this evening, but we are looking at roofing improvements, athletic facility upgrades. You can see the tracks underway here. Campus renovations and preparations related to student transportation services. Such an exciting time as we prepare to honor I was I was delighted to be in a meeting on Friday morning with all of our high school principles. You can feel the excitement in the Zoom room uh as everyone was sharing their last minute details. It is the number changes hour by hour, but we are nearing 900 graduates, members
018of the class of 2026. And uh beginning next week, we will look forward to the handshake with each of these remarkable students as they achieve this milestone moment for the class of 2026. Uh you can follow along with the celebrations right on our website. Uh we will have the links to the live streams. We know not everybody's able to get out physically and so wherever you are around the globe or uh wherever you are in town if you can't make it you can uh zoom in and see the graduations from our live stream links. Right now, we're delighted to be beginning the grad walks. We have some great photos, or maybe we don't. There they are right there. Great photos of the first of the grad walks that occurred uh last week at Deerfield Elementary.
019And as you know, members, this is when our graduating seniors uh dress in their caps and gowns and walk the halls of our elementary schools to inspire younger students to thrill the hearts of their elementary teachers who knew them long ago. And uh these walks are starting and we'll get you a schedule. They will continue throughout these final days. So, so as we approach these final days of the 2526 school year, I know everyone in our Lawrence community will join together to help us celebrate our deserving students and staff, honoring their growth and learning during this school year. Thank you for the opportunity to share the superintendent report and for the honor of serving the Lawrence public schools. There's no better way to wrap this than by honoring uh our teachers. Here we go. Every
020single day in classrooms across Lawrence, something remarkable happens. A hand goes up. A concept clicks. A student who once doubted themselves walks a little taller. That's the work of our teachers. >> She's a lot more than a teacher. She's a mentor. They practice dignity each day. Their study voices tell our kids, "You belong here and you can do this." >> She gave me a pep talk. You are like equally capable. All the guys are. You help me feel included. >> At Lawrence Public Schools, we believe that great teachers change everything. Their impact every day shapes who our students become and what our community can be. >> Because of a teacher, >> have realized my my potential. >> I was able to come out of my comfort zone. >> Because of a teacher, I love to
021go to school. Thank you. >> Thank you, Dr. Swift. Now, move on to the report of the president of the board of education. Um on May 6th, I uh had an opportunity to attend the uh facilities committee meeting. Just a couple of items from that um update on um general facility use. During the month of April, uh we had 1,487 events requested. We held 1,361 of those events with 32 canceled and 94 events declined. Um we got updates on um several projects. We had a pollinator garden and uh bench in New York Elementary um donated and then we learned about the asphalt and concrete work over 2025. Dr. Swift uh touched on some of these. Um the Centennial Choice campus renovations uh continue to happen. If you haven't had a chance to drive past that
022campus, I would invite you to do so. It it I would almost invite you to do so every day because it's changing very very quickly. Um we're doing some emergency fire suppression uh line repairs. The water line coming into Southwest Middle School. That's actually on the consent agenda this evening. Um outdoor lighting updates at Lawrence High and Free State uh football and track. Uh, one of the really interesting uh, anecdotes of that is the individual who was there to do the lighting at um, I think it was Free State, but it could be Lawrence High, but the guy who was in the crane to do the lighting was so excited because it's the first time he's ever done it at a high school that they allowed him to drive on the track. Um, he was
023so excited that he got to drive on the track with his big crane because we're replacing the track right after. He was just so excited because no one ever let him drive on the track before. Um and then uh um other work with the with the track. It's it's the little things in life. Um and then um a a really large update on uh just various summer projects. Um, we got an update from uh Cindy on finance on uh moving towards um consolidating some of our financial platforms just to help with um port of sale and credit card purchases and and and things like that u for the for the next school year as they continue to work through that um uh process. And then technology update from Sean. And then um we talked a
024little bit about girls flag football. Uh Kesha approved that and so how we're going to handle that um inclusion sport and then some slight changes to uh middle school wrestling. Uh a couple items on consent. Um there's a Billy Mills and West uh roof roofing and siding item. Uh total cost with contingency is $427,366. And then that fire suppression waterline repair at Southwest is $36,28. That waterline repair, um, if you remember, we also had a waterline repair over at Liberty Memorial where, um, the type of pipe that they used at that time, roughly 20 some odd years ago, we're finding that pipe just doesn't last in contact with the earth. It just disintegrates. And so when we um replace this water suppression line, we also this this work includes running some PVC pipe at the
025same time. So if the actual um commercial water line also goes at some point, we have PVC in the ground to make that repair much faster if that pipe actually goes. So um we're looking ahead to the to the future. Um, and then the, uh, one other thing I wanted to say, uh, I also, uh, currently have a, a, uh, senior, um, who's on the LHS girls swim team. So, I had an opportunity to attend Sunflower League, uh, this last weekend. And so I specifically wanted to give a shout out to Free State freshman Ella Marsh um who at preliminaries at the Sunflower League uh broke the Sunflower League 200 individual medley uh record and then in finals broke her own record the very next day. So uh Ella Marsh is an amazing swimmer and
026will have a fantastic career at Free State. So she was she was fun to watch. Um uh and then the last thing is uh Shannon is not with us this evening. She's attending to um an uh an event with her her senior. Um but she gave me some notes and so I'm just going to read those right now. >> Of course she >> um um my apologies for my absence. I have a graduating senior and tonight is the senior recognition and final band concert for the year for him. I look forward to seeing everyone at the um May 11 May she said June 8th because she forgot we're meeting again in May. Uh at the next May board meeting. Uh last week I participated in a federal advocacy effort on behalf of Kansas public schools.
027Kansas school board members heard updates on um federal education policy and funding and visited staff and members of Congress in each of the six congressional offices representing Kansas. Here's a brief summary of what we heard. Federal funding outlook. Uh fiscal year 2026 resulted in mostly level education funding with small idea increases, but fiscal year 2027 remains uncertain and is widely expected to be flat again due to education year election year pressures, continued use of continuing resolutions and competing federal priorities. Kansas delegation members and staffers expressed the belief that Congress will keep funding largely level in spite of the extreme cuts to education funding proposed in the administration's budget. IDEIDA focus and Kansas advocacy. Kansas advocates consistently pressured for closing the IDA funding gap shared local district impacts such as rising property taxes and service strain.
028Members of the Kansas delegation expressed bipartisan support for IDA funding increases with Republican Representative David's co-sponsoring HR2598 and other signaling support for the federal federal commitment to special education inter agency agreements. Significant concern was raised about unprecedented administration action shifting education programs Perkins adult ed and potentially sped out of the US Department of Education to agencies like DO or HHS without congressional authority. Staff questioned efficiency claims and warned of administrative confusion, weakened accountability, data challenges, and risks to civil rights enforcement. The Kansas State Board of Education meets tomorrow and Wednesday. This is Dr. for Randy Watson's last meeting as commissioner. Dr. Jake Steel takes over the position by the end of this month. The state board has a number of weighty issues on their agenda this week, including proposed recommendations on device use in schools,
029action on upcoming CTE pathways,formational presentations on digital safety, and the social media use provisions in the cell phone ban bill, and proposed updates to the S state board of education education code of code of ethics. I will share more information on these items at our next May meeting. Please don't ask me about any of those things because I don't know half of what I just read. Um, all right. With that, we'll go to board commentary. And Matt, we'll start with you. >> Uh, no, committees. >> Committees first. >> All right. Um, on the 28th, I was uh unable to attend Fringe. Thank you for filling in for that. Um because I got to attend our um newly formed special education subcommittee. Um very very good conversation there about some internal uh workings and communication and
030just resources and support for special education staff. um agreed to have ongoing meetings um you know some affiliated with negotiations and some outside um just to address the variety of issues facing our special education staff. But definitely wanted to shout out all of the staff that chose to attend um and and you know make themselves heard and Lor's leadership in particular um and pulling that group together not just then but through all the individual visits and everything that they're doing um to make special education staff feel uh supported. So that was really cool to to be a part of and I um hope to be included in that going forward. Um then on the 29th, the 30th, the 4th and the 7th um we had uh negotiations meetings. I won't go too much into that
031in case there's, you know, things that Kelly and Bob would like to share, but um would just like to say I'm really proud of, um, our district team, our LEA, uh, representation, and all of the work that went into, uh, this negotiations process from the years preceding my time here, but, um, it was really cool what what came out of all of that. Um, I'm really excited about it and wouldn't have happened without all of those people's, um, immense immense labor. So, that's my committee update. Thank you. >> Uh I'll just add um regarding the negotiations committee just the next steps. So we were able to come to agreements with both bargaining units. Um they are now taking the contracts back to those units for ratification. Um, I also extend my gratitude to LEA leadership
032and both bargaining units. Uh, the expertise they bring and the advocacy they bring to protect the integrity of that contract and ensure that we have the best working environment we possibly can for our staff was notable um, and honorable and I uh, learned a lot from them. So, I appreciate that. The the other thing I would want to say is that um some of our ELT staff that were present and participated in that and those that are right on the fringe of ELT uh like Megan Eperson for example who deserves a shout out along with others. Um it was uh great to get to work with you and to get to see your dedication to the shared values we have around doing what's right for the people that work for um the kids that we
033endeavor to serve and educate. So thank you all very much for your work and your leadership, Dr. Swift in ensuring that all of our staff will get an increase in their wages and that we are better aligning our values to ensure that that might be something we can do again in the future with the help of our state legislators. >> Carol, any committees? >> I don't have any committee reports. >> Okay, Bob. Um, I'd like to echo u what Kelly and Matt said about negotiations. Um, and what I would want to do is thank both the the unions and our staff. Both teams performed admirably. Uh, and I've been through negotiations a number of times. Uh this was one of it was hard but it was really a welldone and I want to thank you
034for your hard work and dedication. Uh also I attended equity council uh we met last Tuesday. Um we discussed uh actually around the issue of of the purpose of equity council um and and our vision for the future. We decided that we would uh we would meet continue to meet throughout the summer and not take a break because we felt that actually that propelled us better this year and we're hoping to continue that momentum. Uh we also had the opportunity to uh to view a presentation on family engagement. Um and I the council itself found it very informative and made some good s suggestions. uh you know my history of of being more the family engagement type of a person that like to see our families engaged in our buildings and throughout our district. Um
035welcome that opportunity. Um and that would be it. >> Okay. All right. We'll move on to board commentary and Bob we'll just start with you. >> Um I don't have any. >> Okay, Carol. >> Uh let's see. Uh, I was I attended the this is a we all wear different hats and they all they intersect with our our board duties but I attended the national con the the conference for the national council of urban Indian health in Washington DC last week and I participated in hill day and I was able to meet with staff members from both um US senator Holly's office Josh Holly's office and senator man's office and congressional representative staffers from Sherice David's office and Emanuel Clever and all of those um staffers were receptive and they listened intently to what we
036had to say. We advocated for funding for our an enforcement for our Indian treaties and just to remind our our policy makers that the the treaties don't have an expiration date and that many of these treat many of our Indian people a lot of us there are 70% of us that live off of reservation lands and so when we leave those reservation boundaries we don't those trust and treaty obligations don't stop and start at their reservation borders and we have many of our Native Americans that are enrolled here in Lawrence Lawrence public schools and we rely on that funding to receive a quality education as well as healthcare and those two are inextricably tied to uh improving our lives and so that is um something that I'm very passionate about and um the shares David's
037office did ask that if we could um advocate for the passage of Senate Bill 761 or the truth and healing reconciliation bill. It's a bipartisan bill that's just been stalled in Congress. She did ask that if we could advocate for that, it would require or start teaching boarding school history in schools. >> Thank you. >> And I that's the gist of what I did. >> Thank you. >> Um I I don't have uh commentary. I would be interested in um the school board's ability to support um Carol with the initiatives related to ensuring um boarding school education is in our curriculum. >> Yeah. On the 6th, um I had the opportunity to attend Pony Palooa Liberty Memorial Central Middle School. Um and it was a really cool event. There was um some really really awesome
038uh steam displays there. the birthday cylinders where where students had to, you know, map out the size of a cylinder based on the month, day, all that stuff of their birthday. That was a really cool display. The arcade, I saw Josh playing golf with a kid from across the across the gym. That was really fun. Um, but there was a ton of families and a ton of kids um from around the community there and it was um not just the displays, but the the vibes were were excellent. Um, I left before the the final Dunk Tank uh exhibit at the end. So, um, didn't get to see that part, but it was it was awesome. I am super excited. U, the first note I wrote down for tonight was the coffee shop opening at Community
039Connections. Um, I love the coffee corner at my work, James, but if that, you know, when that's open, I will be, uh, taking a stop there pretty much every morning. So, I'm super excited to hear that. Um, lastly, it's, you know, a week late. Um, I haven't been a teacher in half a decade. Uh, but teacher appreciation week was um, huge to to me and the people that I care about. Pretty much everything good in my life I I owe to uh, teachers, whether they were mine or or ones that I went to school with and or taught with. Um, so obviously y'all don't get enough appreciation. Um, but uh, teacher appreciation week, thank you for for everything uh that you do for kids, for our community, and for just all the people around us.
040It's it's a really cool deal. Um I'm I have a technical question about an adjustment to the agenda and I was wondering about a possible five minute break to ask you that that question. Thank you. >> Okay, we will take a quick fivem minute break. Okay, let's call it a good one. >> Yes. Okay, we're back from our brief recess. We are grateful for your patience with us tonight. Um, we're going to move on. Uh, we have a couple retirements. >> Uh, we have a couple retirements. Uh, the board would like to thank the following people for their years of dedication and service to the Lawrence public schools. Deborah Gallagher for three years and Don Urick for 30 years. Congratulations on your retirements. >> Thank you. Um, so now we're going to move on to
041the consent agenda. Um, let me get where I'm going. Consent agenda items are those that are considered routine and are adopted by one motion unless any board member or the superintendent requests that an item be removed. The item items removed are voted on separately. Can I get a motion for the consent agenda, please? I'm I move the board of education adopt the items listed on the consent agenda. >> A second. >> Jones, >> yes. >> Franklin, >> yes. >> Could you Blackwood? >> Yes. >> Gordon Ross? >> Yes. >> Buyers? >> Yes. >> Lancaster? >> Yes. >> Motion passes 6. >> Okay. I'm going to move to item 4.1 which is new business. >> I'm gonna step up. >> So once Kelly steps out, I'll say the motion. >> This is a motion that we
042added after our uh executive session. So this was the action that resulted in our second executive session. I move the board of education approve the resolution for non-renewal of the employment of the attached employment contract for the 2026 2027 school year. I second. >> Buyers, >> yes. >> Gordon Ross, >> yes. >> Could Blackwood? >> Yes. >> Franklin? >> Yes. >> Lancaster? >> Yes. >> Motion passes 5-0. >> It didn't update. All right, we'll move on to item 5.1, the needs assessment report. And Dr. Swift, >> thank you. Uh, Mr. President and members of the board. Um, >> Kelly, >> we uh come to this point in spring where we look at our spring uh needs assessment. just it's so important for an organization and we're so proud for the opportunity to go through this
043needs assessment process. I have to share coming from outside the state that I'm very impressed with the Kansas approach in that it supports uh the state board of education goal is stated to enhance each student for postse postsecary opportunities and support and success. And so, uh, you'll note on the board of education's outcome number four that it's about aligning school district budget with improvement needs for each student and identifying those needs by building. So, the process is a really exciting one and gives us an opportunity to connect needs as observed firsthand by our educators in the building. No one knows knows our needs uh on the front line better than that. To connect the needs as our teachers and staffs observe them. To connect those to the plan for the budget to draw a straight
044line then with the prioritizing prioritization of resources and then to inform the plan forward. So there's a reason why you will this time of year see Mr. Pulk at the podium sharing out the needs assessment before we will see Miss Frick approach the podium uh with some ideas for the budget plan because really this work informs uh the next steps. So this is our annual rhythm. I appreciate that we don't take it for granted. So what you will see attached to this board item members is uh the assessment uh report that you are obligated to complete to oversee and our team carries that out on your behalf. But you will also see sample individual school reports. Now, very soon you all will receive a link to those reports for every single school campus in the
045district. What you'll see attached this evening is an elementary example in Hillrest, a middle school example in Billy Mills Middle School, and then a high school example at Free State High School. So coming now to help us check in on our progress of needs assessment and prepare for the next steps that the board is required to oversee is Mr. uh James Pulk, director of data and assessment. Thank you. Welcome. >> Thanks for having me. Um I'm excited to share with you tonight the results of our need assessment for the school year. Um as we just review what Dr. have shared with you. Um the needs assessment is designed to give us a snapshot of what's happening in our buildings as building leaders um fill this survey out in conjunction with their building leadership teams. The
046design of it is to let you guys be informed when you're making budgetary decisions. So this feedback can impact the work that we're doing. Okay. So as we look at the survey that we gave this year, um those teams worked together to fill it out. We had those represented one for each of our buildings and for the two special programs that we have. So um we had 20 total responses representing all of those buildings and programs in our district. And the survey was very simple. Three questions. Those questions are what are the barriers to our prof proficiency at the state assessment. So what must be overcome for all students to achieve above levels two on the state assessment? So you'll hear me sometimes tonight say achieve level three and four. That would be what's above
047level two. Um what budget action should be taken to address and remove these barriers? And then the last question, if you got all these budgetary actions that you're requesting, how long would it take for us to reach that proficiency? Okay. Um before we get into the three questions on the survey, um part of this uh presentation is related to our state assessment scores. So you heard Dr. Swift tonight say that we got our 2026 state assessment scores. Um those were opened up at the very end of last week, but when our needs assessment was filled out by our buildings, they were using our 2025 data. So, I'm presenting the 25 data here for you um just so you can see. And this represents our ELA data. You're going to notice that um cut scores uh
048statewide were changed last summer, which is why it took us till October to get state assessment scores last year. Um so, you'll see that there's a pretty big change in our district scores and our state scores over the course of that year in a result of those cut scores. So, you'll notice in general our level three in the district and the state is um getting larger. our number of students scoring in level three. And you'll notice that our number of students scoring in level one is shrinking with the new cut scores. So this is our ELA data. We also have our math data up here. And so again, the same trends um would stay um as well as the cut scores were also um changed. Okay. So as we get into the survey, um we're
049going to share with you what was shared in this survey. And we'll just go question by question. My job was to take what the building submitted with their building leadership teams and to find common themes to share out with you tonight so that you can kind of get an overall picture of what our buildings are sharing with us. So the first question in our survey is what barriers must be overcome for all students to achieve level three and four on the state assessments. And so the common themes that we found here are in these six tiles on this slide. Instructional coherence was a common theme where we talked about highquality instructional materials. We talked about vertical and horizontal alignment. Chronic absenteeism was mentioned in all three levels that students struggling to attend school are also
050struggling to uh achieve proficiency on state assessments. Staffing and class size was a common theme throughout. That's larger class sizes was one of the barriers that buildings noted. Intervention access and this um something to note on this. It's not just about staffing or resources, but it's also about the time to put those interventions into place. uh student needs. This was something that we'll talk about a little bit later on as well that included academic behavior and fundamental needs. So being clothed at school, being hygienic, having food access, and then student motivation in our secondary buildings, you'll notice that several of those buildings marked the timing of state assessments being before the year ends. Um students not seeing the connect or value in state assessments and their performance. Um, as we looked at barriers proficiency, I
051also wanted to just break this down a little bit further into the levels that we see. And so here you can see kind of the four different uh types of buildings and programs that were represented. And you'll notice that the bold text is indicating the things that kind of we as a school district are in control of, while the nonbold text are things that are um often outside of our control like assessment participation or proctoring variables, parent optouts, lack of prep materials, and assessment timing. But you can see some of the common themes here by levels. Um, some of which you'll notice that you've had presentations on in this room or work that we're continuing to do in the district. In early childhood, a big one, inconsistent access to affordable preschool. All right. In elementary,
052they talked about staffing and class size, transportation and chronic absenteeism, and HQIM implementation and fidelity. Middle school, we talked about those vertical bands. So relating back to those instructional barriers, we talked about fifth to sixth grade transition and staffing shortages specifically related to special education and those secondary schools talking about student buyin and motivation compensation to um to have recruit and retain qualified staff and then at those non-traditional settings looking at transient student populations coming and going as well as curriculum design. So then we evaluated the barriers that our schools are experiencing. The next question asks that miracle question. If we could provide them with things to reduce those barriers, what would it be? So, what budget action should be taken to address and remove those barriers? So, these are in no particular order. They're
053just numbered for us tonight. But, um, they talked about staffing and compensation, uh, things that we are either working on in the district or things we need to note as we make those decisions moving forward. Uh, intervention specialists. So again, not just the people that are providing those information, but the resources and time. Uh class sizes. If we removed the barriers of class sizes, our buildings think they'd see higher state assessment scores. Uh coaching for improved instruction as that is directly tied with curriculum and intervention materials. You'll notice that not only do we want HQIM to be in our classrooms in vertical and horizontal alignment, we also want coaching to make sure that we're implementing those correctly. And then also uh mental health and support services. So how can we reduce those barriers? Provide more
054support to our students in our community. So then we asked two questions. What are the barriers? What can we do to reduce those barriers? And the third is simply how long will it take if we reduce those barriers? And so this was widely varying between the buildings depending on the type of things that they were giving us. So um one to two years if it was immediate investment. Um they mentioned class size reduction, staffing and participation rate improvements. Um two to three years sustained implementation of those interventions and progress monitoring systems. The three to five years really focused on HQIM. If we're implementing those with fidelities, it might take time for us to see those results. And then five to 10 years, this was really insightful I thought, but uh those deep changes. So early
055childhood access, as we expand preschool programs into our community, those students don't take the state assessments for a number of years. So we won't see those changes for a while. But something also important to note uh several of our schools noted that it's not really possible to set a specific timeline as there this is a com complex issue that has lots of factors and lots of variables to it. So then as we review those three questions um I also want to kind of frame just a summary in general of what our buildings are telling us and what this survey gives us. So it's telling us that staffing is the most referenced barrier to achieving proficiency on the state assessment. Um, additional staffing was the single most cited lever in the survey. Uh, attendance affects outcomes.
056Our students that are struggling to attend are struggling to receive a three and four on our state assessments. There was a strong desire for highquality instructional materials in vertical and horizontal alignment across our system. Intervention time and resources at all levels, elementary, middle, and high to provide resources to our uh lower performing students. And then also just something to keep in mind that change takes time and investment. The average building was telling us that it would be a two to five year journey to see these changes take place. And so as Dr. Swift shared, the needs assessment is designed to tell us what our buildings are seeing in the in their uh interacting with the students every day as well as how it can inform your budgetary decisions. And so as we move forward, we've
057given the needs assessment. Tonight we're presenting the needs assessment. What we're going to ask the board of education to do is draft a response to the feedback that's shared with you tonight. And then Dr. Swift mentioned the samples that we have ready to go, but every building will have a needs assessment that's published on our district website and the board's response will be attached to those individual buildings needs assessments so that we can publish what our buildings are saying about what their needs are and how the board is responding to those needs. So that's our needs assessment for tonight. I'm here uh to answer questions that you guys have and appreciate the time to present to you. So the next step is for us to draft a response and everybody else has done that before
058and I have not. How does that like just structurally how does that work? Do we get together? Do we have an exec session? Do we word Smith over email? Like how does that work? >> Uh we will collaborate with so we'll do a lot of the work within the committee but we'll collaborate with Dr. Swift to ensure that it um aligns with the requirements both at the state level and also reflects the goals we have at the district. So those will come before the board I presume at a subsequent meeting. Is that correct? and we'll have opportunity to provide input. What we what we won't be doing, which I love that you said, is emailing back and forth to see like because that would be a violation of >> meeting as well. We do that
059sometimes at on committee level. We might be doing that, but is that an accurate representation of the next steps? >> Yes. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> Yeah. I um I appreciate that breakdown and just what I was able to look through the individual um that was accurate and well summarized and um I appreciated the things that stood out to me that I'm interested in learning more about just because of newness, but um I know there's been some conversations on truency um in in the recent past. Um I know chronic absenteeism is not just truency, but that is, you know, a a an endproduct of chronic absenteeism. So, I'm um curious about those discussions. Um I was excited about the high-quality instructional materials conversation and the support that I seem to hear from from staff.
060So, um, when I hear about, um, several of the responses being about intervention, uh, specialists and stuff, um, I don't want to say versus, but I'm curious the interplay as we refocus on the tier one support and the the fidelity to the curriculum for everybody, what role intervention plays and how we'll continue to to support that. Um, several of the responses, you know, indicated different takes on um, collaborative planning time or or grade level time or all those kinds of things. Now, um the second plan was big and the things that you guys are doing um you know on the on Wednesdays and whatnot are big, but I'm interested to learn more about um that need. And then mental health supports um that didn't come up as much, but I know it's super important and
061it was on there. Um and I just don't know a whole lot at this point about mental health supports in the district. I know they're there and they're great. So those are the I would those are just kind of caveats to to the things that you listed but those are things that I specifically would be like to learn more about as we work on that that response as I'm as I'm listening was listening what was uh actually not surprising but what made me feel good was that a lot of the things that they're saying is that would help move help us move forward are the things that we're already planning to do. >> Uh so um which says that well which indicates that each year we t we're listening and we're trying to actually move
062the district forward and I I think u as always great works. Can I um I was I I also had a question pertaining to um the dialogue in the community around truency. So to build a bit on what Matt had said at the county level, they're shifting um the truency model and again I recognize the difference between attendance and the truency considerations or chronic absenteeism and the truency and um but I would like to hear from not tonight but I would in terms of response I would like to see ways in which we are partnering with um the community uh um social service entities or our um county partners to um both uh get us to a place where we're we are not being just re you know we're not reacting to just those things
063that are are truency or just those circumstances which are chronic absenteeism but how we're supporting attendance in other ways. Um so that would be something I'm interested in hearing a bit more about be in part because it's I know there are shifts at the county level. Um and then uh the other thing I was wondering if you could just quickly remind um me and the community the difference between the levels and how those cut scores changed. I I I had the second question. The cut scores changed last year to this year or 2024 to 2025 and then there was state um legislation that perhaps they were going to change the cut scores back. That didn't happen. Is that correct? >> That's my understanding. Yes. Okay. And then can you just talk about the the levels
064and how you are able to compare the data since the cut scores have just changed? >> Um yeah, so last summer uh they took the state assessment scores. Um they didn't want to call it a new test, they call it a refreshed test um for ELA, math, and science. Um with the exception of 11th grade science, they're doing that standard setting this summer. Um but they got together and basically they reviewed the assessment scores and um a team of teachers from across the state uh made recommendations on what the new cut scores can be. Um those were accepted by the state board of education in September or October. Um to compare year-over-year uh is proving uh difficult. Um they do have some documents out there to help guide us. Um however, it's not a direct
065translation. So, as we get further into another year of getting scores and able to dive into it more, we hope to see more correlation between the two, but it is kind of a a reset on looking at longitudinal data. >> So, right now really what we can do with this data is to compare where we're at as in relationship to the rest of the state. But in terms of our own progress, this isn't a great tool. Is that correct? Or does it still help? >> Um, I mean, it's still the same type of assessment. It's still the same type of response. So there is some comparison that can be made but you can see uh uh just in the scores for one year and especially because it didn't just affect us it affected statewide and
066district by district if you look at districts you'll notice that um larger group of level three scores and smaller group of level one scores that's a trend. So as we get more data we'll look at that but but um I wouldn't say it's apples to apples and I wouldn't say it's orange to apples it's probably somewhere in between. >> Okay. And then can you can you define um not just for me but like if um this for a parent um what does a level one mean if their kid falls in a level one? What does a level two mean if their kid falls in level? >> Yeah. So um a level uh one uh score is a limited understanding of the standards presented at that grade level topic. So if we're talking about math, a
067student would have limited mastery of uh grade level standards. A level two is um basic. So a basic understanding of grade level standards. Um this is where it gets a little weird. Um we want levels threes and fours, but basic is seen as kind of adequate. >> Um level three is proficient. So that means that you have mastered grade level standards to a proficient degree. And then level four is advanced, meaning not only have you uh been proficient at the grade level standards, you're actually above where we would expect you to be in that mastery. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Yeah. >> Well, okay. This is it. I swear you wouldn't expect a lot of growth in level four >> because that's gonna that's going to be so the grow the the growth you're really
068trying to see is how many people can you lift from level one into that two three how many people in two can you lift into that three space? >> Yes. Uh I I think in general um our goal is to have all students um at level three and four. And so, um, I there's a lot of different ways to look at that. Um, at the building level, we oftentimes are looking at students that are scoring, um, on the high end of level one, the high end of level two, and figuring out what supports we can give to propel them forward. But in general, we're looking at quality tier one instruction and how that tier one construction can affect our overall um, assessments and and scores. Yeah. >> Anybody else have anything? Thank you, sir. >>
069Thank you, guys. >> So, sorry. Yeah, >> we just need to pull it. >> We should probably >> Are you okay? Do we need a break or just refresh? >> Let me look at her. >> Give us give us just a minute. >> You need a minute? >> Um, it's just one second. >> The internet's doing it. >> You put it on new business. to approve the amended. >> Where is it? I will give you I will give you time to do that. >> I don't see it as a standalone item. >> 4.2. Oh, there it is. Okay. So, we had a small >> but significant >> small but significant omission on the personnel report. So, we need to revote on the personnel report. It is now item 4.2 that everyone can participate in. >>
070Do you want me to say change? >> Members, I appreciate your patience. lots going on uh in hiring our principles and my deepest apologies, but the principal being named at Liberty Memorial Central was in the uh many items brought forward, that one was accidentally omitted. It has been corrected and I very much appreciate the patience and support of the board. That is the only change from the one that you voted in consent. I'm happy to receive any questions. >> Need a motion? >> Yeah. >> Okay. Uh I move the board of education approve the amended HR report as attached. >> I second. >> Jones. Can >> you come back to me? >> We may need a break. >> Could you do Blackwood? >> Yes. >> Lancaster? >> Yes. >> Franklin? >> Yes. >> Gordon Ross?
071>> Yes. >> Buyers? >> Yes. >> Jones? >> Oh. >> Uh, enthusiastically. Yes. Thank you. >> Also enthusiastic for me. >> Motion passes 6. Thank you. >> Mr. President, you're going to ask me if I have anything. >> I will. Um before I I ask um Dr. Swift, Carol, you had an announcement. >> Yes. The uh summer meals location, the pickup location has been moved from YSI to the fairgrounds. So, it's been relocated to a I would like to think it's more accessible, especially given the construction on the traffic way. >> Okay. All right. Thank you. >> Anybody else have any announcements? >> Dr. Swift. >> Thank you, Mr. President, members of the board. Uh we are delighted to welcome to additional or two new principles this evening. And uh Mr. Potter has put out
072announcements on uh public media and most importantly to those staffs. Just want to thank everyone who was involved in many many rounds of interviews. It's a very labor intensive process and congrats to Mrs. Meg Clark uh the incoming principal of Woodlon Elementary School. And congratulations to Mr. Phil Mitchell, uh, incoming principal at Liberty Memorial Central Middle School. Both, uh, uh, fabulous leaders and, uh, both the overwhelming selection of their own staffs. Thank you. >> Can I get a motion to adjurnn? >> All those in favor? I. >> Any opposed? All right, we're journed. Thanks, everybody.