001Mhm. >> Mhm. >> the order the March 9th, 2026 Board of Education meeting, can I get approval of the agenda? >> I move the Board of Education approve the agenda for its March 9th, 2026 meeting. >> Second. >> Byers? >> Yes. >> Gordon-Ross? >> Yes. >> Kiddie-Blackwood? >> Yes. >> Franklin? >> Yes. >> Jones? >> Yes. >> Noble? >> Yes. >> Lancaster? >> Yes. >> Motion passes 7-0. >> Thank you. And now we'll move on to >> Report of the Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Swift. >> There we go. >> Just 1 second. I'm somehow in the wrong spot, but only for a moment. Very good. Well, good evening members of the board and those who are joining us in person and remote. Uh it is spring forward Monday. Always a special day, isn't it? Um
002and we are looking ahead to spring into a strong fourth quarter of this 25-26 school year. I just want to give a shout-out to our students and teachers, to our support staff and leaders, our parents and community for everyone's work to really connect, engage, and serve our students and community. I just have been impressed as we've moved through this challenging year that folks continue to step up and we are going to finish strong. Uh speaking of finishing strong, look at this data. Um There it is. Um parent-teacher spring conferences were, as you recall, on February 12th and 13th. I'm delighted to share that elementary conference attendance was above 94%. So, we are remaining strong. That is a slight increase, but I think most districts around would be envious of such a high parent engagement rate.
003Um and I really appreciate the leadership of all uh to continue to make that happen. Last Wednesday, the Lawrence High in Interpersonal Skills Class, IPS Class, held their annual Polar Plunge fundraiser event. I really wanted the slide to be all photos because of the great photo of the great pictures that you can see of this activity that raised more than $17,000 for Special Olympics Kansas and Unified Sports. Nearly 100 brave plungers volunteered to leap into the cold tank and chill out in the splash zone in support of this great cause. So, thanks to all of the students and in particular the organizers, Susan Mika, for this year's Polar Plunge event. Julie Henry Henry, the director of nutrition and wellness, was recently out at West Middle School and met with AVID students there to give them
004a behind-the-scenes look at what goes into planning their school meals. They And she asked for their help in improving the district's newest menu items. After learning about the complexities of school menu planning, students reviewed snack options and tasted two variations of goulash where they provided their feedback on flavor, texture, and overall appeal. Students also shared suggestions on improving school meals, including ideas for warming pastries, and asked the district to consider providing vegan and non-dairy options. Their feedback, along with input gathered from other student groups, will help the nutrition and wellness team determine which items could be added or adjusted for next year's menu. Uh again, I wanted that middle photo to just be really large so you could see this robotic police dog that visited New York Elementary School. Detective Megan Bardwell from LKPD, alongside
005Douglas County Youth Services Assistant Director Lee Hausman, visited New York Elementary last week to introduce our students to Chase, one of the department's robotic police dogs. Uh this a robotic dog, 70-lb remote-controlled quadruped robot developed by Boston Dynamics, is used with the LKPD and other law enforcement agencies for dangerous inspections, reconnaissance, and negotiations as a support to the police department. Students watched Chase gallop into the cafeteria like a real dog, and they were amazed by all of the movements. Chase comes equipped with tools like a camera, microphone, speaker, and also has stair-climbing capabilities. Our students were especially impressed by the robotic K9 nailing classic dog tricks like sitting, shaking, and laying down. They were even more amazed by new tricks like watching Chase walk on its hind legs, perform a handstand, jump, wave, dance, and
006even trace a heart with its paws, drawing excited cheers and plenty of awes from the crowd. Students eagerly asked questions while Detective Bardwell demonstrated how the device works and explained how it helps officers stay safe when they're working out in the field. Afterward, learners waited patiently for their turn to give the high-tech canine a few gentle pets and head pats. Thank you to the Lawrence, Kansas Police Department and Douglas County Youth Services for sharing this fascinating look at technology and public safety with our students. Members, you've already had a little bit of an update on this event, but it bears repeating. Last Wednesday, February 25th, the HR team hosted, and we had approximately 60 teacher and building administrator applicants interested in future positions with the Lawrence Public Schools. Attendees participated in a driving tour of
007the district. I really loved that part of it. Uh they were on board a school bus, and they returned for a meet and greet right here in this room with lunch, and then we ended the day with individual same-day interviews supported by our district leaders, HR reps, and school principals. I'll be sharing with you members in an email briefing the actual numerical outcomes of that event, so you'll know more about that. We were also joined by representatives from the Lawrence School Foundation and the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce, and I appreciate President Gordon Ross, who came to specifically engage with the candidates and help provide additional information and testimonials about what a great place Lawrence is to live and work. Uh due to the positive feedback, we're likely to plan similar events coming up. I do
008want to share that just in a show of hands, most of the educators in the audience in this room of 60 educators, most of them had prior education experience. Many of them had left their home districts to come and interview with us that day, and you don't know how proud and happy that makes me as a superintendent. Um that they were with us on that day, and also I noticed some areas represented, special education, school administrators, some music and arts, science and math, just all kinds of indicators in this room that make us happy that we are attracting great talent to our team. Well, it is a post season in winter sports. The 2026 wrestling meet was held on February 27th, 28th in Overland Park, Kansas with both of our high schools competing. Just want
009to give a shout out to Free State High School's Zane Shaw, who earned a state runner-up finish in the 190-lb weight class, and Damian Quick, 120 lbs, and Tristan Moore, and 132 weight, each placed sixth in their respective weight classes. For Lawrence High School, Jayden Harrell finished in fourth place in the 190 weight, and on the boys' side and on the girls' side, Goldie Stevens placed fifth. Last week, the 2026 state bowling tournament was held on Wednesday, March 4th at the Wichita Bolero North Rock. For the girls, Lawrence High School's Morgan Christensen placed 51st in the state. Free State High School's Leah Wilson took sixth place. And get this, with a series score. So, Leah is quite the bowler. For boys, Lawrence High School's Camden Toews placed 56th. And Lawrence High's Grayson Voss placed ninth
010with a 695 series. So, congrats to our winter sport athletes. We are coming toward the end of our community conversations winter 2026. It has been a very gratifying time. I just appreciate all who've participated either by coming to an in-person conversation or participating on your own team or at your own school. We in addition to those parents, staff, and community members, I want to give a big shout-out to members of my team back here who have coordinated student conferences student focus groups and conversations across the district. I just am so delighted to hear from students as they personally share the perspectives, their personal experiences, ideas about their own school and about the district as a whole. When we report this out in April, I want to note members that we will have student representatives who
011will come and share with us because you cannot miss the amazing things that they contributed. We are now wrapping up this effort, so I would just encourage family, staff, students, and community members, if you have not yet, uh all of the locations are still open here at usd497.org, your voice matters, and your partnership and perspective strengthen our work together. Um I know that our students are probably on top of it, uh but just making a note uh that there is no school on this Friday, March 13th, as we have teacher readiness day and wrap up third quarter. Um and the next week, March 16th through 20th, is spring break for Lawrence Public Schools. We look forward to seeing everyone safely back for the beginning of a strong fourth quarter on Monday, March 23rd. I just
012want to thank you all for your continued partnership and support of our 10,000 students. As I often say, we have 10,000 reasons for the work that we do together each day. I thank you for supporting our students, their families, and the talented staff who work so hard to serve and support them. It's an honor to serve in the Lawrence Public Schools and to share this Superintendent Report with you this evening. I am happy, uh President Gordon Ross, to receive questions as needed. Thank you. >> Thank you, Dr. Swift. Any questions for Dr. Swift? Okay. All right, with that we'll move on to the report of the President of the Board. Um I'll be brief. Um on Tuesday, February 24th, uh I went to a Southwest Site Council meeting, uh and we talked about um successes
013in the in the building, and then as a Site Council we addressed um the questions that Dr. Swift has been covering in her community conversations as a site council and we had some really good conversations, feedback, and ideas. Um and I also thoroughly enjoyed being back at Southwest as a site council rep. Um I've missed that school. Later that evening, we had our first meeting of the Lawrence Public Schools AI committee um led by uh Jake Potter and James Polk. Um we had a very broad group of people from the community um and with representation from students, staff, parents, and community members. We broke up into small groups and discussed both positive and negative aspects of AI and how we could best provide feedback and input uh to the board for policy guidance and then
014set our next meeting. So, very very productive conversation and and uh good good ideas flowing from both both the positive and the negative side of the impact of AI on education. On Thursday, February 26th, I went to the Award of Valor dinner um which was a great experience. Was there with Yolanda, Dr. Smith, and Summer Workman. Um it was a a a dinner. It's it's it has not happened since COVID, but it was there to honor first responders from across Douglas County for their exceptional work and and and honoring things that they had done in the line of duty. And so, that was a great experience just to hear some of the stories and some of the uh the work that our first responders have done. Um Wednesday, February 4th um had a facilities committee
015meeting uh just to touch on some of the things from facilities. Um the solar installation at Sunflower is uh complete. It's energized um and we'll have a ribbon cutting uh date soon. And then um our next big project for solar is Woodlawn, which is about to go out to bid. Um and then we talked about some other projects. There's a couple things on consent that I'll get to here at the end. Um, that that those were probably the big takeaways from that facilities committee meeting. Um, and then later that evening went to a Woodlawn Site Council meeting where we discussed improvements that the school has had both for reading and math and then the positive benefits of community partnerships at the school. Um, Uh, the four items listed on consent this evening, there's a structural
016engineering and construction administration services for Centennial. A proposal from Norton and Schmidt for the amount of $28,170 paid for from capital outlay. A roof replacement at Centennial from Meridian Roofing Solutions for the amount of $625,820.50 paid for from capital outlay. And then a renovation the actual renovation project for the building from Centric Projects LLC for the amount of $3,503,603 to be paid for from capital outlay funds with an allowance from contingency for potential bathroom upgrades and of $60,000 and fire alarm system work for $68,654. And the last thing from facilities are field light upgrades from um, Musco Sports Lighting at the two football fields at so one at Free State, one at Lawrence High and then the softball fields um, to replace obsolete lighting and that's $649,000 also to be paid out of capital outlay.
017So that's what I had from a president's report. Um, we'll move on to a legislative update from Shannon. Oh, yes. >> May I ask a question about your report? Um, I was curious in reading the um, consent agenda why we placed those on the Centennial upgrades on consent instead of with the update on enhancements. Do you just because it is it because it was building related as opposed to pertaining to the updates on the program? Is that it? Okay, thank you. >> That's right. Anybody else have any questions before we move on to legislative updates? Okay. All right. Shannon. >> Okay, thank you, GR. Um a few things to report on. Um uh the legislature had its turnaround and has been hard at work. Um there's about another week and a half of um of
018meetings, committee meetings, and then uh they'll go into kind of their final floor work and conference committees. And uh the intention is uh for the last day of the regular session to be Friday, March 27th. So, um not very much longer left. Um So, uh big items of interest, I think, to all of us uh on the budget. Um so, the House budget passed out of the house with only $10 million in new special ed funding. The Senate budget passed out of the Senate last week with $6 million in new special ed funding, but that uh position of $6 million came at the cost of the Senate completely eliminating the mental health intervention team program statewide. So, they zeroed out the $16 million funding for that program and then added $1 million to their original
019position on special education. Um that is no uh that is not a benefit. That is no trade-off. That doesn't help us with special ed, and it most certainly doesn't help us with uh student mental health services across the state. So, that's where the two uh chambers' budgets are at this point on on the biggest issue of special ed funding. Um what will happen now is likely uh each chamber is going to uh uh stick a budget into a uh shell that's already passed the other chamber, and then that's going to get it into conference committee. So, there won't be another The House budget isn't going to go over to be worked on the floor in the Senate. They're going to end up uh using procedural maneuvers to put it into conference committee. And it's looking
020like that work may start this week on Wednesday of kind of maneuvering things to make that happen. Uh so, that's the budget. Um cell phone bill. Um the House passed a cell phone bill, and I think I may have reported on that at our last meeting that uh was not the worst version of that bill that could have been passed by the legislature. Unfortunately, that bill is dead on arrival in the in the Senate. So, the Senate ended up over the last 2 weeks um putting forward their own proposal in the put it into a shell. So, the the cell phone bill is now known as Senate sub for House Bill 2299. Um it uh will override our local policies um completely on cell phones in terms of storage and uh how we have to
021manage that. Um what time of day? There's no exceptions for instructional use. There's no exception. There's no differentiation between grade levels. Um it's basically a arrival to dismissal ban, and the phones are supposed to be um inaccessible to students. So, uh that's where that stands. There was There was some improvement in the language of the original Senate bill on social media platforms and some recognition that they really couldn't go so far as outlawing us from using Gmail and Parent Square. Um but it remains to be seen whether that the language that's in the bill is sufficient um in terms of all of those things. Um the expectation was today that the House was going to take up concurring or not concurring on the Senate version. Uh, it was on their calendar. They passed over it.
022So, that may that may be because in committee and out of the Senate on the Senate floor, um, in committee they added an amendment that has to do with accreditation of non-private schools. Um, there is some concern that that particular amendment language does some things that, um, are not good. And that may be why the bill is hung up a little bit, um, and not moving as fast as everybody expected. They're trying to figure out exactly what it does do because it's very unclear. Um, so that's the status on the cell phone bill. If, um, if the house concurs in the Senate version, I, um, would anticipate that the governor will make good on her uh, promise to sign a cell phone bill. So, there's maybe not a lot of room for this to change
023before it's final. Um, on other fronts, uh, vouchers. So, the Senate Senate is uh, getting ready to work the voucher bill on the floor tomorrow. This is the one that, uh, ops us into the federal tax credit voucher as well as expanding, uh, the state existing tax credit voucher program. Uh, they did make a slight change to it. Initially, that program was supposed to grow from 10 million to 30 million dollars. Uh, they've dialed that back and so the program will only grow to 20 million dollars instead of 30 million dollars. Uh, so that's going to be worked on the Senate floor tomorrow. Um, uh, there was there were a couple things that happened today that I wanted to be sure to share with you. One of them is about a bill in a bill
024that I think I've reported on before. Um, it has to do with how we use free run free lunch as the proxy for at-risk funding in our funding formula. And this bill started out as a bill that was attempting to say about the free lunch program that they were going to require that the state verify 100% of the federal free lunch applications. Well, as this is worked through, you know, everybody made apparently convincing case that they couldn't do that because of the federal program rules. So, now instead of doing that today in in the house education committee, they worked this bill and amended it to change the definition of at-risk student in the funding formula. Uh they're defining what an at-risk student is for funding purposes using the same parameters as the federal free lunch
025program. So, 130% of poverty. But because it's not specifically tied in the language to the free lunch application, they then are going to require districts to collect what would be the equivalent of the household family income survey that we used during COVID and verify 100% of those surveys to verify the students actually qualify. And if you can't get families to verify and oh, and by the way, if you're a poor family and you're asked to do this um application, you're also going to be asked to provide a copy of your 1040 to the school district. Um and we're going to have to hire people to do this work because uh right now we don't do this work. Um and then uh you'll only get funded for as many of these applications as you can verify.
026Um the problem with that is based on statewide experience during COVID with using this household economics uh income survey, it is likely that it will result for most districts in somewhere between a 10 to 20% or more cut in at-risk funding. And that will be effective for next school year um if this passes the house and goes into law. So, uh so that's hugely concerning. Um there continues to be a lack of understanding in the legislature that free lunch was picked as the proxy for at-risk funding in Kansas going all the way back to 1992. Everybody knew about the federal verification process and how some people um end up getting benefits under that program that maybe don't strictly qualify, but that is a federal program design issue. Um that was known. It was known in
027'92 when they picked it. It was known in 2017 when they when they decided to use it again in the current funding formula, but apparently uh we can't possibly wait one more year to to work all this out in the education funding task force as we look at the broader picture of the entire funding formula. Um so that's uh that's one to watch because that could have significant impacts on our district and all districts in Kansas uh next school year depending on what happens. And then the Senate also uh worked a bill on the floor today. It's the recess mandate bill. I think I mentioned a few meetings ago. Um they've tweaked it ever so slightly. Some of the most ridiculous language about high school recess has come out of the bill, but otherwise it
028still largely remains an unfunded mandate um on school districts to do things that uh the legislature shouldn't be deciding for us. So um that one is going to get it's up for final action tomorrow. So um I don't yet know the final result on that one. Um it's it's a Senate bill, so it hasn't passed over to the house yet. Which also raises the question. Some of these bills were blessed. Um so uh this one was blessed in kind of a non-standard way. And there I think there is a question as to the validity of the procedural moves that were done, but until a bill passes and somebody challenges it, um don't know if there's any real there there for that. Um finally, uh let me check my notes. I've notes in several places tonight,
029so my apologies. Um Okay, State Board is meeting this week. They meet tomorrow and Wednesday for their standard meeting and also all day Thursday in executive session, which appears to be related to the State Board's search for a new state education commissioner. I think they may be at the stage of either reviewing applications or doing preliminary interviews with candidates. Um So, uh I'll update the board in a couple weeks on what it what we hear about what what is going on with that. Um I'm happy to answer any questions, but um that's all I have for tonight. Thank you. >> Does anybody have any questions? Okay. >> Uh can you So, going back to the I'm trying to understand if I was calculating this correctly. So, um the Senate and House budget bill, I mean,
030maybe at best we can look at a a $6 million increase increase in special education funding and still have a deficit that's closer to something like Cindy, what is the uh may I ask you what the deficit is for special education funding in our district? $14 million, so that's for the state entire state, correct? Thank you so much. And um they have figured out a way to come up with uh $20 million in growth for a voucher program that will primarily serve public uh private schools. Um and then they're looking at providing us a cut through the way that they have um calculated at-risk funding, correct? >> Yes, it's actually with the changes they made in the Senate, uh the Senate version of the voucher bill would be only a $10 million increase, but >>
031the house position as they passed out the bill is 20 was a $20 million increase. So, that would have to go to conference committee if the Senate changes it and passes it. So, somewhere between 10 and 20 million for private and it's all that is a program that is only available to private schools private school students and families. So, yeah, $20 million for a private school voucher not even enough money to cover the shortfall in one a single school district in Kansas in special new special ed funding and a 20% cut statewide to state funding for at risk which last year was somewhere over $500 million. So, if you take 10 to 20% off the top of that I'm not I'm not going to be able to do stand up math tonight. Thank you. >>
032[laughter] >> Yeah. >> I mean in addition to not fully funding special education there they are through a variety of way means likely creating a cut for us next year. >> Yes, and you know there was the State Department of Education did a presentation today in House K-12 education budget. You know, there's this talking point that this that school funding is taking up more and more and more of the state budget when in actuality um in 2021 I think was the year he used the K-12 funding was over 50% of the total state budget. We are now down around I think he said 48%. So, the share of the state budget going to K-12 public schools since 2021 has dropped something like 4 to 5%. So, the budget is going up in other places and
033they're spending money on a lot of other things just not um not special education. >> And the amount of money that we spend on um public education in Kansas is not unique to us. That's a common um percentage of a of a state budget. >> It's pretty common. It's usually the largest portion of a state budget because it's usually the most expensive thing that is a state responsibility. Thank you. >> Anything else? Okay. All right, Bob. Board committees, we'll start with you. Go down the line. >> Okay. >> [clears throat] >> I've had two committees and I I thank um my first one uh last Tuesday, I think we met. The Equity Council met and actually we got the opportunity to tour uh Community Connections at Pinckney. Uh what I would say is in my
034view it's definitely a program that is is equity in action at when when you walk through it. If you are in the community or anyone who would have the opportunity to visit or go through through, it's a real neat place. Uh saw the kitchen. Didn't get any cookies or anything, but we saw it anyway. Um I was going to say the other thing and I think Kelly's going to talk more about it. Um uh would have been last Thursday, we did our negotiations. >> Okay. Awesome, thank you. Carol. >> I I don't have anything. Thank you. >> Okay. Awesome. Yolanda. >> Um I didn't get a chance to go to any of the meetings. It was a weird work week um for me. But um I did was able to attend uh Valor um meeting
035and it was I mean a um dinner and um it was very um eye-opening to hear some of the stories of what our first responders have to do on a daily basis. I mean, we read it in the paper, but we read um the CliffNotes version of what they actually went on >> [clears throat] >> it on on that call. But, to hear the story that behind of um some of the recommendations and the stories that they put in the recommendations is very eye-opening. That's I really want to thank all our first responders, our police officers here. Thank you guys so much for your service. I have retired uh police officers in my family and so we thank you guys so much for your service. >> Kelly. >> Okay. Um I'm going to report on
036the certified negotiations team. So, we received an update on the parent-teacher conferences and the calendar committee. Um one highlight I I would say is that we're working to build in additional um time at the start of the year for our educators. Um the uh LEA caucus information included a uh slide deck which I forwarded or uh Nikki forwarded on to the entire board. Um there's important information in there around the uh shared um issue statement we have pertaining to ensuring that our um our base wage for uh educators in Lawrence is is comes up so that we're more competitive with local districts. So, if you haven't got a chance to look through that slide deck, there's really good information in there. And there are other things there in there besides just that. There was information
037on um uh staff um uh feedback on a couple of other areas, too. So, I really encourage you to look at that. Uh we had a budget overview from Cindy. I was able to tell her on the way out the door. I always learn something when she presents. It was really helpful information and one of the big takeaways was that uh we don't yet know for all the reasons that Shannon talked about, but other um uh other budgetary considerations as well, such as um considerations around our transportation updates that we might have coming and also working with our French committee to look at what might be the changes there. So, while we can't say exactly this is where we're going with salary, it was one of our continued working points at our meeting and um
038Kristen Ryan did a great job of of talking to starting the dialogue and facilitating the dialogue around minimally getting to that $50,000 starting point. And then we made the observation that as other other districts make increases, we may you know, we still have to keep moving if if the goal is to be competitive and that's one of the issue statements, I believe that's what it says, then we need to continue to watch what's happening elsewhere as well. So, any dollars that we might be able to realize through the efforts that ELT have been taking to really evaluate our budget, which I just want to extend that I've observed how much work that has been for all of you and I'm really grateful that you're in the weeds looking to see like where are there every
039you know, every penny we can find to ensure that we're able to redirect dollars both to our both of our bargaining units. So, thank you all for your efforts there. I know it hasn't been easy to look at those things. So, thank you. And we made a commitment at the table to continue to as we're reviewing the budget, not negotiate the budget, but certainly to open up within our um within labor management meetings to have conversations about where some of those dollars might come from so that we are hearing from them, them being the teachers and the um and classified staff. Uh different units, but same to hear what might be the unintended consequences of some of the changes we're making. So, just to having a dialogue. So, while we can't negotiate the budget in
040that way, we can still make sure that we're gathering good input from the folks that are are doing the work. Um and I think I think that's everything. Matt, did I forget anything? >> Bob. >> I would potentially [clears throat] add the it may have just been a one-year hiccup, but with the calendar discussion at the beginning, which wasn't really you know, part of the negotiations, but there was the conversation about how special education teachers had to you know, it didn't line up exactly with when they needed to provide data for their progress reporting, their progress monitoring. So, just something to take a look at in in future years to try to alleviate that burden and and not make them do it twice. >> Thanks for bringing that up. It is nice to have Matt
041there. He comes with that educator lens and you catch some of that stuff. So, I appreciate it. Thank you. All right. So, I think that's all I have. >> Yeah, I would just echo everything that Kelly said about negotiations, fringe. I believe we're waiting on the broker information. And thank you for Mr. President for holding down the AI committee. I will be at the next one. >> Okay. All right. All right, board commentary. Matt, you want to start us off and bring it back? >> Yeah, I'll be brief. I also had the opportunity to go and read in Miss Ashley Smith's fourth-grade classroom and that was terrifying not having been with elementary school students very much, but they were incredibly well-behaved and asked great questions and it was really enjoyable. I also just wanted to
042take this time to voice my my enthusiasm for the choice campus, the the Centennial project. I know we're just in the building stages at this point, but having come from a couple of districts with very strong alternative settings and having spent a lot of time working with those populations myself, I think there's kind of a stigma um, or a a for just being for credit recovery, and that is absolutely not what alternative placements are for. Um, there are students in all sections of the academic spectrum, um, that require something outside of the traditional bounds of of our, you know, K-12 school system, um, and you would be just amazed at what kind of successes that they can find if we just give them a little. Um, so I am incredibly excited, um, about this project
043and and can't wait to hear more about the the programming that'll take place in this nicely newly renovated building. >> Thank you. >> Uh, just wanted to give a shout-out to our, uh, theater departments, um, and music departments over the last couple of weeks. I know there've been, uh, performances, Free State bands, um, I was unable to attend that one, um, Free State Encore last weekend as well as the, uh, middle school players at Southwest Middle School with Something Rotten Junior. Um, I heard awesome things about all of those performances. Uh, I got to witness myself two, uh, two showings of Once Upon a Mattress at West Middle School, and, uh, our our middle school kids are headed out of the park, uh, with the level of, um, work that they do in theater and,
044um, in music with these performances. Um, we have a lot to be proud of. So, congratulations to all the students and the faculty who, uh, make those amazing things happen. >> So, um, I have had the opportunity to have some conversations around, um, changes that might be happening at the at the county level related to truancy and absenteeism. Oh, truancy from the county level programming. And, um, it has got me thinking about, um, some of the enhancements that we'll be speaking to tonight. There's an intersection, uh, as we talk about the importance of attendance at our schools to have the types of impacts that we're hoping to have in in all of these areas. So, one of the things that I've been watching and I think the board my board colleagues would join me is
045wanting to understand in a more deeper way what might be happening at the county level. So, I've had some opportunities to have conversations with with community partners and folks in the county. I'll get have an a meeting coming up tomorrow. And I would ask ELT who I know has been working on this as well to consider a future report to the board that might be short or brief just to give us an update so that we understand what what might be happening around that particular issue. So, I appreciate everybody's effort to do what's right for kids and I just want to make sure that the board knows what that is. So, thank you. >> Yolanda. >> Um just a couple of things for the community. Praise Temple Church of God in Christ has their next
046food pantry on next Saturday between 9:00 and 12:00. So, you and if you go anybody in the community is located at 315 East 7th Street. So, they're open to the community for another food pantry. They're still out trying to help as many families as they can. Um but as whatever services that they really truly need. Also, um I agree with Matt. I'm excited as well for the choice campus. There are a bunch of children that would do better in a smaller um setting as far as education. My granddaughter has expressed a big big enthusiasm about being able to get to attend there for her junior year. Um I'll going to that at that. So, thank you. >> Uh let's see. Um I also want to echo my uh gratitude for the Centennial project. That building
047has just been sitting there, so I'm excited to see it become the school, not only just a school, but the whole neighborhood revive get revitalized. It It There's I don't know. To me, there's just nothing sad cuz I grew up here, so there's nothing to sadder than just seeing a building just sitting there. So, I'm excited to see the revitalization of the building and some job growth and job creation. Uh let's see. And this weekend, I would like to thank the Unitarian Universalist Church of Lawrence for hosting a documentary screening. My My father and I both served as panelists for the documentary. The documentary is about Native American boarding school trauma and intergenerational trauma, and it followed the stories of different um families and individuals in the film. And I highly It's um It's a
048something that's um should not be It's It's a great learning tool, but it's something that you should It should not be um It's for ages 17 and up due to the graphic nature, but um The uh sponsored by It was sponsored by the Land Justice Futures, and I'd also like to thank the six congregations that also helped publicize and attend the event. They include the Peace Mennonite Church, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation, First Presbyterian Church, the Lawrence Jewish Community Congregation, and the Plymouth Congregational Church um as they work to dismantle and disrupt the end the doctrine of discovery and work towards healing for American Indian populations. And It was um It was um I don't know. For me, it was coming full circle. I'm a direct descendant of boarding school survivors. I In [clears throat] the
049in the panel, I discussed how um I took a deep dive into reading about the Genoa Reconciliation Project. It's about We're looking at boarding school history and trauma and getting resources for um learning about boarding school history and trauma, but in that report I discovered that three of my four grandparents were in that school at at Genoa in the Genoa Indian boarding school in Nebraska. So, it's just something really good to learn. So, I highly encourage anybody to look at the Genoa Reconciliation Project page. Thank you. >> For me, I I um am very excited about the different enhancements going on within the district. Um to me, when I look at things, I look at it more from a total vision. Um for me, what I'm seeing in our community is our school district is
050moving uh in the right direction. We are we are um creating opportunities for youth uh it those opportunities that could also bring additional enrollment, uh which which is something we very dearly need. Um so, again, I want to uh congratulate staff on their work in moving us forward. >> Thank you very much. >> All right. Uh Bob, do you have some retirements? >> Yes. The Board of Ed The Board would like to thank the following people for their years of dedication and service to Lawrence Public Schools. And uh Buzz Feat for 24 years. Kenneth Willard for 5 years. John Goldstein for 26. Brett Silky for 14.5 years. Patricia Taylor for 31 years. Kathleen Carlson for 5 years. And Cindy Cruise for 17 years. Congratulations on your retirement. >> Thank you, sir. All right, we'll move
051on to the consent agenda. 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 or voted on separately. Can I get it a motion for the consent agenda, please? >> I move the Board of Education approve the items on the consent agenda. >> Second. >> Ross? >> Yes. >> Pimple? >> Yes. >> Franklin? >> Yes. >> Byers? >> Yes. >> Lancaster? >> Yes. >> Jones? >> Yes. >> Could you Blackwood? >> Yes. >> Motion passes 7-0. >> We'll move on to our report tonight, our enhancements for 2026. I'll turn the time over to Dr. Swift. >> Thank you, President Gordon Ross and members of the board. Uh we are always delighted for March
052for a number of reasons. Of course, today with this beautiful weather, at least I hear that it is beautiful outside. Uh we think about spring. Um and uh I uh being the superintendent geek that I am, love March because it's about enhancements and really looking forward to the next school year. We can do two things at one time. Finish strong and plan ahead. And that's uh what we're doing and I appreciate this conversation this evening. Members you've been hearing about these enhancements all along. I don't think that there's anything tremendously new or different this evening, but I do look forward to this conversation because every time we're together and we discuss the ideas, folks in the community, our parents, our students, our staff weigh in, it makes our work stronger. So, we're really excited to
053do part one at this board meeting and then part two, which will be heavy on our teaching and learning work and Dr. Collamay's work in his division at the second board meeting in March. So, March Madness has a whole different look in Lawrence Public Schools and let's get into it. These enhancements, as you are aware, are really rooted in a very strong foundation and that is that they are about equity, education, and excellence. They come directly from the input and feedback that we've gained from our community and from our staff and they are directed at closing disparity gaps and in increasing and improving opportunities and access for students. We are proud of that foundation and I hope we never lose that, that our continuous improvement mirrors what our community tells us and what we know
054we have to do to be responsible fiscal stewards and also responsible achievement opportunity and academic stewards of this great district. Right off the bat, we're so excited that in 2026 the Lawrence Public Schools will open a family engagement welcome center right here at the ESC location. Members, you can see the photo there. Really is right over on this side of the building, the side that is closest to our public transportation bus stop. Just a few feet away. And this welcome center will service the front door to the district, allowing for a warm, welcoming district access and connection, a place to come together to support families, schools, and community. I want to give a shout out to uh Kristen Ryan, Kevin Hurrell, uh Lynn Rance, and um help me out Tina Mitchell, who have been engaged
055throughout the year in this uh family engagement model research study. And we really have been studying alongside districts all across the country to look at family engagement post-COVID. It's very different than in the before times. I think it comes at a particularly interesting moment, and I think it was Bob and I who were talking today 6 years ago next week is the date, the anniversary of when we closed schools for COVID. It is a great time now to press reset. Uh we know that schools do their very best work in engaging parents and families, but we want to raise that level of play by having a district framework for family engagement. So, the welcome center uh will be a place where student support team will invite families to connect directly with support services for students,
056with educational opportunities for families and the community. And it will also include those more traditional enrollment connections. That's important, also, as well as uh the wrap-around of supports, learning, and assistance grounded in dignity, equity, and access, the family engagement and welcome center connects families to the full range of district services. It will remove barriers, simplify processes, and ensure timely and coordinated support. So, through proactive outreach and family-friendly guidance, it's this place, this location, uh the parent engagement and welcome center that will build trust, build credibility, meaningful connections on behalf of the district, um and really supporting families from early childhood all the way through to graduation. All of us love that feeling of the Expo event in August. And the way that I think about this center is that it gives us Expo all the
057time and gives us that opportunity to connect the community supports and services uh with our family. So, uh tonight's discussion of the family engagement welcome center is really just a preview because coming in the second meeting in March, we will share more and I've been uh sharing with the board more that's coming about a family engagement framework. We feel like so much of family engagement work is left to chance. >> [snorts] >> And we've had this tradition of saying to our principals and school teams, "Y'all go engage the parents and let us know how we can help and support you." Uh this family engagement framework and the one that we feel like best fits Lawrence and us, we've studied several models, but the one we like the most that will be bringing for your consideration
058is the dual capacity building framework. And I've linked that in just for those who like to study ahead and you like like we get really excited about this kind of thing. What it says to me is that we will be approaching a framework of equity for family engagement that makes our work in this area intentional and not by accident aligned arrows and not random acts. We have a lot of great folks in town. Everybody wants to do good work, but we really want an intentional and aligned system for family engagement. We're really excited to share more about that at the next board meeting and so there we go. Very good. Early childhood learning we talked about a lot over the months, so I don't think there are any surprises here. I do want to share
059that in addition to New York Montessori, Sunflower, Woodlawn, all of these programs built on that strong foundation at Kennedy Early Childhood Center. And then next year looking at adding Deerfield and also Prairie Park. I do want to share that currently we are at 230 applications for and we're just a month in. This is the early enrollment window. 230 applications for 120 positions. So members, I'm working with members of my team and I'll be in touch with you individually or in groups as we think more deeply about how to address this need. Um but uh clearly this enhancement has hit on our national crisis in child care and really uh hit on all of the areas that matter most about the on-ramp of early childhood education. I do need to note when we talk about this
060in March because sometimes we've not said this up front, but for families who qualify under at-risk indicators, and it's more than just free and reduced lunch. There's a constellation of indicators. For those who qualify, this is at no cost. Uh but for those families who may not qualify, that tuition is at $690. Did I say that correctly? I just want to make sure. Thank you. So, we will continue to work to open our doors for as many students and families as possible to meet this demand and meet this need. We know the research. I never want to uh do this part without including the slide that just says "Impacts extend to middle and advanced ages from simply the early impact of quality early childhood education. It is an equity lever. Uh it is good for
061all students and particularly good for our most our students from our most vulnerable areas. Um so, I think I'm just going to call this K U Yes. We can pause >> at each section or do you want to wait until the end? >> That's up to you. >> No, I I'm good either way. As As you would like. >> Well, you're the one who has to answer them. Do you want to answer them now or answer them all at once? >> However, I don't have any questions. >> Let's do them by section. >> Okay. >> You got a question, Kelly? >> For welcome center or um early childhood, yes. >> Um does anyone else want to go first or >> You want to go first, then? >> [snorts] >> I'm taking up all the time.
062You can go. >> Mine's not a right now question. Um just a just a consideration or a thought that I had, but also I for the welcome center, um I'm super excited to see that and I absolutely agree that um having that that front door and all the resources available there for families um is going to be an incredible boon. Um and I realize you that more is going to be shared at the next board meeting and that we're early in the framework here. Um one of my curiosities was the the relative distance from, you know, the other side of town, uh the south side of town to to get over here. Um not to dilute efforts and try to put up, you know, welcome centers all over town and whatnot, but um that is
063a consideration um that I was that I was curious about. Um the other as a as a Prairie Park hopeful, I you cannot I cannot begin to explain how excited I am about the expansion of this and um we know how important the the uh early education is. Um I was having a conversation with somebody last week and I cannot remember who, but um one question that I had was in terms of special education evaluation, um where does that responsibility lie? Is it with the each individual building? Is there a centralized effort? How does it even work um for for preschool age kids? Um so no neither of those are like right now questions, just things that I wanted to to bring to mind. >> Thank you so much. I will just share and I
064should have in my intro, uh Mr. Potter will help me to get it in there. Um the welcome center, we do we see the best models in the country have satellite and in fact those near us in Kansas City have satellite locations whether those are up all the time or just for particular events. So I believe um Ms. Ryan that we are thinking along those lines to ensure that all the parts of town are served. Yes. >> Um I wanted to ask a question about the applications. So I think um I was wondering about that process how you determine um whether someone is admitted or not admitted. And um do we have it it we don't have are people applying to particular locations? Like do we have capacity to say we don't have room at
065Prairie Park but we might have room at Kennedy cuz Kennedy is a space that you know that that the building itself physically has space for additional classrooms. So I'm just wondering about that. >> That's exactly right and I will bring the board a response on how we determine. This year is giving us a great opportunity to reflect and refine that um and then secondly um yes if if if that location of first choice is filled then we will call the parent and uh Kennedy is the location that we're looking at because you're correct there's room there. >> Okay. >> The there is a little work and Dr. Engelbrecht is working valiantly uh around the tiny toilets and restroom um >> Only one wing. >> Y- yes and at Kennedy but um he's on that and
066we're we're um going to be able to bring something forward to you. >> Okay. And then the other question I had was around New York Montessori and the staffing there. I was wondering if we have been able to consider um I know that's something we've talked about in the past and we were able to do it in the past, but just knowing that it is challenging to find um staff who are both certified in Montessori and um certified as educators in Kansas. Uh what efforts, if any, are currently ongoing to ensure that we are able to either assist people with their certification or to um grow the workforce in that arena in another way. >> We are deep in the work on that. It's a very complex challenge and are doing our best to innovate
067um and I want to bring you more thoughts on that, but just know it is top of mind for our team. >> Okay, so we could in a future we would get an up- >> Yes. >> Okay, thank you so much. >> Thank you. >> Do members have any questions before we move on? Okay. Thank you. >> Very good. So we're going to think about Jayhawk Blueprint partnership and just delighted to share uh what we already know is that this is a partnership between KU and Lawrence Public Schools. We're so very proud uh that we are the only district in the state of Kansas. Need I repeat, the only school district in the state of Kansas with the opportunity to share uh the University of Kansas college credit uh right in our high school classrooms.
068High schoolers who participate in any college courses, uh we know, according to decades of research, are much more likely to graduate high school, to enroll and persist in college, and to complete a degree or credential. So this is so very important. We know that currently uh our students may gain up to 22 hours credit hours in KU college courses. Those are currently available in Lawrence Public Schools. Um and these courses are taught by our own Lawrence Public Schools instructors and they are available to any interested junior or senior enrolled in the district. Wherever folks may be considering high school, uh you cannot beat Lawrence Public Schools in our comprehensive high schools and what they're able to offer in this area. Now, I feel like one of those infomercials because it's even better than that now.
069Um and that is we're delighted to share that the uh Lawrence Schools Foundation will continue and we're looking at some ways to deepen the commitment to um to tuition assistance for students who qualify for free and reduced lunch. And then right on the bottom of the slide, uh beginning in the spring semester of next school year 26-27, the Jayhawk Blueprint program will expand to include Lawrence Virtual School. That is approved and done. I'm very grateful to all the members of our team and the KU team who made that happen. To clarify, we'll be taking the initial steps in the spring with one uh course offered and then we'll be working overtime to expand that virtual KU Blueprint programming. And I just want to share due to the high expectations and high requirements of the University
070of Kansas, this is a specially authored curriculum to offer a blueprint on LVS. So, I know at first when I heard it, I thought, "Well, what's the big deal? They just package it for LVS." No, actually it is reauthored, uh redesigned curricula to fit the virtual student. So, um we are really excited as we deepen and strengthen our partnership with KU and really believe that free college while in high school is an equity lever that we are all proud to be moving forward in this district. And uh certainly it isn't free for everyone, uh but free for students who need it most and at a tremendous discount, uh just a little over $300 per course, uh for those uh families who who are not free or reduced lunch. I run into students at our high
071schools every day who tell me very proudly how many college credits they've already accrued. And I think of what a leg up they have. Uh we also have produced stories uh through our communications team where students really are using that extra year at college to finish a master's program or to do other things that move them forward in their life and we're really proud of this work. Uh AP Advanced Placement Enhancement, uh you um will be so delighted to see that we will be embarking on the AP Capstone program. Members, you may remember, I remember from the very earliest days of my time here getting an email getting emails from parents asking for this particular AP Seminar and AP Research. So, the time has come and we will be able to implement this program. It
072is a program based on two year-long AP courses, AP Seminar and AP Research. So, rather than teaching subject-specific content, these courses develop student skills in research, analysis, evidence-based arguments, and collaboration, writing, and presenting. So, really it's a recognition of advanced academic research and college-level scholarship. We'll be offering this at both of our comprehensive high school locations. We'll be doing it on a phased approach that will allow us to build the teacher capacity. You all know it isn't just a certification, it's actually a credential, a degree in the in the at the master's level, but it will allow us to build our teacher team and to ensure that students develop the foundational inquiry, research, and analytical skills necessary for success in the program. So, very excited about that AP enhancement. Members, we've been talking for a
073while about this alignment of our career and technical education pathways. Next board meeting, Dr. Amaya will be sharing a lot more on this so that we we can to see it more fully, but our goal is to refine and align CTE pathways so that we create clear, more coherent course sequences for students. We so value all of our pathways. And yet, in our continuous improvement process, members, we had a mile wide uh uh about 19 different programs. So, we're going to narrow that a little bit based on the interest of students, based on our market studies, and what are the pathways uh that will move our students forward toward actual jobs and careers. So, we will be aligning and focusing CTE pathways of instruction. And if you can think of the CTE program as extending
074across all of our campuses, Dr. Amaya and I were talking today, we think of it as one high school program. And students might get this program over at College and Career, or uh get the initial course at their home school, and then subsequent courses at College and Career, but it really is about strengthening alignment from the very first introductory course all the way through application level experiences. I get really inspired when I hear Dr. Amaya speak to our um professional uh corporate partnerships and internships. Our work to plug into the KU, uh just coming out of the gate, we're just getting started, but plugging into the KU Innovation Center, and to all uh schools and programs at KU, we want to get the internships and those post-secondary assets aligned. Another component of this is to
075strengthen and improve our partnership with Peaslee Tech. Uh Peaslee Tech is a fabulous location and we want to align our programming so that it matters and it's available and connected for students. We have in Lawrence Public Schools the raw ingredients of what every other district is trying to create. And we feel like our work is to align and bring coherence uh so that we then can show off our marquee programming and really engage students in this college and career uh center work. Now, I do want to make a note. Uh I put it in bold in your written report. Uh this will provide additional opportunities for students. We're very proud of that. And importantly, it will also generate an increase in our annual CTE funding into the district. In our continuous improvement work, it has
076become clear to us that the district was missing some opportunities for funding. Um our team is on that and navigating so that we take full advantage of the funding that is already in place for CTE. Should I pause there? Okay. >> anybody have any questions before she continues? >> Yeah. Um I [clears throat] had two over uh Jayhawk Blueprint. I I'm I'm I don't know how the enrollment works. There are there you know, are students taking KU courses? Are those students eligible in any way for KU services? I.E. the Student Engagement Center and the Watkins and all the different services available to students. >> Yes, we're really proud of that and they've tailored support services, tutoring, student support center. They've tailored that to our KU Jayhawk Blueprint Thank you. program. Thank you. >> Yeah. >>
077Um and then I was, you know, just broadly curious. Um I was there we we went through the core 34 adoption too. Um undergraduate standards across the the the state. Um is this all aligned? The Jayhawk Blueprint is that all aligned with core 34, yeah? I'm seeing a lot of nods, so all right. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Does anyone else have any questions? >> Just to ask a clarifying piece on the CTE. Um cuz I I'm a I I was aware of the thing you were just talking about, but I it may not be as clear to folks who are not deep into the weeds on this. So with the funding that comes with the CTE pathways, um am I right in thinking that what what unlocks that funding is if you get
078a a student who completes a pathway? In other words, they have to take is it three three classes um to get >> Dr. Amaya. >> I know I know there's like the introductory level and then there's an advanced and then there's an application level class that they have to take and it's only if you get students to go all the way through to that application level that then there's the funding piece that you were talking about. >> The the primary funding mechanism is the point five weighted funding for CTE courses. And so really what we're paying attention to and cleaning up is uh ensuring that licensure is correct for teachers, that um we have plenty of students sitting in the seats at technical and application level courses. Uh the the uh funding occurs in the
079fall. And so it's really paying attention master schedules, ensuring that you have tight CTE sequencing, um pushing intro courses down into the middle school, those types of things. That whole produces more students in seats, more time in CTE courses, which ups your weighted funding for CTE. >> Okay. Am I thinking of then the excellent the excellent CTE? >> Yes. >> The What is that post-secondary partnership funding? >> Yes. >> Okay. >> Yeah, and but the added benefit that you're talking about for us is that we'll be producing more concentrators in our CTE programming, which we have a lot of space to produce more concentrators. And so that leads to CTE scholarships and other opportunities for kids. >> Okay. Thank you for that clarification. >> Uh, Dr. Maya, I Yeah, thanks. Um, so with regard to
080uh, the comment you made about pushing down into middle schools with the intro level classes, I'm wondering about any um, collaboration with Liberty Memorial Central Middle School and the enhancements we have there, but I don't think are covered this evening. Yeah. >> So we are in conversation with all of the middle schools about pushing down introductory courses, CTE courses, and it'll be a very slow uh, transition into the eighth grade. Uh, it'll be courses that we can offer high school credit cuz we have to There's a lot of certification pieces that go into CTEs, so we have to make sure that we have eighth grade teachers who are certified to teach uh, CTE pathway courses. So the first one will be business essentials cuz it's a broad licensure that covers most of our CTE pathways.
081>> Okay. >> And then so we have the added benefit of kids get to start receiving elective credit for a CTE pathway um, that kids can go into high school and immediately start in technical level courses, which will uh, enhance our ability to move through CTE pathways quicker, um, access higher level of coursework quicker and those types of things. But yeah, we are in collaboration with middle school uh, back in conversation. >> a down the line like where you're going because of the the structure. So and I would not want to exclude any middle school from any um enhancement, uh but there isn't a natural alignment in another area um for Liberty would be my question. And that would just be I'm not asking you to answer that right now, it but thinking through is
082there a natural partnership with um Liberty in in terms of the um steam pro- programming or STEM programming that's happening. >> Sure. >> Thank you. >> Yeah. >> Anyone else? Okay. All right. >> Thank you. We are uh we are bringing uh some more middle school discussion in part two, so I really appreciate uh member Jones you uh tagging that there. Just in case I didn't give it full um weight, I just want to share that as a part of the 26-27 enhancements, we will be intentionally strengthening programming at the Lawrence College and Career Center location. Uh Dr. Amaya and I had the great opportunity to spend well over an hour. We could have stayed all evening cuz we had so much conversation going uh with the College and Career team last week. And uh
083we really uh know that it is time for a renewed focus on high-quality CTE and marquee programs, can stronger connection with Paisley. Uh this work is important. It is a reflection of that expanding vision of post-secondary success. Dr. Amaya will say it uh in March 23rd, but we don't say college or career anymore. We say post-secondary success because we understand that students will have uh many many jobs throughout their lifetime most likely, and they will likely have several careers. And they may move in and out of a certificated area, start with an HVAC certificate, and end up with an engineering degree, or however that looks. Their lives won't look at all like the past 50 years have looked, and we want this college and career center. Every single head nodded and was in affirmative support
084of this re-envisioning of the pathways there at college and career center. So, that brings us, and I appreciate the the excitement shared from members this evening. It brings us to Centennial Choice Campus. During 2026-27, Lawrence Public Schools will open the Choice Campus at Centennial to meet the needs of students who are by choice choosing a non-traditional, personalized, flexible schedule learning experience, including credit advancement and recovery. I appreciate Member Lancaster, you touching on the needs that this building will address represent a wide spectrum of student performance and student profile and student needs. We are moving forward very rapidly and look forward members to bringing in April and May more nuance of the program nature. The our next step is to hire a building principal, and then over the coming weeks and months, I have a strong
085commitment from the Academy program team, and we know we'll have it with the new Centennial team to continue to refine the nuance across those two programs in developing student profiles of the kind of student who might be more attracted to one of the programs versus the other, how they are unique and yet how they will serve our students. Um we know sad as it sounds that approximately 70 members of the class of 2026 will not graduate on time this spring. That is the percentage of students in each class that comes through that we feel compelled we need a different option. We need to offer find out what they need and offer something that meets directly their profile of need for support. We know that it will be critical for the building to have mental health
086and counseling, graduation coaching, internships. We know that it will offer daytime, morning, afternoon, and evening open sessions. We know that credit recovery will be a line. We also know I was visiting with the dad recently that we have a lot of very high performing students in our district who need something different. And this campus will serve all of those students. So we're excited about Centennial Choice. We talked at the academy last Wednesday about this is the beginning of a conversation. We see it occurring over the coming two years as we open Centennial and then align the two programs, uh, to really meet more students where they are and to figure out what are the nuances that will meet more student needs and and not be redundant, but offer truly what, uh, students need. So, uh,
087with the work, uh, to implement these 26-27 enhancements, we are district on the move, designing the organization directly in response to student and family needs and based on the input and feedback from our community and staff, we're innovating to do two things: to enrich the student educational experience, to align to serve student in need and classroom supports, and we are also streamlining the organization to achieve competitive compensation for members of the Lawrence Public Schools team. So, I think I should pause, uh, Mr. President to see if there questions on Centennial and then I would like to wrap up with some remarks on our streamline effort for this year if that sounds okay. Centennial? >> I don't have a question on Centennial, but I do have a a question I forgot to ask. No one's surprised.
088Um, the free and reduced lunch is one of is was one of the qualifiers for, J Hawk Blueprint financial assistance. >> Yes. >> So, if the stuff the the I was going to say something inappropriate. If the things that Shannon was talking about earlier come to fruition, um, we may have to look at the considerations for ensuring that the equity goals we have around Jayhawk blueprint are still met. If we have a hard time identifying families based on free and reduced lunch criteria, which I don't know if people understand what those criteria are. These are very um uh it's a very low bar. There are families that are right above that that actually need have similar needs. So, the idea that we would lose anyone in this group based on the shenanigans from Topeka is
089unacceptable to me as a board member. So, when we're thinking about how do we make inroads with our opportunities um I would like us to be attuned to anything that is an opportunity that has a marker tied to free and reduced lunches if the if Topeka it's not Shannon's fault. >> [laughter] >> If Topeka does unpredictable yeah. Uh the things that are um coming down the line in terms of the the their endless need to punish public education >> Thank you. >> this this session. >> I appreciate you noting that there are constellation of opportunities across our district that would be impacted and that um is overwhelming to consider. >> Yeah. >> Thank you. We're ready for stream one. >> Okay, very good. >> Um as you know, we began our work to streamline the
090organization a year ago and I just want to share my deepest gratitude with the community and with our Lawrence Public Schools team uh for all of the support with the streamlining effort. Uh it is our fiscal responsibility and our obligation and our duty to be good stewards of public resources that cause us to continue to look at how we can streamline our organization and really I continue to say it and I will repeat again to achieve our critical mission for students. Every student every day and also achieve competitive compensation with surrounding districts. I just want to share that in this effort over the coming weeks we will be taking steps to align and streamline a number of positions across the organization in order to secure competitive compensation this year. We will not directly, I just
091want to emphasize to every parent and community member and staff member in this in this work, we will not directly impact classrooms or class sizes. Probably should repeat that. We will not directly impact classrooms or class sizes in this 2026 streamlining effort. We will work to leverage attrition and in a district our size we have a number as you read out every Monday every other Monday evening member buyers, we have a number of folks who are either retiring or moving on. So we will use those as opportunities to ensure that we're doing everything we can to absorb the streamline positions so that folks who want to continue to be with us will have opportunities to do so. I also want to ensure that we will notify individuals impacted in as timely a manner as possible.
092We will work to model dignity and action as we continue to ensure that resources critical to achieving our shared goal of competitive compensation, that we are giving a critical eye in every area of that work. I very much value the strong partnership with our employee organization leaders, and I want to give them a shout-out for sitting with me in preliminary meetings. Um thanks to members of my team and to members leaders uh who are sitting right here in this room, some of them. Uh but we've been in deep and hard conversations because we share the goal. We are focused on the prize of achieving competitive compensation now. We understand that we will be required to streamline not just this spring, but every spring. Every spring will give us the opportunity to refine and align our
093work. In 2026, we must bring our most innovative plan to this work in order to circumvent all of the challenges that member Kemble uh laid out for us just tonight. There'll be more next time we meet. So, we understand that this streamlining will be an effort that continues. Um and yet in our implementation of the enhancements, uh member Buyers noted it this evening, we are directly working to enroll more students, to impact the students we have more profoundly and more positively with opportunities to pull that lever of equity and opportunity for each and every child. And we will do this so that in future years, our organization and I love Miss Frick always brings this up and it helps me so that in future years, our organization will be strong physically. That in future years,
094we will continue Lawrence leads the way to serve students well. And we will continue to compensate our team members or we will get to a place where we compensate our team members competitively. In summary, we will continue to perform as a high-performing organization. So, we will learn and lead our way forward. I look forward to continuing conversations. Members, we are in conversations. Dr. Amaya and all of the members of that team back there, we are talking with staff and with community every day and every day hearing new ideas for how we can do the work better and be leaner in it so that we can pay and and compensate our folks well. I have gone on too long. But this is the work. And I appreciate the strong support of this board who has never
095shied away from the work that needs to be done. I almost brought the courageous poster out. It was laying on Nikki's table. But the definition of courage is meeting challenges straight on. And you all have done that at every turn. And we have a whole new set ahead of us. But we see challenges as opportunities to do our work better. So, with that, President Gordon Ross, I'm pleased to receive any questions and members of my team are standing by as well. Thank you. >> I just have I just have one. Um I thought you were going to hit on that last bullet point before you moved on, but you didn't. But, um word on the street is that the enhancement is going to cause another tax increase. >> Oh, dear. Yes. >> and we don't
096like word on the street. We kind of like facts. >> Yeah. >> Okay. So, on your last bullet point, you did state that um one, the the funding is going to be through the capital outlay funds, and that is not allowed for school staff salaries, cuz that's another word on the street. And then, the other one is that it will come with no tax increase. Is that correct? >> That is correct, and we're referencing the physical improvements to the property. Thank you. That's exactly correct. And as you noted throughout the enhancements update, there are many areas where increased revenues will come to the district because we are better aligning our work to the Kansas funding model. Correct. >> Thank you. >> Does anybody else have questions or comments? >> Yeah, I appreciate the the the
097clear messaging on the streamlining efforts. One of the on on Thursday, or you know, several times, obviously, that word comes up, and people start to form, you know, their opinions and their fears, and I absolutely would as well. One of the things I heard you say was, you know, having conversations early on with, you know, organization leaders. I just want to be clear. So, LEA is is involved in some capacity in in these early conversations about that. >> Yes, our LEA leadership and our ESP leadership were in those conversations. >> Thank you. >> Any announcements? Okay. >> All right. Well, thank you, Dr. Swift. >> Thank you. >> Appreciate it. All right. Um that was all we had this evening. So, Dr. Swift, any announcements? >> I think we're all good. Thank you, sir. >>
098Okay. Motion to adjourn. >> I move we adjourn. >> Second. >> All those in favor? >> Aye. >> Any opposed? >> All right. So moved. We are adjourned. Thanks, everybody. >> Mhm.