Lawrence Public Schools Board of Education Meeting | January 12, 2026

001Testing the mics are live. They are working. That is good. the January 12th, 2026 board meeting. We're going to start with um inviting Jamie Shu and up to the podium and we're going to do uh swearing in of our new board members. And we're going to do all you're going to do all four at once. Is that correct? We're going to do >> three. >> No, we're going to do the three. Okay. >> Yep. Okay. So, we're going to start with that. So, Matt, >> I'm sorry. All four will get okay. >> Okay. >> I'm sorry. >> Okay. >> And we're taking the break. Raise your right hand. I'm going to administer the oath and at the end of the oath, you will answer in the affirmative. Okay. You do solemnly swear that you will

002support the Constitution of the State of Kansas and the Constitution of the United States and faithfully discharge the duties of USD497 school board member. So, help you God. Congratulations. [applause] Okay. [snorts] >> Do you have the agenda open? >> I do. Yeah. >> We're just going to we're just going to move right along. We have item 1.3. We have a motion. I'll go ahead and make it. We got somebody making it. >> I move the board of education I move the board of education appoint Bob Buyers the fourth place finisher from the November 4th, 2025 USD497 general election to fill the current board vacancy term to extend through January 2028. >> This is Carol. I second. >> Gordon Ross. >> Yes. >> Could Blackwood? >> Yes. >> Franklin? >> Yes. >> Jones? >> Yes. >>

003Kimble? >> Yes. >> Lancaster? >> Yes. Motion passes 6. >> All right. So now Jamie, Bob, raise your right hand and after I've administered the oath, answer the affirmative. You do solemnly swear that you will support the Constitution of the State of Kansas and the Constitution of the United States and faithfully discharge the duties of USD 497 school board member so help you God. Congratulations [applause] Okay. So then have an oath of office if you could sign it and get those back to Jamie. >> And then we have one more motion once you those are done. >> Okay. >> You want to be here for excuse yourself for the vice pres. It's a motion. Yeah. I'll excuse me. >> Okay. You want to do that now? >> Okay. Because the next item is an election

004issue. Um I need to recuse myself. >> Would you like a motion? >> I move the board of education Whoops. Just one second. I think he should vote for himself. Um, I move the board of education appoint Bob Buyers uh to serve as board vice president through the remainder of the office term and until new officers are elected in July 2026. >> A second. >> Gordon Ross, >> yes. >> Kimble, >> yes. >> Franklin, >> yes. >> Lancaster, >> yes. >> Jones, >> yes. >> Could you Blackwood? >> Yes. >> Motion passes 6. Okay. And with and with that, we're going to take a brief uh fivem minute recess uh just for we've uh some of the candidates have families in the room just to take some pictures and then we'll come back at 6:12

005and continue the meeting. recess. So, we're going to move on um to item 1.6. Can I get approval of the agenda, please? >> I move we approve the agenda for the January 12th, 2026 board of education meeting. >> I second. This is Carol. >> Okay. D Blackwood. >> Yes. Yes, >> Kimble. >> Yes, >> Lancaster. >> Yes, >> Franklin. >> Yes, >> Jones. >> Yes. >> Motion passes 70. >> All right. Now, we're moving on to item 1.7, January Board of Education Appreciation. Turn the time over to Dr. Swift. >> Thank you, President Gordon Ross and members of the board. Uh we've had a great start this evening with the swearing in of our incoming board members and returning board members. Uh but that's not enough. There's more and that is that January is uh

006hopefully we are appreciative every month of the year but January is the month where we give special recognition to our school board. Um, and it's a time when we reflect on our gratitude for the members of the board of education and to honor the commitment that you have and you demonstrate to the Lawrence public schools and the service you so tirelessly give. Uh when asked, most individuals aren't quite sure what exactly the school board does or what schoolboard members do, but most people are sure when I visit with them in the community that schoolboard members uh play important roles as leaders in the community. In fact, members of the board of education give their time and energy, many hours each week to accomplish the work involved in serving at the local level. As members of

007a body, they take on the responsibility collectively uh involved in serving at the local level. Responsibility for governance through their service on the board. First and foremost, school board members, look out for students. Every time I brief you all on any topic, those will be your first questions about our students. Education and children are more than a line item or an agenda item. Students are the critical mission of the daily work of the board. If we think about the history and the origin of school boards, they date back to the early 1800s in Massachusetts when the system of school committees was established by requiring each town to elect a separate school community uh school committee to have the general charge and superintendence of all the public schools in the town. Over time, this model spread

008to the rest of the nation, ensuring that local citizens would have a direct voice in the development and governance of their local public schools. The tradition of local governance of public schools has endured over 200 years. And now more than ever, local representation that embodies, represents, and enacts the core values of the community remains critically important. approximately 50 million students uh 90% of US school age children attend a public school and today more than 90,000 locally elected officials govern more than 13,000 local districts and in all of those places and most especially here leadership matters. Responsible governance is critical. The leadership of local board of education members is vital for the quality of our Lawrence public schools in our community. In borrowing from the National School Boards Association, schoolboard members believe public education is America's

009most vital institution. That education is a civil right necessary to equity, dignity, and freedom of the American people, and that all children deserve access and opportunity to an education that encourages them to reach their potential. So through their service uh these selfless individuals show extraordinary dedication to the children, teachers and staff, the parents and the community of Lawrence Public Schools. You embody an unwavering commitment and care for the success of each and every student in school. I appreciate that you all as board members are not driven by a single agenda. Your agenda is all children and ensuring that all children and their well-being of all in the district as your primary focus in pursuit of these beliefs. You also uh continue to lead at the state and national in those conversations about public education. You

010advocate for public policies and funding that ensure all students have access to ep excellent public school education where they live. You create a better understanding of the importance of school boards and the benefits of local responsible governance and you strengthen the effectiveness of schools now and for the future. So, as superintendent this evening, I'm proud to announce that alongside the Lawrence Public Schools team and our Lawrence community, we want to share members our gratitude. We appreciate each of you the commitment of energy and hours you so generously invest in our 10,000 students, their teachers and staff, parents, and our Lawrence community. We thank you. We thank you for being our partners and working with our partners, children, and families for the time they sacrificed with you. So, I said that sentence wrong. I know what

011it's supposed to say now. Forgive me. I wanted to take a moment, and they've already left, but I'll reach out to them later. uh to thank each of your partners, children, and families for the time that they sacrifice with you so that you can serve everyone's children. We wish you the joy and the reward of service. And I encourage all in the Lawrence community to use this opportunity of January to reach out and to thank our board members for their continued commitment to our students, our teachers and staff, our parents, and the Lawrence community. Therefore, on this 12th day of January, 2026, we say a heartfelt thank you for your service. Uh here you are listed in the order of your beginning date. Um, Bob Bay, GR Gordon Ross, Kelly Jones, Shannon Kimble, Carol Kadu

012Blackwood, Yolanda Franklin, and Matt Lancaster. We look forward to celebrating your service throughout January and particularly coming up at the second January board meeting, we will honor each of you with a special gift of student art. And it looks like this is the art Jake that uh you will be receiving. So just a little tease uh that will be coming to you on the 26th. This artwork created by students reflects the care, creativity, and sense of belonging that define our classrooms and our community. It is a small token of our deepest appreciation. This piece you receive is meant to represent the students whose experiences are shaped by your leadership and your commitment to public education. And I hope that it will serve when you see it as a reminder of the impact that your service

013has and the young learners at the heart of our work. Thank you again for the time, energy, and dedication you give to the Lawrence Public Schools. And we'll note all of this on the 26, but these are from Deerfield Elementary first grade students. And there's more. Now, uh we'd like you to just see directly from our schools and from our media production team member, Andrew Beavenon, uh some thank you messages that have been been recorded specifically to express our gratitude. Thank you members of the board. >> Thank you, Lauren Board of Education. >> I really appreciate how fast and quickly they move and how fast they make decisions. I think it's really important that students are informed [music] and I think they're good about getting messages out and news out. And I really like that

014we get [music] like updates from the school as well. Thank you Lawrence Board of Education. >> Thank you board [music] of education. Thank you Lawrence Board of Education. Thank you Lawrence [singing and music] for education. Thank you Lord for education. [music] >> [music] [applause] >> Thank you, Dr. Swift, for that. Um, we'll now move on to the report of the superintendent of schools. >> Thank you, President Gordon Ross and members of the board, those who are joining us this evening in person and those who are joining us uh remotely. Uh it is today, day five of a new semester and a brand new school year, a brand new calendar year 2026. Congratulations to everyone on a strong start to this spring semester. As I've been out and my team's been out and around in schools,

015we see teachers and educational support professionals and principles resetting in the ways that we always do at the beginning of a new chapter of the school year, resetting expectations and renewing uh our commitments. and I'm just really proud of the work all around our Lawrence schools. Um I really uh have noticed that the January I'm excited to share the January character strong trait for this month is perseverance and just given not only the nature of those early weeks of January but also uh the circumstances really of this past week on all levels. I think that perseverance is a wonderful attribute uh for us to focus on this month. Our character strong curricula defines perseverance as pushing yourself to work through challenges and obstacles as we return to our work together. I'm continually inspired by the

016perseverance shown across our district by students who continue learning through challenges, by educators who refine their practice every day to overcome those challenges they may be facing, and by a community that remains committed deeply to public education. So we know the weeks ahead, February, March, April will be full and purposeful, grounded both in reflection and the momentum that we are gaining in this third quarter. I'm really grateful for the opportunity this evening to share some highlights from across the school district and to look ahead at the work before us. um this uh month's boardroom art display. And we're going to get some photos of this out on social media so that everyone can see it, not just those of us who are privileged to get to sit in this room this evening. But the art

017display uh this month features original student artwork from Lawrence High School showcasing the talents of Chesy Lion artists. I want to point out that their teachers are Angelia Perkins. She is photo and digital graphics, Todd Boutit, Potit Drawing and Painting, and Emily Marados ceramics and jewelry. Um, and you can just see it's extraordinary. and we'll try to um include a few of those prints in our upcoming superintendent reports and social media posts. We know that art is a powerful language that helps our students interpret, question, and make meaning of the world around them. In a time when we are inundated with thousands of visual and commercial images each day, the ability to critically engage uh with original artwork is essential. So the pieces displayed here are reflection not only of the students technical skill. That's

018impressive. But they also give insight in our students ability to understand and connect with the viewer and the impact of their their hard work and their artwork on the viewer. They represent just a small sample of the hundreds of Lawrence High School students and Lawrence public school students who participate in visual arts courses each year and that capture glimpse into the lives and perspectives of students as they navigate their journey toward adulthood. We are grateful to the educators, families, and community members who continue to support strong visual arts programming across our districts. our district. It is part of our Lawrence public schools distinctive difference, part of our advantage. Now, um today was the day uh that the 2026 Kansas legislative uh session kicked off as leg legislators returned to Topeka. They are entering the second

019year of a 2-year legislative bienium, which means that both new and unfinished bills uh from last year will fill this session. With an already shortened calendar, this carryover means the legislature will be off to a quick start. Uh so we'll be busy observing that the fast pace of our legislature legislature will not deter or distract us. Our team is wellprepared to advocate for bills that improve public education access and opportunities for all Kansas students. We are delighted tonight to welcome our LEA partners and they will also share more on a legislative update which I'm excited to hear. Last week was busy uh on advocacy and information sharing and we have multiple community events for that purpose in advance of this opening today. I was so proud to have the Lawrence public schools represented by members

020of the board of education and district leadership to tell our story and affirm our board approved 2026 legislative priorities. Specifically on Thursday afternoon, January 8th, uh, Representative Barbara Ballard invited USD 497 team to attend a preession hearing with the Douglas County legislative delegation. Thanks to those of you who were able to make that in person and I know many of you reached out and I believe uh Bob Ba Bob Buyers and Shannon Kimble member members Byer and Kimell were able to be there in person. Uh we appreciate you uh showing up there at the Dole Institute um and to fill our 30 minute slot with all of the meaningful conversation that we want to have with elected officials to keep them in informed about our challenges and opportunities. And then on Friday morning, January 9th,

021the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce, it's an event I look forward to um in January. the legislative priorities breakfast. Member Kelly Jones joined a panel of other educational leaders and elected officials and provided a powerful and positive testimonial for sustained support of public schools by the legislature and local control of educational decisions and policym that reflect the values and expectations of our community. We are so grateful for the direct lines of communication that we have with our legislators and I want to thank you members for always being willing to uh work with them and to reach out to them uh to inform their considerations and deliberations related to education and funding topics. Uh you may have seen it on social media or perhaps missed it, but right before winter break when things were so busy, Sunflower

022Elementary School was awarded national recognition as an AVID school of excellence. An honor awarded to just 45 schools nationwide out of more than 8,000 AVID implementing schools. This award marks a significant milestone achievement during the 45th anniversary of AVID this year. Um, I want to skip uh ahead to have you here, Todd Mark Antonio, who is with AVID, uh, who will share a little bit more about this award. It coincides with the 45th anniversary that AVID decided they would give national distinction to 45 schools across the country from more than 8,000 schools and Sunflower was one of those selected here now from Todd who will share. >> My name is Todd Mar Antonio. Uh I work for Avid Center and I'm an implementation strategist. I support about about a hundred different schools here in the

023Kansas City area and uh we are here today to recognize Sunflower Elementary for excellence in quality implementation of AVID. Lawrence public schools their commitment to AVID is one of the strongest that we have in the area. every building in the district, high school through um elementary, have AVID as an implementation. And so that allows them to maximize our partnership in order to move students in the places that we want them to go. As far as specifically Sunflower, they're really, really good at embedding AVID in everything that they do as far as culture, leadership, instruction, and systems. And those are four really important pieces that we look for uh in quality implementation. It is the 45th anniversary of AVID. So, we've been around for 45 years. So, this year we recognized 45 different schools across the

024country and we support about 8,000 schools. Um, so it's a pretty small number of schools that get this recognition. Uh, Sunflower and Mrs. Green do a really nice job of all of that and that's that's why they're one of the 45 schools across the country. >> Very good. at Quill Run. We wanted to celebrate uh something that's been pretty viral on social media, so many may have already seen it, but we wanted to uh I'm sorry, before we get to Quill Run, I wanted to touch on uh the learning exchange. It seems like a long time ago, but it was really just a week ago today that we welcomed uh all of our teachers and our teams in uh for day two of the learning exchange uh for this school year uh across grade levels

025and content areas. Educators led sessions for one another, sharing strategies, reflecting on practice, and preparing to welcome students back with renewed focus. The learning exchange reflects our core belief that the strongest professional learning is grounded in the direct experience and excellence of our own educators. So if you look through the catalog of sessions from last Monday and from every uh teacher exchange day, you will see that those sessions are not folks from the outside uh so much. They are most all are our own teachers. We're lifting up that promising practice. Last Monday, I had the great opportunity to join a teacher exchange session on conscious discipline facilitated by Hillrest Principal Christine Kathy. I wanted to learn more about I'm familiar with responsive classroom, but I went into that day wanting to learn more about conscious

026discipline. It's an approach that leverages brain science and trauma responsive practices to create a safe and uh productive learning environment that really is mindful of the development of children. Throughout that session, I saw uh teachers doing what I was doing, scribbling notes really fast and really looking forward to using the strategies right away the next day. And um my cabinet team can tell you that I also use the strategies the very next day uh because these are wonderful components. So I just wanted to highlight that one experience among many at the teacher exchange PD day. And now to Quail Run uh just a one-of-a-kind gift that celebrates uh our students uh before winter break. Sarah Kingsley, who is second grade teacher at Quelrun Elementary, received a deeply meaningful and unexpected gift from one of her

027students and his family. The handmade present was an upcycled wooden chair thoughtfully redesigned and painted by Memphis, a second grade student, his younger sister, and their mom as a gesture of appreciation. They delivered the chair personally to Kingsley's classroom. The chair reflects creativity, care, and connection. The details are inspired by classroom tools and finished with Miss Kingsley written across the back. Now in her second year of teaching at Quail Run, Kingsley shared that the moment was especially meaningful as she reflected on a year filled with your learning and growth. She has since made the chair the classroom reading chair, debuting it uh during the class's first read aloud of the of the calendar year, Rosie River Engineer, which is a story about learning through perseverance. Uh the most important thing I learned, Kingsley shared, was

028letting the difficult stuff roll off my back and having perseverance. The moment was shared by the family on social media, going viral on Tik Tok and was also featured by People magazine. At Billy Mills Middle School, AVID students began the year looking ahead and back. Um, students in Billy Mills Middle School's AVID program kicked off the new year with a powerful reminder of what is possible when preparation meets opportunity. You can see her here. Avid alum Trinity Shorter, a recent graduate of Howard University, returned to her former middle school to share her journey and answer student questions about middle and high school, college, and life beyond the classroom. Shorter emphasized the importance of writing, organization, self- advocacy, and reading. These are all AVID focused skills she credits with with helping her earn scholarships and succeed

029academically and beyond. Uh you've already heard that Free State had such a great honor to be selected uh to perform at the Adams Family School edition at the 2026 Kansas Thespian Festival. Uh the production are productions are chosen for the festival through a rigorous process making this honor a testament to the talent and artistry of our students and staff. Uh last Friday night was the night uh that Free State Theater took the stage and performed in front of thousands of students from across the state. And uh there was so much energy in the room and the crowd reactions at times reached a deafening roar. It was an unforgettable experience not only for the actors, pit musicians and the dedicated stage crew who worked tirelessly throughout the weekend, but really for the entire Free State and

030Lawrence public schools community. The Free State Theater program accomplished an amazing effort. You can see some of the set there. That entire set was transported in three U-Haul trucks over the days prior and set up there in the Witchaw uh Century 2 concert hall. So, I want to give special shout out to director Bryce Jones, pit crew conductor Olivia Henning, and accompanist Joe Pinechek, and countless parent volunteers. everyone who assisted in making the amazing production possible. We are proud of the Firebird Theater program and the way it continues to elevate student voice and creative expression. Uh we are excited to share that the enrollment window is now open for preschool programs or I'm sorry the information is posted. The window will open on February 2nd and run through March 22nd. Our preschool programs provide a

031strong, joyful start for our youngest learners. And we're delighted to be building those foundational skills, curiosity, and a love of learning in school that lasts well beyond the early years. So families will now be able to apply for preschool opportunities at Kennedy Early Childhood Center. That's our foundational program for many years. And then also at New York Monasteri, at Deerfield, at Prairie Park, Sunflower, and Woodlon elementary schools with six of our elementary sites now offering preschool, we are reaching that halfway point on having a preschool classroom in every school, elementary school in Lawrence Public Schools. This reflects our continued commitment to that equity strategy of expanding access to quality early learning in neighborhood schools. Members, last board meeting when I made the announcement of the two newest schools, Deerfield and Prairie Park, uh our phones

032were buzzing uh within seconds with parents saying uh we want to sign up. So, we're delighted with that response. We do encourage families with preschool age children to explore these opportunities and take advantage of the enrollment window. We anticipate acceptance notifications to be sent to families by April 1st based on eligibility and availability. So you can see all of that uh and get more information on usd497.org. um getting toward the end here and I apologize for the length. We are excited to launch our winter 2026 series, community conversations that count. So, as you all re may recall, last school year, we engaged thousands of students, families, and community members, as well as staff through conversations and through surveys to better understand what areas we're doing well and where we need and must continue to grow.

033This winter, we're returning to community conversations to share updates on our progress since last year, our progress on the priorities that the community gave us. We're going to reflect together on the work and then listen closely to how our uh staff and students and parents and families and community, how folks feel about those improvements and the next steps that we should take together. These conversations represent an essential part of our commitment to connection, building trust, communication, and continuous improvement. In the coming week, you will see the survey platform emerge. I will be sending that out in a communitywide message. And uh we know that not everybody can make an in-person meeting. We understand that. So we'll be meeting uh with uh these public meetings. We'll be meeting with many many groups in the community and

034then we'll also invite people to write in via a survey. We have both an open-ended and a more objective uh survey tools that will be open so folks may choose how they wish to respond. We look forward to hearing what is going well and where we might expand our opportunities. Um, and I'm excited to engage with our community to continue building on our important strategic work to support every student and their future. Finally, uh, it's just around the corner. Excitement is building January 22nd, 2026 at the Lead Center of Kansas MLK. One dream. The theme mission possible to Building community, uniting a nation the nonviolent way. I think that theme is worth a repeat. Mission possible too. Building community, uniting a nation the nonviolent way. This program will honor students and staff who live out

035the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. through compassion and connection. Honores are recognized for their work to strengthen community, bridge difference, and create spaces of belonging. The evening will also feature student performances that reflect the power of voice, creativity, and unity. I invite everyone to join us for an evening that honors Dr. King's legacy, lifts student and staff voices, and reflects our ongoing commitment to build a stronger and more connected community. Now, you may remember, but I want to make sure everyone knows the doors will open at 6 because there will be a fabulous a um display of student artwork and all this beautiful uh work that you will want to spend some time looking at. And then at 6:30, the program begins inside the auditorium. The strength of Lawrence Public Schools is rooted

036in a connected community that believes in its children, takes action to support its public schools, and remains committed to their success. Over these past days, more than ever, a community in partnership and unity is key and critical to our moving forward. Thank you for your partnership, your perseverance, and your continued support of our students and staff. It is an honor to serve the Lawrence public schools and to share in the important work in 2026 ahead. Thank you. >> Thank you, Dr. Swift. We'll now move on to the report of the president of the board of education. Um, I don't have a lot due to um, family travel and work travel that I've had over the last couple weeks, but I would like to take a moment and specifically um, congratulate and and uh, Bob and

037Kelly and Shannon. Specifically, I would like to say to them specifically that without them, I would not be able to do the work and the job that I do in the seat. So, I'm very glad to continue to serve with them and I would like to welcome Matt. I'm very much looking forward to serving with him and getting to know him and and um excited to see what he brings to this work. So, welcome and congratulations. Um and then lastly, um with uh the the change of the board, there have been some changes to um school site council and committee assignments. um uh we'll make sure that all board members are aware of those and then we'll get the website updated and so there there may be some slight changes based on who's assigned to

038what but we'll make sure we get that information out. Um and so people are aware of that. Um and that was that was really all all I had. So we'll move to board committee reports. Um, so no offense Matt, I'm going to skip you for right now cuz you know you don't have any committee reports at the moment and we'll start with Shannon and come down. >> Um, Kelly and I had a policy committee uh in December and really the uh the result the work uh product of that meeting is all on the agenda this evening. Um we have a number of policies that are on for first read. Um uh several of them were suggestions based on either changes to state law or other issues coming from suggested updates uh that come from our

039policy services at KASB. Uh one policy um AJK is one that was brought to us by um LEA and appreciate that and we are working through that. Um and then um looking forward to the conversation later under new business about uh proposed uh new policy on fund balances. So um we have lots of uh updates yet to work through um that came out in uh mid December. So uh I I would just uh share with my board colleagues to expect to see um we're we're going to try to move some things to to get that work done so that um we can get everything updated in a timely fashion. Yeah, >> Kelly was there. Anything help? >> Thank you. >> Okay, Yolanda, anything from committee? >> Okay, Carol, any committee reports? >> I don't have

040anything to report. >> Okay, Bob. [cough] [clears throat] >> Okay. Um actually actually uh for my committee reports we uh see can't remember the date but we did have equity council uh where we went over data and information around enrollment. Um and again um this iteration of equity council seems to be more active uh with more uh community participation. Um if you have the opportunity I would really invite you to come watch or at least participate in any way you can. Um then also uh had negotiations and uh we're moving forward which is always a good thing. >> Um and I think that is it. >> Okay. Well, we'll start with regular board commentary with you. If you have anything else to add, we'll go back down. Well, um I'll start way back when. Um

041I'm not a big um holiday person. Uh so this year I started my holiday at Lawrence uh High for their um choir concert uh which I found very uh very exhilarating. It was a real well done. Uh then I also continued uh wanting to do Free State. So, I did their improv Christmas or holiday, uh, which was interesting. I'm not a big improv guy, but I decided I just give it a shot. Um, al Okay, other than that, I did attend uh uh did participate along with Shannon and uh in the legislative meeting with the legislators. I found it um actually they listened uh we had some good conversation. Uh and um then I also attended the the Lawrence uh see what was that um the Lawrence Chamber breakfast. Uh again very informative uh and

042it's actually the second time I've gone. So, and other than that, that's it. Okay, Carol. >> Uh, uh, hi, this is Carol. I, um, I'd like to congratulate Bob Buyers, Shannon Kimble, and Kelly Jones for getting a seat again here on the school board. And I'd like to welcome Mr. Matt Lancaster to the board. And I look forward to serving with you all, especially now more than ever. We're like-minded and we care very very deeply for our children and families. Um, other than I don't have much to report, but I am watching the House Committee on Education specifically. Look, I'm still looking at House Bill 2295, which is a bill that was introduced last session to um get universal meals for our children. And that's something that I'm still focused hyper focused on and pushing

043for that. And um and if you look at the House Committee on Education, the 2025 2026 legislative sessions, there is a a slew of legislation that's will be introduced. I'm sure Shannon will keep us a prize. And we're very lucky to have someone who serves at um as a lobbyist to, you know, keep us a prize. So, thank you for balancing that. And um and that is all I have. Thank you, >> Belinda. Um my sentiment is the same as my other fellow board members about welcoming um the previous members back and then looking forward to working with you again Matt. Um uh I too attended the legislative breakfast on uh Friday and um it was very interesting and very you know hopeful that you know some of the things that some of the state

044representatives was talking about was would actually get implemented. The expansion of Medicaid and uh the full the call to fully fund special education. Um I was uh sharing with uh Representative Ballard, I was happened to sit at the table with her that um I work for Medicaid and so when they were talking about the requirements to get Medicaid, I let her know what the state state of Kansas requirements is and it's very very slim. So to get those calls from people who don't qualify and Medicaid is their last resort and we have to tell them no. So, um, she was very, um, she took it down a lot of notes. I got a couple of follow-up meetings with her to give her some more information on how Medicaid actually runs from my from a call

045center perspective. So, um, I I I really enjoyed the breakfast, >> Kelly. Okay, Shannon. >> Um, there's a lot, so I'll try not to go on for too long. First, I wanted to draw board members attention to this item. This is a a a reference item that KSB has provided to board members to leave at the board table and have available. It's common terms that are used in all kinds of things related to the work that we do. Um it it's a flip book. It's just meant to be a resource for for board members um at board meetings. So um I uh had a few things to recognize about the month of December. Um, but first I want to uh congratulate Matt and looking forward to serving with you. Um, I'm so grateful to serve

046with such wonderful people on this board and it is truly an honor um to start this uh this term of board service and thank you all and thank you to the community for um that opportunity. So um I wanted to thank Ashley Smith at Quelrun for allowing me to come read to her students in December. That is always that always fills my cup and I appreciate those opportunities. Um I got to attend a couple of winter concerts, the Free State Winter Band concert and the West Corral winter concert. Uh we have some really amazing fine arts programs in our district and I am always blown away by the talent of our students and I just am so grateful for the faculty that work with with our students in those areas. Um, and I appreciated our

047uh Douglas County legislative delegation and the opportunities they took um and provided to hear about our board's legislative priorities um both at the hearing and at the legislative breakfast. Kelly did a fantastic job of representing the board and I appreciated her very much. Um people were very complimentary of of your presentation. I'll just tell you um uh on the in the legislative sphere uh board should know that tomorrow and Wednesday the state board of me education is meeting there's an item about ABA therapy in classrooms on the board agenda um and if you um have an interest in more information about that issue it's something we we should talk about after the meeting because it's rather lengthy but uh just know that there's they're getting ready to adopt some guidance that would will will not

048be helpful to districts. Um, in addition, there have been there's a lot already going on. It today was the first day of the legislative session, and this is the first time in all the years that I've been doing legislative advocacy that, uh, there's testimony due on bills today that are being heard this week. So, um, uh, just to keep, um, all of you apprised of the things that really, um, impact, uh, our board of education, um, both the House and the Senate have education committees have versions of a cell phone ban bill. Um, Senate Ed will be hearing that uh, bill, Senate Bill 302 on Thursday. House Education will be hearing their bill, which is House Bill um it was the first day. I'm still learning all the bill numbers. Um House Bill 2421. Um

049they will have a hearing on Friday this week um at uh 1:30. And um the gist of both of these bills, they do a couple things that um that really intrude upon local governance and local control. Um you know, we we spent a lot of time carefully crafting a cell phone cell phone free instructional time policy for our district. Uh these both of these state statutes would um proposed state statutes would overturn the decisions that we have made and mandate that we handle it differently. Um, it would require districts to remove any electronic device from that is brought from by students from home from their possession for the school day. And we would become responsible for um keeping them uh from students and having having to check them out and check them check them in

050and check them out back out again to all students at all levels K12. Uh no exceptions except for IEPs or 504 plans. Um, so that's there's some issues around local control, local decision- making, governance, liability, >> no medical exceptions, >> uh, IEPs. Yeah, IEPs and 504 plans. Um, and then there's some language in both bills that h that uh is designed to ban communication by school district employees with students on social media, direct communication, two-way communication. Unfortunately, the way that those those bills are drafted, the language is so incredibly broad that it in it would encomp it would ban school district employees from communicating with students on any app, website or online platform that requires a username or registration in which you create content and share it with other people. So that is pretty much

051G. Yeah. So that that would include Gmail and Parent Square and pretty much every online platform that we use for any purpose that requires a username and password by a student or staff member. So um I would really encourage people to be engaged around this issue. It it has bipartisan support. The governor has signaled that she's going to sign it if it gets to her. Um, so what we need to do is educate legislators about, okay, fine, we all agree cell phone free instructional time is an important public policy. Um, but it's the the problems here are in the details and how how it's written and how it's how it would be need to be implemented. So, um there are also hearings this week on a bill um on Wednesday that would not require but

052would allow school districts to hire or allow volunteer chaplain to serve students in schools. And there um there is a bill on Thursday uh that would write into our special education statute um that fetal alcohol syndrome disorder is a qualifying other health impairment to receive special education services. That actually that one makes a lot of sense. So um you know they're they are uh starting off fast and furious. Uh the budget committees are going to hear uh an update on education on Wednesday morning. Um so I think there will be budget work being done on the education budget uh very very soon. And that's that's that's what I've got for tonight. Thank you. >> GR may I ask a follow-up question? >> Yeah. Um so we wrote uh our we adopted our legislative platform and

053it includes um board consensus that local control is a priority of this district and we saw that we heard that repeated by the county and the city officials as well. So, if GR were to write testimony on behalf of the board and represent our our positions, it would be appropriate in some of these cases where maybe we didn't specifically talk about cell phones, even though we've passed a cell phone policy and is in in um are in support of there not being cell phones in our classrooms. It is it is still the case that that platform would allow GR to speak on our behalf on some of these issues where they might be getting into the micromanagement of school districts. Correct. >> I I believe that that is correct. Um and certainly I would um

054testimony for the Senate hearing is due on Wednesday. Um but you have to let them know tomorrow if you are going to submit testimony. >> Okay. Um, testimony for the House hearing is also due on Wednesday. They have a two-day like a 48 hours in advance requirement. So, I can help uh anybody who would like more details about that. I can >> I was interested in I'm certainly interested in that particular issue, but also interested in the um the d the social media and the um >> Yeah, >> thank you. Just a question too on the just to make um I think that well I I think this is deliberate to have the testimony due so promptly but isn't it due on noon that day if you want to provide testimony it's noon the day

055before send >> every so here's the tricky part every committee chair gets to set their own rules and they're all different so um the to just in general if you want to find out what the committee rules are you have to go on the legislative website to the page page for the committee, you have to find um the drop-own menu and look at committee documents and that's usually where the committee assistants post the committee rules for committee members and for um people providing testimony. Um, with Senate Education, they ask you to email the committee assistant 48 hours in advance >> to let them know you would you intend to testify in person, whether that's in the capital or if you want to do WebEx testimony, then the written PDF emailed to them uh 24 hours

056in advance. So the day before, so like by noon, the day before the hearing. So that would be noon on Wednesday. And then House Education has different rules and their rules are um you don't have to provide them notice, but you have to submit your testimony and PDF by email to them 24 or 48 hours in advance of their and their committee meeting is at 1:30 every day. So 1:30 Friday. So it' be due 1:30 on Wednesday. So it it would be advisable just to visit the committee on education and just have just for personal use just have something drafted and ready to go. >> Yep. Yeah. Just taking note of the email that they want you to send things to and um the form because they also many of the committees have their own

057rules about how they want you to form like what they want on the testimony, how they want it um labeled or titled so that they know are you testifying in favor or against or are you neutral? Who are you representing? If you're representing an organization or representing yourself, what bill? All of those things. So, um, yep. >> Thank you. >> So, I just have one follow-up question. So on the cell phone exemptions, the 504 or IEP, so asking about medical, I'm just curious like so if like say a student has type 1 diabetes and has a phone to track their insulin, like they they wouldn't necessarily have an IEP or 504 to be able to do that today. >> There is uh there is some language in there about uh medical exceptions uh approved by

058a licensed physician. >> Okay. Um, so that that piece is accounted for. Okay. Um, and that actually has gotten quite a bit of discussion. Um, when I've heard people talk about this is trying to make sure that they they understand that there are students who use their devices for purposes like that. >> That's House Bill 2186. >> Um, House So, it's Senate Bill 302 and House Bill 2421. >> Okay. Thank you. You're welcome. Um, thank you for uh your questions. Great questions. I appreciate the engagement and um the opportunity to share the information. >> Matt, follow that. >> I will. Um, it'll be two minutes or less. I had a Sunday [clears throat] school teacher named Miss Dickinson back in the day and she taught me um one of the most important lessons of my

059life was that a it's not about you um and b the the values of service and humility. Um so I'm I'm honored uh that the folks of this city um will allow me to um serve uh the the cause of public education for which I've always had a passion and I've spent pretty much my entire career and life uh furthering the cause of. Specifically tonight, um I wanted to thank my family, uh my wife Haley and my my four-year-old son Oliver for the sacrifices they made. Um my friends, especially Connor, Taylor, Mark, and Stephanie, um for helping to spread the word. Um our LEA friends, uh especially Emerson, Tom, and my partner Julie, who went door to door with me, um also spreading that word. I wanted to thank Dr. Swift and her team um

060for such a swift uh getting me up to speed and and education on the education that we're doing here um in Lawrence. Wanted to thank the community organizers, Dustin Stumbling Bear, Holly Krebs, and many others who provided us a platform to talk about our our qualifications, our experiences, and what we were hoping to enact. I wanted to thank this board, especially GR, Bob, Kelly, and Shannon for their uh mentorship, their guidance, their openness um throughout this entire process and the ongoing uh mentorship and support that I'm sure that I'll need very soon. Um and then finally, and most importantly, I wanted to thank the educators um at all levels in this district um not just for participating in the election, but for the work that um they do every single day as as times get

061increasingly difficult in public education. Um, I have nothing but awe and respect for all of them. So, I look forward to working with all of you. Um, I am grateful for the opportunity. Um, I think we'll do cool things. >> Thank you. >> All right, Bob. I think we have some retirements. >> Uh, yes. Uh, we have four. Um, the board would like to thank the following people for their years of of dedicated and and dedicated service to Lawrence Public Schools. Jennifer Georgie for 23 years. Linda Dashant, 19 years. Michael Martin 30 years. And Rebecca O'Keefe for 32 years. Congratulations on your retirement. [applause] >> All right, we'll now move on to the consent agenda. Consent agenda items are those that are considered routine and are adopted by one motion unless any board member or

062the 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 move the board of education approve the items listed on the consent agenda. >> I second. >> Jones, >> yes. >> Franklin, >> yes. >> Gordon Ross, >> yes. >> Kimble, >> yes. >> Buyers, >> yes. >> Lancaster, >> yes. >> Motion passes 70. >> All right, I'm going to turn the time over to Dr. Swift just briefly. Thank you uh President Gordon Ross for that privilege. Uh there's just a couple of details that I wanted to attend to from your uh consent vote. Sometimes folks miss some parts of that. The first one uh the team is going to put up a visual um from Do you have that

063or Okay, get that visual while I talk about items two and three, please. The box trip. Yes. Um it's exciting. [laughter] Um secondly, uh he's in the audience this evening. I just wanted to give a very special um expression of gratitude uh from me and on behalf of the district uh to uh Mr. Howard Dyken uh who answered the call many months ago to come in and fill in the gap. and um he has done that uh serving as interrum principal at Sunset Hill Elementary. He's shown up day after day. I see him out in a most impressive pickup and drop off line uh that not everybody would want to show up for [laughter] and he does uh with his orange vest and a whole lot of enthusiasm. He has supported that extraordinary team at

064Sunset Hill [snorts] and uh they were very concerned as we all were uh about this gap in the transition of leadership and uh Howard, you made it all okay and we just want to thank you uh for doing that. Thank you so much. [applause] And he's not done yet because the announcement that we'll make uh Jake is sending those uh Jake Potter is sending those announcements out now because our habit is we do not do that until the board votes. Uh but we are privileged and pleased and excited to announce this evening Miss Courtourtney Ellis as principal of Sunset Hill Elementary School. Uh that will be effective July 1 of 2026. So I know everyone is getting excited. Uh but Miss Ellis has a lot of work to finish at Billy Mills Middle School where

065she serves as the assistant principal and athletic director. So uh she will finish out her year at Billy Mills Middle School and uh Mr. Dyken will finish his year um at Sunset Hill Elementary. Um, Courtney Ellis brings what we all hope to find in a principal leader and that is a positive, energetic and collaborative leadership style and she is grounded in what is required and that is a child center student first approach to leadership. I know that she will do well alongside the Sunset Hill staff. They are second to none. We have many great teams in the district and they are right there uh among the best. So I'm very grateful to all we have many many students, staff, parents and community members who gave of their time to contribute to the selection process. So

066I just always want to thank folks who show up for long days of interviews to get to a collaborative decision. Uh we look forward to this next wonderful chapter for our Sunset Hill Elementary and Lawrence Public Schools community. Thank you. Um the box truck seemed like a very boring consent vote, so we want to spice it up by showing you the photo. Thank you guys for getting that up. Uh this was really put together by Geneva and Julie Henry um and Dr. Ingleick. They are just suggesting uh that this might be a great place to start. I know you've got to manage all the details of that. Uh but isn't it a great day when our uh trucks will be delivering bakery items and they already are to every school in the district. Those bakery

067items are made right at Pinkney Elementary School with in the bakery. They're uh sourced from at least 50% locally grown grains. Um this is a fabulous uh uh concept and I'm delighted to share that coming in just the next few days our own Pinkney students in the uh seat and programming there at Pinkney will begin working their internships in the bakery. So I know that one of the things on our list members is to have a tour over there before much longer. we've given them time to get their work done, but this is really exciting stuff. So, thank you uh President Gordon Ross for that privilege of a moment. [snorts] >> All right, that's awesome news. All right, we will move on to old business item 3.1 uh enrollment analysis and address locator build and

068launch RSP and Associates and invite Dr. Ingleick to come up. >> Very good. And while he's coming, I'll open it. I I really appreciate the opportunity to get to speak more specifically to this item this evening. It is around um our quality ensuring quality organizational planning and decision making which is uh rests always in the quality the breadth depth and accuracy of the information that we use to inform our decisions. So uh this is particularly critical in the areas of this RSP agreement which I will note is only for this year. We do look at our agreements every year. So uh this year we are continuing with the company we have worked with and uh this particular work is critical in achieving accurate modeling work for the district. So the modeling work that they do

069is uh algorithms that they perform with uh community development, housing development. Um it brings together data sets around enrollment and birth rate and moving patterns in the state and beyond the state. um all of the demographics and other significant factors and their variables. It brings all of that together into a modeling sequence that gives us information that will impact district operations going forward. So we do have last year's report uh attached to the item that is open to the public so everyone can see that 75 pages or more of uh packed with information. Um and this is really critical to us uh particularly now given our obligations uh that we hold under state law regarding the requirement for open enrollment uh that is required by law of every of every district and our obligations overall

070to plan thoughtfully for the district. The detailed analysis is essential to fulfilling our obligation to serve as a strategic and thoughtful planning team, board, administrative team, staff, and the community. Uh we have to serve thoughtfully in that role to plan short, medium, and long-term for the future of the district. That includes the placement of programs, the capacity of enrollment in buildings, uh the impact to facilities, the to student services and specialized programs to support student services, transportation, food and nutrition, and key and critical staffing to all of the above. um among many other purposes that we use this data for. So this uh demographics work serves as a critical tool for continued accurate and strategic work for future planning in the district. It is a tool that is used across every district that I'm aware

071of and work that has been publicly requested by members of the boundary advisory during their work as recently as last year. I do want to point out uh that particularly as superintendent um I believe very deeply that is important to check our thinking and our work much as we do every year with our annual external financial audit. uh that is uh certainly uh a way that uh we work both with our own finance team and we also uh get an outside expert to take a look and just check our work. This contract is very similar uh that we use a credible and proven professional in the area of projections, analyses, uh demographics. We use those professionals beyond our internal district staff for a very intentional purpose to ensure checks and balances and that we have

072seen every issue from all perspectives and that we are not in any way missing a component that is critical to planning thoughtfully for the future of the district. Now, Dr. Ingle Brick oversees all of this. Uh so he's prepared to speak to details of the address locator tool, the credentials of the th the ter the firm, forgive me. Um the report, you have all of this in your board enclosure, all of the components of the report. Um and then uh to answer any questions you have. So Dr. Inbrick, I said a lot and I know you can say more and um members of the board, we don't want to go on too long, but we'd like to give a quick overview. >> Thank you, [snorts] >> President Gordon Ross, board members, Dr. Swift, thank you

073very much. I think probably my first comment should be you have covered it all and very well. My second should be openness and truthfulness in that my contribution to that box truck was a white box truck. [laughter] So while I appreciate uh a little credit there, credit where credit is due. Um Julie and Jenna did a very excellent job on that and are terribly excited about it. I'd like to talk to you a little bit about RSP, their commitment to the district, and their ongoing relationship with the district. RSP began working with our school district in the 200 school year. At that time, they began working on student enrollment projections, then worked into staffing projections. We've come all the way to now they're dealing with projections of uh incoming students to our district based on

074live births in our community. They work with enrollment analysis, what we can expect year after year, but also with a five-year projection on those analysis. In recent years, they have assisted us in staffing analysis and they have built for us, if we choose to use it, a staffing tool for use at the elementary uh grade levels. Their enrollment projections are by building and by grade level. I think one of the things that we haven't done as well as we should and I will take the responsibility of this on is making that uh annual report available and readily available and we will do that from this point on and in the future because it is incredible when you look at the breadth and the depth of the information they give us. We were in a meeting

075a couple of months ago and the question came up about next year's enrollment. Happened to know where to look and very quickly we had that information. Is it going to be exact? No. But it will be very very close. I can uh promise you that. Uh building projections I did tell you is are over five years into the future. We do look as RSP looks every year at what their air rate is and it is very very low. And I will tell you RSP does that not only for our district but for the 130 districts that they serve as a consultant to across our country. And even when they add all of those together, their percentage error is less than 1%. Which is incredible. RSP helps us with our boundary analysis and looking at that.

076I first became aware of RSP four years ago in working with uh the boundary advisory committee. I will tell you from work I did years and years and years and years ago that is a very difficult process to possibly give you an idea of the difference and the progression and the professionalism of RSP on this. They produce their reports in printed form, digital form and they give that to us. When I worked with others indivi individuals in this some 35 years plus ago, we did it in pencil. I'll let you guess as to why we used pencil and we were constantly updating the projection impact um on the possible adjustment to student boundaries. When we start looking at student boundaries and the possible need of changing student boundaries, RSP is able to go in and

077very accurately say these are the buildings that you are looking at. These are the students that will be impacted at each of those buildings, whether that would be the student moving to or from a building. And then they're able to do that in two different formats. where the student resides and where the student attends. So they track our students in multiple ways for us each each uh year. The detailed nature of the trend analysis and modeling that RSP completes for us is extremely important to our ability to make decisions based upon accurate and timely data. They do an excellent job of that. Their data insert uh research involves [clears throat] as I mentioned earlier live birth rates annually in our community, past enrollment data, development trends in our community, whether it be a commercial development

078trend or the possibility of residential bu uh building trends and they take that all into consideration. They also produce a piece of information we don't use a great deal, but we're learning to use it more and more and that's our student migration. They talk to us at the building level, I'm sorry, at the district level by elementary schools, middle schools, and then high schools. the migration of students to our district and out of our district in a three-year analysis. Extremely important if we want to look at how uh students are coming to or leaving our district. They do that same analysis on a one-year basis annually by building. They provide for us each year the number of students who come from outside our district to each of our buildings and who are in our district

079and move out of our district. Most of the time I will tell you those are be because of moves by the family. RSP's data analys analysis supports our district in understanding the impact of commercial and residential development, the demographic trends within our community, along with the complexity of how developments and opportunities for development may impact our district over a number of years. The data prepared by RSP has been essential in our district's obligations under the current uh state law of open enrollment to determine where in our district we have capacity for students to transfer in and what that capacity actually is. We are not guessing at that. We're basing it off of data and that data comes from RSP. If you'll remember a few years ago, that's that statute snuck up on us a little

080bit, but RSP already had the data prepared and ready for us to use. The work completed by RSP exceeds the capability of our current staff. And to hire staff members capable of doing this work would far exceed the annual obligation and budgetary amounts that we provide to RSP uh for their ongoing consulting work. Each year, RSP works collaboratively with our administrative staff as a partner. If you ask a question this evening and I wasn't sure of it, which you could do very easily on my way home, I would call RSP and they would begin either finding the answer to that question or they would already know the information and they would provide me input. This is not a piece bypiece billing and cost. they are a collaborative member of our team throughout the year. I

081will tell you that uh I while I have worked with RSP for only four years, I've already mentioned and I will tell you my work with student projections and enrollment trends and staffing goes back to the 1987 time frame. We did it all on paper and yes, we did use a pencil and there was a very good reason for it. We then began doing it and um many of my colleagues didn't do it this way in the school district I was in but I had this thing called a Macintosh computer and I began using what was a precursor to Excel and my job became a lot easier. I have been very impressed with the quality, with the depth, and with the understanding that RSP has demonstrated over the past four years related to our district,

082our community, and the trends of our students through those processes. The work RSP does for us as a district is essential in a number of areas and a number of levels. uh within those areas. Appreciate the opportunity to possibly continue the work with them. And I want you to know they are a collaborative partner. They're not a vendor. They are a collaborative partner and a team member of this district, the administration, and the board. If any of you ask them a question or ask the question through Dr. Swift or myself, they would work to get that information for us. I would answer any questions that you might have if I know the answer. Start with Matt. >> Yeah, I um first Dr. Engle, you'll have to pardon any uh naivity on my part just as

083that it's my my first day, but um I appreciate the willingness to pull this um and discuss it more. Um I know the the the sentiment um in our town around paying outside sources for for services. Um having looked through the um 75page presentation um albeit I didn't understand everything that I was I was looking at but um you [clears throat] know the analytics, the methodology um the figures seemed fairly sound to me. Um and you just answered several of the questions that I had originally had. Um I was curious um you know reflecting uh current demographics and shifts over you know in the one fiveyear um time span is is one thing but I'm really curious about that that second step of the strategic planning and alignment with you know city and county um

084facing the enrollment decline that we that we have been dealing with um and the kind of higherend projections that they they provide. I'm just curious about thoughts on on the planning implications um beyond the the reporting things as they are implications. >> The data from RSP shows [clears throat] that we will be in decline for I believe two more years and then we will begin to show an increase in our student population. This becomes important so that we know to expect that for two additional years budgetarily and space-wise we will be in a decline. But in two years we will begin to stabil stabilize and grow. If we don't have that information and we're not using it, looking at it, and implementing it, we could make uh strategic errors in where our expectations are that

085students will be and um where we will have space, where we will not have space, and could could create some pretty devastating uh issues for us if we miss that very many years in a and uh if it's okay. >> Absolutely. >> Member Lancaster, I'd just like to add another example if it's all right. Um to me, when we think about planning, one of the theories um in our work in the district given the migration in our city of how and where housing is available. One of our intentions is to place quality programming everywhere, but particularly programming into areas where perhaps the number of students is naturally declining due to an aging um uh an aging area. And so you're talking about big picture in the district. I would even draw it to knowing that

086a particular school will naturally have a much lower student population to pull from five years from now would inform our placement and planning for programming [snorts] uh in ways that I don't know how we'd get to otherwise >> if that makes sense. Can I may I [snorts] um so that also um for that so thinking about the connection between the city and the county if we are aware of a particular area where we might see an um a comparatively declining area in terms of population of students if Dr. Swift is able to implement programming or the district's able to implement programming, we might see that neighborhood lifted up uh and additionally be able to balance the need to address where there might be growth. For example, as we see within the Langston Hughes area to

087the um collaboratively making sure that the city and county have this information. Can you speak to how we share it with them? I know that RSP looks at all of the counties and cities data along with public health data and state data, but do we share this report with them? >> Um, [snorts] so Dr. Ingerbrook, I'll tag you for that response. I will say that it's a conversation that I have with the city and county teams on a on a strategic level. But for the nuts and bolts of how you guys work with the city and the county with this kind of data, you go you go ahead. we make it available in the past. We need to do better at it, I would say. >> So, we could um be intentional about sharing this

088information with whoever the next city manager is and with for um Sarah or or someone at the county. Correct. >> Yes. >> Thank you. And and then I will also add, you know, one of the things that I've tried to do um is, you know, when I first came on the board, um the city, the county, and the and the school board had more in more intentional relationship. And then coming out of COVID, we we lost that structure. And so I'm I'm I'm working slowly to to to reestablish some of some of that structure. So, so to your point, um, I think I think the more that we can through all of these different avenues have connections and and and have ways that we interact and and and find ways to to to work on

089the same the same problems at the same time, even though we we come at those problems from different angles and and come at them with with different reasons why we're interested, But as long as we're working together, we can we can all move forward with with what what benefits us because as this as as the city grows, as the county grows, we grow and and and and so it's all we're all related and and we all benefit each other or or or not, as the case may be, if we're not talking and communicating and and and working collaboratively. Well, that's that's exactly what I was wanting to get at. Um, you know, I came at as as a skeptic at at at first, but looking especially at the recommendations and the and the proposals regarding

090zoning and housing availability, um, and the heat maps that we see across the areas of town, um, and I know those are conversations happening everywhere else in our in our in our town as well. Um, that this could really be a tool and a and a boon to having those housing conversations. Um, so that's I I I really appreciate that insight. And to that point, um, the only other question I have because you answered like several of them was about the address locator tool. Um, I know we have the one currently. Um, it kind of worked when I when I tried to use it, but I was just curious what's the additional value of of, you know, rebuffing that. >> I just starred that because I forgot to cover that. There within this proposal, there

091are actually two different uh items costwise being put together. The address locator tool and the annual report. The address locator tool is very much like what was prepared for us three years ago by RSP, the geocoding for all of that. And it will allow us to put online whether we host it or we're able to work with the county to host it. We will look into that. Uh right now our plans are that we may host that. We do not have to do that. But the tool will allow individuals to put their address in and then it will tell them which school they live within the attendance area of this would be expanding what we're doing at the elementary school level to the middle school level and the high school level. So, I will just

092add on to that that it was a few months ago that I received contact from a realtor who um the tool was not updated. And so, we're now tending through this contract to the ongoing update. And so, when you said it kind of sort of worked >> and it and it kind of sort of didn't work. Um, and so I always want to speak the truth and that's the truth. So when Dr. Ingle Brick and I researched, we realized I frankly had thought from my prior life that that function was taken care of by the county or the city. That doesn't mean anything. That was just my misunderstanding. and through this realtor reaching out understood that it was our tool to manage here and we um needed to have it updated. So, I look forward

093to having a reliable tool that folks who move to our town can use. It's huge. Yeah. and the individual who really led that whole process at the elementary level uh has left the district and it just was not picked up and carried on. So when as soon as we found that out um began talking to RSP about well we need to do do this and the bulk of the work that they really are needed for on this is that geocoding of all the geo fences as to where our boundaries are. >> Yeah that um that really answers all the questions that I had. I, you know, anybody can go on and pull census data or state report card data for total numbers and stuff, but I appreciate the insights into um how they pull, you

094know, city and county planning and zoning and and all of their data as well to to help with your, like you said, short, middle, and long-term projections. So, thank you. Thank you. >> And please, if we have a tool out there that's not that is sort of working, >> please let us know because that is not our intent at all and we will get it corrected. >> Anybody else have any questions? Carol. >> Uh, let's see. I This is Carol. I served on the the boundary committee last year and one of my ask for one of my ask was um to RSP was to work or ask the city to coordinate a a partnership for the safe routes to school when we were considering looking at boundaries and and shifting boundaries. But that was one

095of my one of my big ass because um I live just south of town and I I frequently go past 31st in Michigan and that area is a big concern to me because there's only one sidewalk on on 31st Street. So along there and I see kids scurry across and there's no um stoplight or a safety way for them to cross. So that's a big concern of mine especially in the mornings when the sun just pits at the right side. You just >> cannot see your vision is obscured I guess if you will by the sun that's a big ask of mine is to work with safe routs to school. >> Thank you so much. >> Okay. >> Anyone else? >> Okay. Can we get a motion? >> I I can make the motion if

096you're ready. >> Perfect. >> All right. Uh I had it pulled up here. Okay. I move that the board of education approve RSP and Associates LLC to provide an enrollment analysis and build and launch of an address locator tool. The services include fi five-year enrollment projections and a webbased tool identifying property locations within district boundaries at a cost of $35,000 to be paid from the general fund. >> I second. >> Buyers, >> yes. >> Gordon Ross, >> yes. >> Video Blackwood, >> yes. >> Lancaster. Yes. >> Jones. >> Yes. >> Kimble. >> Yes. >> Motion passes 70. >> All right. We will move on to item 4.1. First read policy DD fund balance. Dr. Swift. >> Thank you. Uh President Gordon Ross uh and members uh of the board and community who have joined us.

097We uh wanted to share this evening. I appreciate the work of the policy committee on a new policy. It's not every day that we get to bring forward a new policy and I'm always excited when we bring forward something that adds value. And I'm reminded that it was just a year ago uh when the board voted on our cell phone free instructional environment and that was work that had gone on uh prior to my arrival. excellent work and it help really helped the district uh have clarity and focus around that important topic and uh this particular policy this evening is about clarifying a range for fund balance. So I have just a couple of notes and then um members uh Jones and Kimble have worked uh in depth on this. So of course you all

098should uh lead out um but just from the superintendent perspective to clarify align and ensure fiscal responsibility it is an important step to come to an agreement uh around uh a range for fund balance. That fund balance, just to clarify, is that rainy day fund that we call use the term contingency fund. That uh money that is set aside uh for a rainy day. Uh that uh best practice guidance is that that should be about two months of operating costs for the organization. So what we did with this policy was really to align it to all of the recommended best practice, financial practice and fiscal responsibility. And I appreciate uh Cindy Frick, our CFO, uh weighing in throughout this process so that we had her expertise behind this policy. Just a couple of notes. The

099purpose of fund balance policy is to maintain reserves for unanticipated expenditures or revenue shortfalls and to pre preserve flexibility through the year. So it will help us to ensure CLA cash flow management to avoid cash flow issues that would require the district to borrow and some of those uh I refer to them as dry patches through the year where the district has to go many weeks without uh state funding payments. Um it also allows us to have an objective range. I've been privileged to work over uh more than a decade with many fine board members and I will share with you that everyone um has an opinion about whether the fund balance should uh be guarded and kept like a vault and uh all the way through the spectrum to uh members who feel that

100we should just spend every bit of it today. Um, so what this policy does is it establishes a range. It also helps us with that strong bond rating that u when we're in classrooms every day doing our work in schools, we may not be thinking about the Moody's bond rating for the district. And yet it is an important part of our ability to field a bond endeavor uh to uh do those kinds of fiscal responsibility to sell bonds to refinance bonds and make money back for our taxpayers. All part and parcel of all of that is the question of the stability and the strength fiscally of the district and this policy will move us forward in that direction. So um the members will review the actual wording of the policy with you all. uh but

101that range these are range uh numbers that are established in best financial practice and certainly I know Miss Frick is happy to come forward. She's the expert to speak in more detail if that is needed. Thank you and happy to pass it off to our policy member partners. >> Can [snorts] I you want me to provide some context? Okay. Um, I want to uh just say that this is one of those things that I am particularly proud to be bringing forward because it creates a more financially stable circumstance for our district and allows us to better plan for things like increases in wages. Yes. >> So that means that if we wanted to do a two-year projection, we might be able to do that. >> I'll give an example of when we couldn't do that.

102So, to your analysis of of having worked with board members that think we need to get rid of all the we have no um reserves and those that think we might need to have too many. I've certainly served with everybody on that spectrum. Um I learned the hard way why you needed a middle road. Um uh there are several of us that were Carol was here and GR and Shannon and I were here when um we found ourselves in a circumstance that due to threats of um reserves being swept a prior board had um reduced our we came to a space where we had about $850,000 in reserves and a $500,000 bill um for uh a particularly cold winter. and it didn't uh didn't it's not something that will leave me that experience. Um and

103I find this to be a very responsible way for us to be acting moving forward. It also just helps again like I like that range piece because it allows a future board to be able to have some flexibility about where they need to be at that moment in time for them. Um, and uh, I'll speak I'll let Shannon speak to this, but I believe we'll be there isn't another model policy like this. And this is one of the things when you hire a superintendent with a lot of experience, you can bring forward. This is one of the benefits of having Dr. Swift at this district. Thank you so much. And it might be something that other districts in the state can use. And also to um, Cindy and Dr. Engel for your guidance. Uh it

104it was really a great education for me to hear from you why this was important. Um and then I would want our our union partners to know that this is really about creating an environment in which we can more confidently put forward um a stronger uh agreement. >> Thanks, Kelly. Um you know, I think this is an example. You know, we've done a few different policies over the years where I feel like our district has led on an issue and it's become a model for other districts to look to. I think that this one could be exactly that as as Kelly mentioned. Um, you know, just for folks who are listening but maybe didn't take the time to read uh uh the policy, it basically says that we will have fund balance range at the

105end of the fiscal year or at the end of the budget year in the range of 12 to 20%. So if you think about uh that recommendation that uh that you have two months of operating um uh cash that's within that range, right? Um KSDE specifically advises districts to have 12 to 20%. So we are squarely within what our state agency is advising districts in Kansas that we should be in terms of what we are saying we will do. Um, so I appreciate that. Um, I think it's helpful in the language of the policy that it describes for the community um, which funds we're talking about and which ones we're not talking about because there are there are a lot of important details in the differences there um, that we don't need to go into

106tonight, but it there's a reason for kind of clarifying that and I think that's important. Um, I appreciate the certainty that it will allow us to perhaps have in those conversations around u multi-year budgeting and planning for wages and other things that we are prioritizing in our district. Um, this also for those people um who are listening who are really concerned about um the taxes they pay that this policy actually will help us save taxpayers dollars in the long run. So Dr. Swift mentioned this is the kind of good fiscal stewardship that credit agencies look at when they are setting ratings and ultimately keeping a high rating for our district saves our taxpayers money um when we have to have to go to them to ask for bond issues for example. Um, so this is

107a really important piece of being fiscally responsible um to our staff and to our taxpayers and our community. So, um, thank you. >> Okay. >> Anybody have any questions? Matt? >> Yeah. uh you just actually mentioned it, but um I was really interested when you brought up a couple weeks ago the multi-year budgeting cycle proposal and um you talked about it, but could you explain like how the the year after year um reserve balance essentially plays into that if you're doing it a multi-year cycle? I'd certainly like Cindy to weigh in on that, but I will I so I'll say from a board perspective. I have not been at the negotiations table this year, but I'm going to talk about wages specifically, and I know there are other things we have to budget, but there's

108been a conversation. Um, and those of you that are on negotiation, please tell me if I'm speaking out of turn or if somebody from the union wants to join, they can. Um the there's been conversation over the course of at least the last eight years about how do we plan for wages first and often um and that we are looking maybe at a multi-year contract. Most districts in Kansas won't have a multi-year contract because we don't know what the state's going to give us at the end of the at the end of the day. But there are ways in which we could have a goal set um that is open and honest and at the table we're all agreeing that that's our aim and it's not something we've been able to achieve as it relates

109to wages. That's just an example, but then I'll defer to to Cindy and you can correct anything I said inaccurately. While she while uh Miss Frick is coming, I will just reference something she won't and because she's modest, but um the vision uh that that Miss Frick has helped our team with and the board has discussed also is this vision of being responsive as opposed to being reactive. And the reason so many districts can't entertain the idea of a two-year agreement is because of the instability um and that instability of waiting to see what is the state going to do because everything we're giving this year hinges on that. It doesn't mean we'll ever be entirely separate from that. But uh Miss Frick has really helped us with this idea of consistency and having an

110established fund balance and seeing over one, two or three years how enrollment may change, how we want to have competitive um compensation as the uh priority right alongside access and programming for students. Being able to see that uh in the way that this expectation of remaining between 12 and 20% would allow us more ability that without this guideline we're just kind of in an imprecise place. And so I didn't say that very well but that's a superintendent perspective. You can add the finance. >> Sure. Um, and I just wanted to add what brought us to this point was with the Ganon case after that we now have an idea of what our funding is going to be. Granted, things can change every year. Um, but for that was the first time in quite a long

111time that we actually have something to plan on. Um, and so we do multi-year projections. Um the point of having the cash balances like you all said is to um allow us the financial stability to not have to um live yeartoyear because when we give raises, when we commit to health insurance increases, we can't take that back the next year when we're low on money. Um, and so I've been preaching for the last few years, um, with the board um, asking us in 2022 to get financially stable. Let's build up some cash balances so we do have something to rely on. Um, that we could get off the roller coaster is how I referred to it. um by by being more financially uh stable, we are in a position that we can talk about um

112two-year raises. Um it really is just a matter of planning ahead and being able to commit to um the streamlining and efficiencies. You know, that's not to say everything is going to go well or in our favor. What it does mean is we have um the financial stability to be able to make life a little bit more consistent for the employee. It doesn't mean that we're not stressed out and we're not dealing with the cuts as they come. Um but we have some room um to ride the es and flows of state funding a little better >> in setting the priority of compensation. >> Yeah. >> And programming and then working back from that >> instead of uh the roller coaster which we've all been on. So um I'm really excited about this policy. Yeah,

113I think it brings clarity uh where we had not clarity. Yeah. Doesn't solve all our financial wos, but um but it brings us to a better clearer place. I think if you I think if you look at it from a standpoint of if you just kind of look at it as a you know if you have a spreadsheet and you're making up your budget and you have boxes the the more of those boxes you can fill in in a projection the more comfortable you are going out multiple years. And this just allows us to to fill in more of those boxes to be more comfortable going out multiple years as Cindy said just to to better ride those es and flows because I Kelly and I um as she said and and the board I

114don't want to just say the the board we've we've we've that has been a goal of ours um to do a multi-year because we've we've heard from the union we've heard the feedback this this um this this this this feeling, this impression of we we do all this work and then wages are kind of what we do as an afterthought because we're waiting to see what the state gives us. And and and and they're entirely right in in terms of of how it of how it plays out, how it looks, how it feels, and in some cases how it's been done. And so this this kind of allows us to start to do it differently, to work better with our union partners, to work collaborative collaborator words are hard um to work with our union

115>> partners on this two-year contract to to to to ride that wave and to and to to make those commitments upfront with them. and then and then and then start with compensation, start with the programming and then go backwards from there. Okay. Um I I see this uh a little bit um about also just having the conversation at the board table ex expectation setting for ourselves, right? We did we did some of this work when we adopted our board procedures manual, right? Um instead of instead of staff trying to divine what our intentions are or guess at them, we've we've said very clearly this is this is the expectation that we've all agreed upon. Um and then if we want to change that, we have to take affirmative steps. Yeah. >> And have a conversation

116to do that. I think it just makes it makes the work that then our staff does on a more they feel like it's on a more solid ground because the board has spoken on this particular subject. Um I had a a kind of a procedural question for you and Dr. Swift. So this um this agenda item um does it's under new business. It does not have a motion to approve the first read. And I assumed that was because uh it was possible that you you wanted to read the reactions from the board and see if there was support for this. Um uh I would just ask if you feel like the board is supportive. Um would you like a motion to approve this for first read so that we could app do final approval next

117month? >> I'm assuming you have one written. I do, but I but I want to make sure that there's not any any dissenting voices or additional questions or more work people would like to do on the language of the policy before we take that step. >> No, I think we're good. >> Okay. All right. Um then are you ready for the motion? >> Yeah. >> Okay. Um I move the board of education approve board policy DD fund balance on first reading. >> Second. >> Kimble. >> Yes. >> Jones. Yes, >> Blackwood. >> Yes, >> Lancaster. >> Yes, >> Franklin. >> Yes, >> Gordon Ross. >> Yes, >> Buyers. >> Yes. >> Motion passes 70. >> We'll now move on to item 5.1 report. And we'll invite uh LEA President Emerson Havzales and LEA Advocacy Chair

118Dr. Tom Barker [snorts] to the podium. with the mic, >> the microphones. >> Hey, first of [clears throat] all, I just want to say thank you to President Gordon Ross for allowing us this opportunity to to speak to you um about LA advocacy, our legislative agendas, and and what we're trying to do. Um but first of all, and I really like to go back to to Dr. Swift's kind of opening remarks in talking about the school board because something that I think that we take for granted is how unique our education system is throughout the world in that we elect our school board. The only other country I could think of off the top of my head is Canada. Many education systems throughout the world are centralized or they operate under a merit system. Australia

119is very centralized. Um I live several I lived sometime in in Japan. I could tell you uh their school board is appointed by the governor or mayor. Um, and one of the great things that we have is that we elect you based on the values and what you share and how you envision utilizing those as part of our education system. And I think that's really really important to go back and and think about is how you're taking our local community values that you're elected by the public and then putting those into practice within our education system. And that's so so important. That's what makes us so unique to all the other education systems throughout the world. So, I'm I'm very grateful to for reminding me of that. Um, last year, uh, NEA President uh, Pringle

120uh, mentioned this book. It's small. When I first got I thought I was thinking like, did I get something that was shrunk or or what? But, uh, it's a book that she recommended us to read. And it's a book. It's called On Tyranny, uh, 20 Lessons from the 20th Century by by Timothy Snyder. And I I read this I read this over the summer. It's a quick read and I I highly recommend uh getting a copy um either from the Raven bookstore or even ordering it online. Um Timothy Snider is a professor at Yale University in history. He mostly focuses on the Second World War, the history of the Holocaust, but also uh the rise and fall of um totalitarian regimes. And there's really something really quick uh before I moved on that I I

121want to share. This is in his second chapter. And if you're like me, sometimes you you probably wake up or you look at your your social media or I'm a big PBS NewsHour person and watch that and you wonder what is going on, right? Um when is the Onion going to go out of business? Um that's where we're at. And so I just like to read this because I think it really fits in tone with this. He says it is institutions that help us to preserve decency. Notice he says decency not democracy. They need our help as well. Do not speak of our institutions unless you make them yours by acting on their behalf. Institutions do not protect themselves. they fall one after the other unless each is defended from the beginning. So choose an

122institution you care about and take its side. So again, I just want to thank you for taking education as your institution that you're willing to defend and take those things to to put into place. um kind of to move on. Um I attended the chamber legislative breakfast uh with several of you. I heard uh from Kelly um your legislative priorities. I look forward to hearing from her next year um those same priorities. Um and the thing is is that one of the things is so many of your priorities are our priorities as well. And so I'm going to have um this is the the K&A legislative priorities which are exactly what we have. I'm going to have uh Emerson just hand one of these to you. Um a couple weeks ago I met with our

123local legislators um and I'm touching base with some of those that weren't able to make it. And one of the things I always try to make clear to them is whenever we talk about policy or whenever we talk about education or really anything there's really two competing values that we have. One is efficiency and one is being effective. And a lot of the times we think that those policies um are the same or we think that their meanings are the same and in reality they're not. I can be efficient in education by increasing our class sizes but we know that by doing that it makes us less effective. And at the same time, by lowering our class sizes, we know that we're more effective, but we're less efficient. Because the two biggest things that we

124have in education that are constant is time. I'm sorry, but we're not I'm not going to get any more time with these kids or we're not going to get any more time. We're on a deadline. We're on a crunch. Um and the other one is unfortunately money, right? Um, and those are two things that are really almost competing and at odds. Um, our message to our our legislator is first of all, it's the same as you, is sped funding. Um, I don't know the exact number for our district now, but I I believe that Kelly was right. We're about 14 million. I know Standup Blue Valley just posted theirs and they're at 18 million. I can only imagine what other districts are at. And based on the report that I believe that we had last

125schoolboard meeting, even though our pop student population has declined, the number of students who receive special education services is on the rise. >> That's right. >> Um, in meeting with legislators two weeks ago, I was trying to think of what is something that we want to share with them, something that is kind of hidden from education that is really important to me. And that was talking about our specialized classrooms. For the last 13 years, I've had the privilege and I consider it a privilege to be have my classroom next to our specialized classrooms. So, those in autism, those in functional, those in our BDED rooms and I very grateful to have those as stu people as students um and talk about those programs with them because that's something that when they think of a special

126ed student, they don't think of. But at the same time um I believe that we have a moral, a legal and philosophical obligation to those students and those students um to educate them and to work with them um costs different than what a regular or different uh student might cost and that's something they don't consider. The other thing I shared with legislators is the different um options or what school choice looks like in our state. Um it's very different than if we were to go to Arizona or it would be very different if we went to other states. Um we do we our state has nine charter schools. Um we don't have uh ESAs or or vouchers here. We do have some other things um low-inccome low income uh scholarship opportunities. But as we looked

127at one of the things is as I showed them admission policies for some of these schools. Um one I I I don't mind calling out but Flint Hills Christian School um if we look at their admission guidelines not only does a student have to take a test to be admitted. Not only do they need to submit test scores, not only do they need to go ahead and submit uh behavior reports and all these things, but one of the things that really just breaks my heart is a portion where it says having students who show promise. Every single one of our public school students has promise. Um, something that I don't like to share that I become more uh comfortable sharing um as I become an adult that's kind of uh something I wasn't really proud

128to talk about is um when I moved into second grade and we moved I was moved back to first. And so that was kind of a stigma that happened. And then obviously because of some choices that I made as a freshman and then into my sophomore year I had to do a fifth year of high school to graduate. Um, I was already almost 19 when I graduated. And I think if my teachers were to look at the person then to where I am now, did I show promise? And so I hope that as we we move forward, we realize that our our things align. Um, and we're there because we care about our kids every single day. We go in there and we do what's best for kids. Even if it is saying, "Okay, I

129will go ahead and start a esports club." Okay, twisted my arm for that. We look forward to it. It's going to be a real hoot. Um, a couple things that I would make as as my my big ask to you. U, my big ask uh for you as a board. Um, Shannon's already noted this. Our first testimony was due today at 1000 a.m. The water hose is on. We have so many things going on but my first ask to you would be um to please within your own individual capacities or even as you've talked earlier uh submitting um through GR submitting testimony to our um legislators. Please do that. And that's just not something for the board but for all all of our administrators and individuals. Um last year legislative session um our members submitted

130at least 15 pieces of written testimony. Um and then I know Emerson and a couple other people provide oral testimony. Our goal this year is to have 25. And so this Saturday we are hosting a we are hosting a workshop on how to submit written testimony. That is just something that we need to do. I submitted my first written testimony about two years ago. I emailed two people for help that I knew that could help me. One was Shannon and one was our government relations person Tim Graham and they helped me through that process and now that they helped me through it I can go through and do that my myself. That would be the first act. The second act or ask that I would say is not necessarily something with this legislative session but

131something that we really really really need to be mindful that happens in August and that's the vote for the constitutional amendment that really the whole point of that is really twofold and one of them is school funding. If we had that policy in place 20 years ago, we would have not have had the Montoy or the Ganon case. And so my ask part of that is the there is a coalition. It's the judicial Oh my gosh, I always mess this up. Judicial independence coalition. Um I think KSB is is in that coalition. Game on for Kansas schools, but there are some other school districts that are involved with that. uh Kansas City, Kansas school districts, THAA, Shauny Mission, Topeka. And so I would ask that maybe we look at being part of that coalition because

132that is going to have um not just a huge impact in funding in 2027, 2028, but it's going to have an impact of funding in 2036, 2046, 206, and so on. and we would be the first state that would actually step back from moving to what I think is a very bipartisan fair process um to something that I don't think is fair. Um one other thing that I I forgot to mention that is in our legislative priorities that um Kelly didn't mention I haven't seen in yours and I think there's huge bipartisan support for that is capers three moving us out of capers 3. I think that's huge. I think that's a huge and be a great benefit to all of our members, especially to our members who are starting off their career. Um, I'm

133not in capers three, I'm in capers two, but the benefits and the differences between them are are so vastly different. And so that's all that I would like to to share with you. Um, we do have uh if you do want to learn about submitting and written testimony, um, more happy to to contact me and we're having that Saturday. Um but if you have any questions, comments, concerns, baseless praise, um please please uh let me know. See, we Yolanda >> Saturday at what time? >> Yeah, so it'll be Saturday at 10 a.m. at the union hall where Broken Arrow is. Um and so we'll be there. We're hoping to go about an hour, hour and a half and we're just going to talk about that process, give you examples, uh talk about my experience and

134what it is because I think a lot of people um and I I'll say the biggest part is is knowing when testimony is due for what and how quick the turnaround is. I I remember last last year the agenda dropped like Thursday at like 5:00 p.m. and it was like holy heck like testimony has to be submitted by Friday at noon. It's like, how could I get myself and a bunch of other people? It's really quick to submit it. That's really the chaotic part. But once I think you you've done it once or twice, it just becomes uh so much easier and how to do that. >> Um, go ahead. >> I was just going to say I can also email the flyer to you all so that you have it readily accessible. >> Please.

135>> And I promise we'll put it into our FMX. Larry, I'll do that. Um, in terms of unsolicited praise, it's not really praise, but I'll tell you one of my favorite Dr. Barker stories. Um, he has had, uh, I can't even tell you how many of my kids he's had in class, but he's had a few of them. And one of my favorite all-time Dr. Barker stories, was when one of my children, cuz all of them do, was misbehaving, and he threatened to call me um, in the middle of class when they were misbehaving, and they called his bluff. And so he pulled up me as a contact in his phone and said, "No, really, I'll call your dad right now." And it had the desired effect because he didn't actually believe that we knew

136each other. [laughter] >> Education. >> Yes. And and one other thing too is I think I always feel bad whenever I talk to our our legislators um especially our house members. I'm always feel like I'm bringing doom and gloom and I'm like, "Let's talk about the great things." I think having a toddler um has really made me think more this time around, not so much with the first child, but this second child, think more about um prek education. >> And I've been thinking a lot about the difference between like a daycare where they're just babysat and like actually going some stuff where they're getting development education. And I was just sitting there thinking like how nice would it be if like every single one of our students who wanted prek education like had the funding

137to do that. Like what would that mean in terms of development and and getting that like just something like small like what would that mean? Um why can't we get people unified about that? We can sure get them unified about the cell phone ban. Um, which is another thing because logistically, um, my seventh graders are like obsessed with this. Like we, um, I showed them Shannon's video of of our KSB video last Friday. We've been talking about we're thinking of I'm thinking of like doing an activity on it, but um, they have so many good questions like logistically, how is this going to happen? Like they're doing the math in their head and and they're figuring this out and they're like, "Wait, so would you teachers have to be outside 20 minutes before school to

138collect these?" And it's like, does that mean teachers have to be outside? And like, how do you prolong the bus? And they're like, so do we just throw it in like a Manila envelope? Like, is there a tub? Um, they're like, why can't we just put it in a yonder bag and just put it in our backpack? Or they're like, you know, wait, does that mean like we can't use Gmail anymore or Google Classroom? They're like, they're really thinking about this and it's been kind of actually awesome to see how engaged they are. kind of wish we weren't having uh the testimony until like two or three weeks because if we were I would I would make them write testimony >> um and do this. Um >> well, if this if this goes well and

139it uh they'll have an opportunity to do it when when they um um bills move to the other house. So that might be still be something that you'll get a chance to do. >> Yeah. So I think there's a lot of things going on, but the thing is too is um we're in this together. we have the same values and um I'm let me know if I could help you with anything and and vice versa. So, thank you so much for your time. >> Dr. Dr. Barker and um Emerson, I just want to thank you for coming in and meeting with us and um I know the last time that we came in, you had we you had some strong feelings about um our advocacy efforts and I I can assure you that we are

140doing the best that we can and I do have testimony pre-written and ready to go and I've um met with educ the members from the education committee to please ask them to let me know when and where we need to show up and so as a matter is And that again I think it's intentional that the turnaround is so quick and also I know with redistricting I met with my representative my new representative and she I will just call her out Carrie Bars. She was unaware that I'm in her district and I had to pull up a map and I pulled her out of committee and said look this is my house and I'm in your district and this is what we you know we we just gave her a quick update on USD497. So,

141it's those kinds of things where we, you know, we may have a new representative in our area. >> And I think that's the thing, too, is I've learned is that we have the core city of Lawrence where we have people in there, but so much of our district has been like where you're at, cut off, we have Lance Neely that takes this part or Ron Ellis who takes that part. Um, one of the things I I was thinking about is as a quote from Shirley Chisum when she first ran for um, Congress is she said, you know, if there's not a chair at the table for you, like bring your own chair, like to paraphrase it. >> And one of the things I've been thinking about is how do I bring my chair to that

142table to be able to have that discussions? Because one of the things that um and maybe I'm only seeing one side, but SB302, the two senators that represent our district were were, you know, co-signers to this. And I know that they didn't talk to LEA or us or anybody or cons any of that before they signed on. And I know in discussing it with them, they're like, wait, like that's kind of not what I signed up for. And it's like, but this is the intentions of of your choices. So, so >> thank you so much. >> I have a question for leadership. The um we did during the legislative session because I do think I'm hearing an interest in wanting to continue to have conversations about how the legislation is progressing and then also perhaps

143some opportunity to check in um either here at the table or to have some procedural way in which we're communicating about the work you're doing or the asks that you have that might go to GR and to Nikki and to us. So, that's one area, but we also had an agenda item um for legislative updates. >> Uh is that maybe something if you and Bob would consider potentially adding that back to the agenda, I would appreciate it. Thank you. >> I just want to say thanks for the work that you all are doing. Um uh elevating the successes that are happening in your classrooms every single day is a really crucial piece of this advocacy to the point that you know um making sure that the people that we're talking with understand that we are

144succeeding in so many ways um is really important. So just um keep doing the great work and thank you. >> And one other thing I almost forgot is um last year uh during spring break on St. Patrick's Day we had uh lucky for Kansas public schools. It was a great rally. Um um I'm I'm going to kind of put Emerson, but it was Emerson kind of started and we kind of like ballooned like we started here in Lawrence and before we knew it we had tha and it was a really grassroots movement and there was a lot of people there a lot of support and then we are planning to do it this year. So the date save the date is March 17th um at the cap. It'll be another lucky for for Kansas public

145schools. Um, uh, KA has really taken the reigns of that and we hope that it's going to be amazing and working with our our coalition partners to really get people out and and do that because it's a great way to celebrate how lucky we are to have public Kansas public schools. Um, so hopefully you guys could attend and put that down. >> Thank you. And then um one other thing I didn't want to lose that I just saw as I was writing down March 17th. Uh the Judicial Independence Coalition isn't on our um that's not something we've agreed on as a collective, but I'm interested in it. And I would also like some additional information and some consideration for collaborating. Matt. >> Yeah. I just want to say like Shannon said, um, and as a

146former LEA member myself, thank you guys for for everything that you do and specifically for, um, it sounds simple, but this playbyplay of you need to submit testimony by this point. You need to talk to these people. I think like Carol said, so much of it is lost intentionally, and there's so much to do all the time. um and your efforts in in bringing that to to folks, you know, to be able to take action in whatever form they can is, I think, one of the most important things. So, I just very much personally appreciate the reminder and the guidelines. >> Okay. Thank you both. >> Thank you. >> All right, Dr. Swift, any announcements? >> I believe we're good. Thank you. Okay. Can I get a motion to adjurnn? >> I move we adjourn.

147>> Second. >> All those in favor? >> I. Any opposed? All right, we'rejourned. Thanks everybody. I don't know if you can, but