001start again. >> Okay. Can we can we call the meeting to order? Uh I need approval for the agenda. >> I move we approve the agenda for the October 27th, 2025 meeting of the board of education. >> Need a second. >> Second. >> All in fa wrong board. [laughter] Buyers, >> yes. >> Could you Blackwood? >> Yes. >> Jones, >> yes. >> Kimble, >> yes. >> Motion passes 5-0. >> Uh, need a motion uh for a recess to executive session. >> Uh, this is Carol. I move to recess the executive decision for the purposes of discussing personal matters of non-elected personnel in order to protect the privacy interests of the individuals to be discussed with Dr. Janice Kerr Swift, superintendent. Dr. Larry Ingleick, Deputy Superintendent Samry Devon, acting assistant superintendent, human resources and counsel. David
002Cunningham, invited to be present with the board to return to open session in this room at 6:33 with no action to follow. Need a second? >> A second. >> Could do Blackwood? >> Yes. >> Franklin? >> Yes. >> Jones? >> Yes. >> Kimble? >> Yes. >> Buyers? >> Yes. >> Motion passes 5-0. Okay. Okay, we're back from executive session. And actually, we're going to need a motion to return to executive session. >> Um, I can make the motion. I move to recess to executive session for the purposes of discussing personnel matters of non-elected personnel in order to protect the privacy interest of the individuals to be discussed with Dr. Janice Kersswift, superintendent, Dr. Larry Engel, deputy superintendent, Samry Devon, acting assistant superintendent of human resources, and council David Cunningham, invited to be present with the
003board to return to open session in this room at 6:48 with no action to follow. >> Need a second. >> A second, >> Franklin. Yes. >> Jones. >> Kimble. >> Yes. >> Buyers. >> Yes. >> Could do Blackwood. >> Yes. Motion passes 4 Yeah. How you going? Okay, we're back from executive session. Uh, can I get a motion for the next executive session? I moved to recess to executive session for the purposes of discussing potential litigation with our legal counsel pursuant to the exception for matters which would be deemed privileged in the attorney client privilege under coma with Dr. Janice Kersswift superintendent Dr. Larry Inglebrick deputy superintendent and council Greg Gohane invited to be present and with the board to return to open session in this room at uh 7:20 with no action to follow.
004>> Need a second. >> Second >> Franklin. Yes. >> Jones. >> Yes. >> Kimble. >> Yes. >> Buyers. >> Yes. >> Could you Blackwood? >> Yes. 5 Yeah. Okay, we're back from executive session. Okay. Where are we at? >> Okay. Um, report of the superintendent of schools. >> Thank you, member buyers and members of the board and all all who are joining us in person and remotely. Uh we are uh ending nearing the end of October uh with the end of the month coming up this week and we're so grateful to our students, teachers, support staff and leaders as well as our families in the Lawrence community are working together to ensure a strong second quarter to the school year. Uh speaking of the second quarter, we had great turnout uh for our parent teacher
005conferences. Uh you can see here the overall attendance rate, participation rate uh for elementary schools was above 95% of parents uh participating. Congratul congratulations to our elementary uh teams and in achieving that goal. That's about a point4 increase from last fall. And a few highlights, Deerfield uh at 96%. Uh Langston Hughes held an impressive general ed and 83 specialled conferences totaling 651 successful family meetings in just two days. very proud of New York with multiple classrooms at New York achieving 100% participation and uh Prairie Park also hosted a book fair and specialistled family engagement nights that were very well attended and a shout out at Quail Run. Uh their art teacher, Mr. Von Holton personally met with 46 families offering a creative inclusive value ad uh two for the price of one parent teacher conference
006over there and then very proud of Woodlon with a 4% increase. They achieved 97% just a great reflection of family engagement and strong communication between home and school. I have the great opportunity to join approximately 150 uh students and their families uh at the uh fall 2025 college and career night last Thursday evening. It was offered out at the lead center of Kansas and we're just gra so grateful to all of the 50 colleges, universities. I love that Peasley was there. Uh we had students not only from our own district but also students participating from uh Veritoss, Overland, Piper High School, Seaman High School, and we even had I was delighted to get to high-five a few of them, five middle schoolers attending uh from West and Middle Billy Mills. Uh very proud of the
007collaborative effort and many thanks to Pont, Dr. Amaya and the entire team uh for this excellent work. Um really another great highlight of this past week has been our human resources effort. The team has been busy with fall recruitment as we continue our work to attract talent. We are of course always working to fill in vacancies that occur as we go and then also planning ahead for 2026 27. Um last Thursday night this space right here was completely transformed. You would not have recognized it and it was a recruitment cafe. And during the course of the evening, uh, we were able to visit with 15 applicants who wanted to become more, uh, familiar, uh, with Lawrence Public Schools. Uh, we conducted on-site interviews for opportunities and actually resulted in a number of job offers for
008the attendees. Members, I think I sent you a note. There were math teachers in the mix and we were delighted with all of the teachers we met uh but especially excited about math. I was very um impressed with all many of our own team members who handwrote these notes and you have examples at your place this evening. um our own team responding to the question, why choose LPS? And I loved um I loved all of the answers. There were hundreds of those that we gave away as bookmarks. And the one at my desk this evening says, "Because the kids will put a smile on your face every day." That's a great reason for choosing Lawrence Public Schools. I appreciate the li leadership of Samry Devon and the entire HR team. Uh they were here in
009mass last Thursday evening and we will continue to host these kinds of events as we work uh to staff talent uh increase the level of talent in our district. Uh members, we were able with members of our team to get out to Centennial uh campus uh adjacent to Lawrence High School uh last week. And I just wanted you to see a few of the photos. Just really layers of history reflected in the walls. A beautiful uh red brick interior uh space. And then also um what the architect describes as good bones in this 1950 something campus. We are so excited to envision this place as a nontraditional, flexible, personalized learning environment really designed around students who need something a little different from the traditional comprehensive high school. We're proud of our high school programs uh
010and also proud that we'll be able to differentiate and extend the legacy of Centennial Elementary into a Centennial Choice campus. Just always want to share the data uh with you all on our communications effort. And this particular slide is really about uh since August 1st of this year, the data to our usd497.org website, a total of 85,000 active users with more than 250,000 page views. So, uh, Google Analytics provides our team with ways to look at this data. As you know, members, we continue to try to update all of the 3,000 pages of our website. So, we always appreciate when folks write us with things that need updating because that's an ongoing process. But you could see uh here the um real time traffic over a specified duration of time. And you can see that
011our website is robust with views continuing um all the time. We are sending out a communitywide invitation as you know members for the AI and evolving technologies advisory group. Uh this is a group that the board called for uh a year ago, a little over a year ago, and it will mirror several priorities and themes in the district, including student achievement, safety, and well-being, and ensuring a quality staff. Uh we've included a link to the application in your uh board member update uh this evening, but I also want to be sure uh that everyone knows that will be coming to every inbox in the district and it'll be posted on our website and going out to all parents and families. So, we're really excited to accept those applications between October 28th and mid November and
012getting our first meetings schedule uh before the end of this calendar year. Uh another highlight uh coming up is our AVID financial literacy night. Uh Kansas State Treasurer Steve Johnson will visit Lawrence Public Schools to present a financial literacy and college savings session for USD 497 middle school AVID students and their parents and families. This event is next Tuesday, election day, uh November 4th, from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. in the West Middle School Library. The presentation will highlight practical strategies for saving for college and building financial literacy at an early age. As a part of the evening, there will be a $100 scholarship drawing for one student from each middle school in attendance. So, if you're available, that would be a great night to get over to West. Uh this is a collaborative learning opportunity
013to really reinforce our commitment to removing those barriers and college and career readiness through the AVID program. It is that time of year we always look forward to seeing the creativity and dedication that define our performing arts programs across Lawrence public schools both uh at our high schools and our middle schools. Lawrence High has uh coming up the uh the production Trap and that show runs October 29th and 30th and November 1st at 700 p.m. in the Lawrence High School auditorium. And then at Free State, uh the uh production is the Adams Family School edition, and that will be November 6 through 8 at 700 p.m. at Free State High School. We uh were so pleased to see last Friday our high school uh spirit squads and football players uh from both of our comprehensive
014high schools were out at middle schooler out to see middle schoolers who were arriving Friday morning uh to their schools just really building some excitement a little bit ahead of the 2025 cross town showdown. It was a great honor for me to be out on Friday evening and I was just so impressed uh with a great crowd even in the cool rainy weather and got to hang out with the mascots and I got some great uh video of our students and student sections, lots of enthusiasm. Uh we are so delighted uh with our fall sports uh members. I'm not going to read uh Mr. Potter's created for you updates on all of the sports. Uh you can see them here on girls golf, girls tennis, gymnastics, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys soccer,
015football, and unified bowling. I just want to congratulate all of our fall sports athletes. It takes extra commitment, dedication, and hard work to turn in that performance as an athlete, particularly in a 6A Kansas State High School athletics and activities district. It's a lot going on. Congratulations, athletes. We are proud of your hard work and accomplishments this season. And many thanks to our coaches, assistant coaches, parents, and volunteers who put in so many hours to ensure these opportunities for students. I want to just touch on a couple of activities coming up. Uh the Taste of Lawrence community event is coming around next Thursday. It's a little bit different, so heads up. This event has been changed. It is out at the Douglas County Fairgrounds from 4 to 7 pm. So, it's more of an outdoor
016event. I appreciate that Jake Potter has us signed up as uh to have our own booth. Uh and then several of us will also be actively milling about in the crowd which is so much fun. Uh we will use this as an event to soft launch our community engagement November, December, January, February. We'll be out in the community, seeing what our community, what our folks think, how they feel about their experience this year, what's going well, what needs our attention, and where are our priorities. Um, I'd like to publicly thank the chamber for offering a discount for our employees so that our uh teachers and teams can be out there uh tasting uh the great tastes of Lawrence. And speaking of food, uh we have all had heavy on our minds uh this uh transition
017that uh is upon us and that is a concern about those who may be in need across our community as the federal shutdown continues. Uh members, I didn't have time today to get you the number. Uh but this uh concern includes our 1149 students in the district who for them and the families they represent may have delayed or missed SNAP food assistance this month as well as many others in our community who may not be on that program but are otherwise impacted. So, I appreciate that. Tomorrow, member members of our team, and I would love to get over there. I'm not sure I'm going to be able to, but there will be a delegation from our team at the Lawrence Public Library tomorrow morning. Um, and this is a meeting that's been called rather hastily
018to discuss the overall response in our community food pantry system to align the work across our organizations. um as well as um uh many other organizations in our community. So, we will be updating you members and the members of our of our team as to what we learn tomorrow uh as to how we're going to coordinate. I believe it's safe and fair uh to state uh that there will be a preview of coming opportunities. We're engaging with our high school students. Their organizations were already on various efforts. So, we're taking just a couple of days to try to align this effort so that we can be more powerful and more engaged and more connected in leveraging this moment of concern and mobilizing support across uh through our schools in coordination with our student groups, our
019community partners and agencies. I promise you together we will join together and meet this moment of concern for our children, our families, and everyone in Lawrence public schools and across our wider Lawrence community. So stay tuned. Um our communications team will be updating through this week as we're able to confirm how best to coordinate the effort. I'm hearing widely in the community. So, I know already that our community will mobilize to support our children, our families, and everyone. We know quality public schools are a hallmark of engaged, caring communities. We're proud to be a part of this Lawrence community. I thank you for the opportunity to share this superintendent report and for the honor of sharing and serving in the Lawrence public schools. Thank you. >> Okay. For the uh pardon [clears throat] me for
020the president of the board of education's report, I really don't have one. However, I will applaud the community effort around securing food pantries. I love that the district is approaching it from a more community centered approach uh where we are are uh branching out and helping the community as a whole. And now we will move on to uh to board committee reports. >> Okay. Hi. Uh this is Carol. I I don't have a report, but I just want to remind folks that the Billy Mills Middle School site council meeting will have will meet November Tuesday, no November 4th at 6 PM in the library, and that's also election day. So, I won't be in attendance as my site council, but I won't be there because I'm serving as an election judge. And let's see, that's
021all I have for now. >> Okay. >> Thank you, >> India. Thank go ahead. The policy committee met and our report is later in the agenda. >> Okay. Shannon >> don't have a committee report. >> Okay. Okay. As we move as we um prepare to move on to board commentary and then the consent agenda. This this evening. We wanted to ensure the community is aware of an update to to our consent action this evening and I will share a statement from member Costello about about the following. It is with sincere regret that I submit my resignation from my position as a member of the Lawrence Public School Board of Education effective immediately. The decision was not made lightly due to personal circumstances. I find it necessary to step down at this time. Serving on the
022board has been an honor and a privilege and I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to continue to be the important work of supporting our students, staff, and community. I am proud of the progress we have made together to strengthen our schools and advance the district's mission. The dedication and collaboration demonstrated by the board, our administrators, teachers, and staff are a true reflection of our community's commitment to education. Please know that my decision comes with the utmost respect for the work that continues ahead. I remain a strong supporter of the district and confident in the board's continued leadership and focus on student success. Thank you for your understanding and for the opportunity to serve with respect and gratitude in Castello. As a next step uh this evening, the board of education will vote vote on
023a motion to accept the resignation of board member Castello and approve publishing the notice of the board's vacancy. It is the intention of the board to confirm and share a timeline next step in these selection processes at our next board meeting on November 10th. And now we will move on to board commentary. >> Go ahead. >> All right. Um, thank you. Um, first of all, um, I just want to say, um, I want to thank an Castello for her service on the board. Um, I have really appreciated working with an uh, with her willingness to serve um, our schools, our students, our community. she dove into this work and she put all of herself into it and I um she really brought her best to the board table and to the things that we worked
024on together. I will miss her very much as a board colleague, but I know um that she means it when she says she will continue to support our students and our schools and our community in other ways. And um Ann, if you are listening, um just thank you. Thank you very much for all that you've done. Um, okay. Um, I the I just had a couple of things to share. Uh, wanted to congratulate uh Bert Nash on a um really fantastic celebration um on Wednesday morning. I was really pleased to hear from their new interim CEO about their continuing work to support our our neighbors and friends in our community with mental health needs. um including that they are continuing to move forward with expanding their um their treatment and recovery type services for youth
025in the community. It is a it is a gap in what we provide in Lawrence for families who have um children who are in need of those services and I am I'm glad that they will be continuing that work. Um um their interim CEO also shared uh that just in the first two and a half months of school, their RAP workers have had two about 2,000 interactions with students in in the schools in Douglas County. That's not just Lawrence public schools, although we have I think more RAP workers than than the other Douglas County schools do. Uh but it just was a really first of all it's it's really amazing that they do that they provide that level of service and it and it's a statement about how how much the ongoing need exists and
026so I was pleased to um hear about their plans going forward. Um the college and career night um on Thursday Dr. Swift mentioned, I was able to attend that um uh with my daughter and it really was a great event and I'm thankful for all of the um universities, colleges, uh technical schools and programs that came and shared information. Um it was great to see such a wonderful turnout at that event this year. Um and then finally, I just wanted to make board members aware as I um have continued to follow state and federal policy developments. Um the latest thing that happened this week that I wanted to share is that there has been a proposal floated out to the media that um the federal administration may be looking at moving special education services out
027of the Department of Education and into the Department of Health and Human Services. Um that there are a lot of um concerns around that. Um there's been no detail provided as to what that would look like. it seems to contradict what statute says in terms of who would have responsibility for administering the programs that are uh mandated within IDA. Um so I just if you hadn't seen that headline I wanted to make sure that um that you were aware and that's all I have. Thank you. Uh, I wanted to um highlight uh my board colleague Yolanda Franklin's uh nonprofit, nothing unique. Her family and um community members gathered at Cordley uh this weekend on Saturday and um provided a table and treat for a lot of kids. I don't know how many, but it seemed
028like hundreds. Um, and I really, one of the things I really appreciate about your work is the way that you continue to connect with the community and to demonstrate to all of us the importance of that. So, thank you for that event. Uh, it was a lot of joy. I appreciate it. [snorts] Um, and then I wanted to take a moment to also extend my gratitude to our uh, board colleague Anne Castello and in particular highlight some things that she did on the board here. um she really we we are a board that's very proud of the Lawrence Schools Foundation, but Ann represented the work that they do in a in a unique way um that allowed us to all refocus on the importance of that that uh foundation. So I appreciate her efforts there.
029um I served with her on the policy committee and she was always prepared um provide a critical lens to the work that we were doing and it's nice to have a colleague for when you don't necessarily agree on a position you can find your way to a middle ground or respectfully disagree and I found that in her as uh in her in her leadership uh an spent a lot of her time traveling around the state of Kansas to different school districts and coming back and sharing what she had learned at those districts. with all of us and I really appreciated the opportunity to serve with her and I will um uh certainly miss working with her. >> Okay, Carol. >> Oh, yes. Hi. Um thank you. Um, I just like I would like to thank
030u my former board colleague Ann Costello for her countless hours of service and um I will miss her in-depth board reports and I wish her well and I know that we will not see the last of her. I'm sure she will come in and contribute to our school board meet our meetings and um let's see I would like to thank Dr. Swift for reminding folks that um there is a lot of need out there for locating food and not only are the families impacted that receive SNAP benefits but also our federal workers. There are 30ome thousand in the state of Kansas who did not receive their first paychecks last week and unfortunately my husband is one of them. And so for people who are not familiar with locating food, you can go to harvesters.org or
031and use the food lo locator tab to look for root for food or perhaps if you want to drop off food or if you want to volunteer that's again that's harvesters.org or if you are so inclined please um donate to the USD497 for free or reduced meals uh lunch account right now it is at $1,160. It's a little short of our goal, 60,000, but I have a lot of hope and faith in our good people of Lawrence to donate. And also last week, I attended my board clerk clerkmanship training and I found out that there are seven school districts in Douglas County. So, please um take a look at those maps and see which district you're in if you're unsure. >> Thank you. >> Okay. uh for for my committee meeting is I attended the
032site council uh for Lawrence High on 10:22 um had a interesting discussion. Uh Dr. Riley went over the new bathroom policy um and uh which was an interesting discussion. I think it alleviated some issues. Um they also talked about policies around excuse absences for athletics. Um talked over some achievement scores. Um and actually what uh our ending topic was about uh how to get more people to attend uh building site councils as they're they need to grow. Okay. So, we will move on to uh the consent agenda. I move the board of education adopt the items listed on the consent agenda. This is Carol. I second. Jones. >> Yes. >> Kimble? >> Yes. >> Buyers? >> Yes. >> Could you Blackwood? >> Yes. >> Franklin? >> Yes. Motion passes 5-0. >> Okay. >> So, next
033we um have uh legislative priorities. >> Can we get them? >> Sure. document. >> Okay, >> be just one minute. We'll pull that up. >> We can start. Okay. Um, while we're getting those pulled up on the screen, um, I'll just start. So, the policy committee uh reviewed a draft of the proposed legislative priorities at our policy meeting last week and are bringing this recommendation tonight to the board. Um first I just I just wanted to share uh for the benefit of those who um are watching uh why we do this as a board. Um so you know as an individual board member I have at times over the years submitted testimony on my personal behalf not on behalf of the board or on behalf of the district. Um and any of us can do
034that at any time but if if uh if Dr. Swift or board members, board officers or other board members want to present testimony or a do advocacy work with the legislature um around priorities that the that the district holds that the board holds. Um the board has to have given approval for the positions that are being taken on behalf of the board on behalf of the district. So uh when we started this process a number of years ago, it was really because what we found is that the speed at which things happen during the legislative session is so fast and it is a process that is oftentimes designed to ensure that you don't have time to respond to a piece of legislation or a proposal. You might have a hearing on a bill announced on
035Tuesday and the hearing is on Thursday and oh by the way the deadline for the testimony to be submitted is uh Wednesday at noon and given that we as a body only meet a couple times a month um it it meant that we were missing out on opportunities to share Lawrence public schools uh Lawrence Board of Education uh perspective on policy proposed policies or statutes that would very much impact what we do um for our students and our staff in our district. So we we started putting these together and they have um they have changed and grown over the years. Uh several years ago we aligned these policies with the the the tenants in our strategic plan. So, um, and then a couple years ago, we pulled out, uh, key priorities, uh, to highlight at
036the beginning of the document to say to our legislators, you know, there's a lot in this document that we care about, but here are here are some things that we really want you to pay attention to. And so, uh, the the draft that we have tonight is still set up in that format. And I'll let Kelly talk to those specifics. >> Um, I think we are not looking on the screen. We're not looking at the current U document. >> We're not >> um because we are at the 2026 legislative session. So those >> Oh, yeah. That's true. Yeah. Um so for my uh board colleagues, we um went through reviewed our legislative priorities from last year and updated them for this year. Unfortunately, there are still many that require um our attention and and continued
037commitment. Um this is our first uh read of these particular are we we oh if there are edits that's what we were going to do. So in terms of a process if there are suggestions or edits that you would like to see or anything that you have issue with we'll open it up for discussion if there's anything you want to make sure that we've added or anything that we can change. Um and again we continue to request for fully funded education uh increasing base state aid per pupil. uh rejecting proposals to spend public tax dollars on private education such as through a vouchers and then um beginning to look very seriously at academic freedom for our um educators but also valuing the um local control of our curriculum here at home. Um, we have also
038uh included a repeal and reject any discriminatory statutes and uh again our our continued request for approval of providing universal meals to all students. Um, I will say that last year as board president, I was able to take action on um I was able to submit testimony in support of um the the priorities we see here, including um those taking positions that were supportive of our trans students and staff. Um that were supportive of retaining public education dollars uh at the um public school level. and then um several other opportunities to have conversations with legislators so that I could represent our voice um and not my own uh which was really helpful to me. as we move into the next session. Um I know that Shannon and I have quite a bit of experience writing
039um testimony and we're willing to help in the from the policy committee help uh GR um in who I think has less experience doing so um getting uh testimony together that the board agrees on. So that's the function and then I'll just open it up to any questions you all might have or anything that you want to make sure that we consider >> Any concerns or >> Yeah. All right. >> Okay. Uh then we would just need a recommended action. Is it all right if I move to the motion? Okay. >> Um let's see. I move the board of education that approve the 2026 legislative priorities as outlined. >> Need a second. >> A second. >> Jones. >> Yes. >> Kimble. >> Yes. Buyers, >> yes. >> Could you Blackwood? >> Yes. Franklin? >> Yes.
040>> Motion passes 5-0. >> Okay. Okay. Why don't we take a quick five minute break? Are we ready, ladies? >> Yes, we are. Sorry. >> [laughter] >> Okay. So, uh we're back and let's go with um the update on community uh connections at picnic. >> Very good. Thank you, uh member buyers, members of the board, and um and all who are joining us remotely. uh as a part of our series of annual updates to the board uh we bring uh during late October we're privileged to bring a report on community connections at Pinkam. Um we're really uh have we've heard over this year and especially this fall about the the opening of the Pinkney Bakery. It's been a very exciting time uh for that great new program over at Pinkney. And yeah, this evening we're
041actually uh very excited to update, if you forgive the pun, on the bread and butter of the Pinkney uh connections, community connections at Pinkney campus. The historic Pinkney Elementary campus is now in its third year in extending a long legacy of serving students at Pinkney and in Lawrence public schools. The community connections program is focused on support for students with various disabilities including autism, cognitive, and social emotional disabilities. Students aged 18 through 21 who are eligible for continuing special education services are the students who are served at this location. So the critical mission at community connections at Pinkney uh as uh Geneva Comey reminds us tonight is to empower young adults through authentic work, learning, and community connection. We're really proud of this incredible program. It's a part of the continuum of services that we
042offer in Lawrence public schools to meet the needs of students. We're also so very proud of our community partners uh during the graduation in May when we sat alongside huge teams from LMH Health and the University of Kansas who were there for one reason and that was to celebrate their graduate who've been working with them on their team. When you see moments like that, you know that community connections at Pinkney is serving truly a critical mission in the Lawrence public schools. So, I'm delighted to have folks in the field join us this evening, uh, Miss Lorie Stithum, executive director of special education, and Jennifer Skoly, uh, principal, uh, community connections at Pinkney. So, they're here to share with us this evening. Okay, good evening members of the board and Dr. Swift. Um, thank you for
043providing us with an opportunity to report on um some of the meaningful services that are happening at community connections at Pinkme. Uh, a critical part of special education is helping to prepare students for a successful transition from student life to adult life. And so tonight, you'll hear some ways in which that's happening for some students. Um, our 18 to 21 transition services um provide young adults with disabilities um authentic and hands-on experiences to increase confidence, independence, and of course community connection. Um, these programs are led uh by Jenna Viscomi with tremendous care and commitment with her very capable team um in collaboration with students and families and of course community partners. Um and so when we think about what these young adults experience, they're learning meaningful skills to um increase independence in vocational skills, daily
044living, self-determination, self- advocacy, and beyond. And so with that, I will turn it over to Jenna so she can share how uh our transition services are preparing our students for life after the school setting. And I'm excited for you to hear um the great things happening across these programs and just how we're working to ensure um dignity and belonging for students as they leave Lawrence Public Schools and join our community. >> All right. Good evening everyone. Thank you for allowing me this time to speak about what is a true passion for me. I could speak for hours about community connections, but I won't. Um, I've been given 20 minutes, [laughter] so I'll I'll be brief. Um, just to tell you a little bit about myself. 31 years ago, I started as a paraprofessional at Quail
045Run Elementary School. I was right out of college and I did that for a year and then I became an autism specialist there for about 10 years and did that at Quail Run and then moved out of state for four years. um and quickly realized what have I done? I need to go back to Lawrence public schools and came back to Lawrence public schools and was a special education facilitator for 15 years and I've been at community connections now for four years. Um one year at East Heights and then three years at Pinkney Ning to just tell you a little bit about me. So about us and when we think about community connections we think about it as a whole. Not just Catran, not just Project Search, not just the bakery, but all of the
046programs that are involved there. We really are working to empower our young adults through authentic work l learning and community connection. And we also are the Pinkney Panthers. So who we are, we are uh the community transition program, which is our CRAM program. We are project search. We have a site at LMH and the University of Kansas. We have uh we house the secondary therapeutic programs. I have one high school classroom and one middle school classroom. We house the suspension alternative program, also known as SAP. We are the district clothing closet and shoe closet. We are now the community connections bakery and we are the future site of Empowering Brew, a district coffee shop. We're very excited about that. [laughter] We're going to talk a little bit about Sean. Uh first I'm going to highlight
047and then project surge. So CRAN or our community transition program serves students 18 to 21 with disabilities whose IEP team has determined that they need um a continuum of services for uh for their transition services beyond the graduation requirements. Um our focus is daily living skills, work experience, community- based instruction, and independent living. Our goal is to ensure that every student leaves with the skills, confidence, and a plan for post-secary success. We provide onampus work experiences for students that are not quite ready to leave campus. Um, and these are some of the um options that we have. We roll silverware for our cafeteria. Um, we have our chief germ operator who cleans doorork knobs and handles. Uh, we clean tables and chairs. We assist the custodian in various work around campus. I have an office
048assistant that helps me. Um, I have an office um, shredding um, gal who is can shred like the wind. I tell you, she is amazing at it. And then we also have a student that we have taught how to digitize photos and documents for us. >> [music] >> This is off-campus work experience. You can see one of our students working at Sunflower Provisions. [music] Um, in the video he is slicing cheese using their cheese slicer. [music] And this is another one of our students who cleans the spots that you sit at right now as part of a vocational experience with the custodian here at the ESC. We also do snack setup and delivery at Kennedy Early Childhood Center. Um, we have custod we do custodial assistance at Free State High School, Sunset Hill and the
049ESC. We have a lunch assistant at Cordley that helps open milk and bananas. Um, a library assistant at Cordley at Sunset Hill, a kitchen assistant at Sunflower Provisions, and then we do stocking and facing at Checkers and Dillons. And that's just um this semester that we've got students placed in those. We have a wide variety of um off-campus work experiences. Leisure skills have to be taught and we need a way to um to provide downtime to students that's meaningful. And so we have clubs twice a week and these are some of the clubs that we um we provide. We provide photography club. We had um last year at the end of the year we were invited to Luchia to have a final Friday exhibit for the entire month of May that the community was able
050to come in and see the student photography and purchase it if they uh so choose. Our cooking club is very exciting. We do all sorts of um work in our new apartments with stoves, microwaves, um George Foreman grills, etc. We have Creators Corner where we're teaching kids how to sew um hand sew as well as sew on um sewing machines as well as make their own logos um using graphic um different graphic software and our um our sublimation printers which as you can see in front of you each one of you has um a cup. That logo was made by students. Yes. And then um was put on by the students using our sublimation printer. Is it going? Yeah. Oh, we also just quickly we also have Warhammer Club, Healthy Relationships Club, and Pottery Club.
051I just so happened to employ or to hire a job coach who's also a potter. So, we got uh two for one with that one. She's able to run the kil and the kids uh the students love pottery club. Sorry. Sorry. This thing has a mind of its own here. Can you just click one? There we go. Okay. That would be great. Okay. We uh it's important for us uh to volunteer in in the community. Our students receive so much from the community that that for me I decided we really needed to provide some opportunities to give back to the community that we received from. So, we've done things such as Salvation um Army bell ringing. We have had two coat drives over the last couple of weeks where we have given out over 75
052coats to members of the community including gloves, hats, and pairs of socks. We do trees and rees for festival of trees to help support local charitable events. And we also um run a meals on wheels route where our students deliver meals to inbound um senior citizens. Okay. Um, something that's very exciting and if you guys have not come by to see our apartments, please feel free to stop by. We finally got our apartments finished and thank you to facilities who help make that happen. We now have two simulated model apartments and um it has made a huge difference about how we do things. Um at Community Connections, as you can see, we provide uh well, every week, uh each classroom must plan a meal, um prepare a meal, budget for a meal, shop for a
053meal, and then clean up after a meal. And so there's always um students in those apartments cooking. We also have to clean the apartments once a week because as a young person, it's really important for you to know how to clean your own shower and to clean your own toilet and how to vacuum and how to um do all those things to keep your own space clean. And so that's the responsibility of the students to learn those skills. We have clubs in our apartments. The students loved the apartments so much they started to bring in their own personal things to place in the apartments. So they have done some decorating which is really great. Um but it has made a huge difference in how we teach in the situation for our students. It has made
054a much more natural environment um for our students to learn all those daily living and life skills. Job Olympics. I've been here talking about job Olympics before. Um this is a a a big deal for our um young people. We participate in job Olympics every March. Over 300 students participate at Johnson County Community College and for the last two years we have taken first place. We actually have Yeah, it's a it's a big deal. We actually have a room um at Pinkney that we call the vocational room where classes or students can go in to work on those job readiness skills, those prejob skills that are so important um to work on to get ready before you go and get a job in the community. I'm going to switch gears a little bit and talk
055about Project Search. We are so fortunate to have Project Search here. It is an international organization. There are over 750 uh job search or project search sites around the world. There are 13 in the state of Kansas and we are two of those sites. It's very unusual for a a town our size to have two sites, but we were fortunate enough to work with Lawrence Memorial Hospital and the University of Kansas to provide those sites for our students. And each one of those sites has a classroom where students attend um class for an hour a day and then they work at those sites in different rotations for the rest of the day. Um but what project search is it is uh an a they challenge traditional expectations and empower young adults with intellectual and developmental
056disabilities to achieve competitive employment. It's all about employment. Their focus is serving young adults with the intellectual and developmental disabilities who could benefit from personalized support during one intensive academic year of career development and internship experience. And their ultimate goal is individ individualized job search and placement in competitive integrative employment. So here are our interns this year at our Lawrence Memorial Hospital site. So far, we've worked in the materials management department, in inpatient therapy, in food and nutrition, at central supply, fourth floor rehab, patient transport, and environmental services. And the way that it goes is each intern does three rotations throughout the year. So, they are at the end of their first rotation. and they're just getting ready to move into their second rotation, which may be some of those that are listed or other
057opportunities um that we have at the sites [snorts] at the University of Kansas. Here's our young people um participating in their jobs. They work in the storoom, in the sign shop, recycling, HVAC, dining, Monarch Watch, and they also work at the union. >> [music] >> Okay, I admit it. Uh, work helps my mental health. >> So, that was one of our interns from last year that has since moved on to his own job um detailing how work um helps his mental health. he was very hesitant to go and move on to Project Search from Catran. Um, and worked through a lot of anxiety about moving on and becoming um an adult uh for Project Search and getting a job. And so he made the realization on his own that um work helps his mental health.
058Um, and that's really important for all of us to find meaningful employment. So, community connections at Pinkney has supported over 200 students. Can you go back? That's okay. Over 200 students across cat um our suspension alternative program and our secondary therapeutic classrooms. And this data comes um started in 2021-22 when I um started there. That's the information, the data that I have um since starting Project Search uh which was founded in 2011 in Lawrence, Kansas um has supported over 140 students and they have an 85 to 95% employment rate in integrative competitive employment for their graduates. So it's it's really impressive. Most of our graduates leave those two sites with job offers or have already been employed. Opportunities for growth. We always have lots of opportunities for growth at community connections. One thing we want
059to do is to expand our community partnerships. This is to deepen existing collaborations and form new alliances with local organizations, schools, and nonprofits to strengthen shared impact. We want to continue to in explore grant opportunities. The Lawrence Schools Foundations um has been very generous to us over the past three years with their grants that they had given us to purchase 3D printers to purchase cameras for photography club to purchase work tasks for our vocational um classroom. Um and so we want to continue to explore multiple grant opportunities, leverage community mentors. We want to engage experienced community leaders and professionals to mentor participants enhancing knowledge sharing and skill development. And then uh our last one is enhance program reach which is to broaden our engagement footprint through outreach campaigns, digital digital initiatives and inclusive programming. >>
060[snorts] >> this slide are our partners that we've had, our community partners we've had since 2021 that have um provided work experience for our students out in the community. And then uh this is my last slide. Increasing independence, celebrating growth, and empowering futures. That's what we're all about at Community Connections at Pinkney. Thank you so much. Does anybody have any questions, comments? >> Question. Um, across the um all the different programs that are going on in your building, how many students are you serving on average, like in a in a quarter or a semester? Um, in the building? In the building, we have approximately 50 to 60 students a day depending on the different program need. >> And then how many how many students would you have out in the community um in job placements?
061And >> oh, that's a great question. So if we count Project Search in that number, we would have approximately 25 to 30 out in the community that are working um in their work experience. >> That's fantastic. Thank you. >> Okay. >> Um I I have a I'm wondering if you could share what you think the greatest need is in your building right now. >> Oh, wow. [sighs] That's a that's a really good question. Um I think our our greatest need has been and will continue to be support from the community and support from um our school community. Um I think we're a well-kept secret at this point. Um we have had some public exposure. Um but um just getting the word out that that we are using Pinkney to its fullest extent. every single inch
062of that building is utilized by different programs um and and has different needs and just um advocating on our behalf um I think is probably one of the greatest needs that we have. >> Thank you. I really appreciate the work you do. I think it's outstanding. >> Thank you. It's the best job I've ever had. I 100% mean that. [sighs] >> Uh this is Carol. I don't you actually answered my question before I got to ask it. It was a >> It it looks like you're utilizing every square inch of the building. >> Yeah, we are. >> And I remember from the other previous building, you had like a small store. Do you have a small store in this one as well? I don't know if I missed that. We have um we we don't
063have a small store. We have a small space that we use as as our store. Um and we have space that we've reserved for the coffee shop that we're going to have. Um but we have a space for a store. >> Great. Thank you. Mhm. >> Um for for me it's more of a comment because >> I generally am the more real community and looking at uh how we're involved in the community and I think your program is a perfect example of that uh that uh our your students are out uh representing not only your program but also the district. >> Yeah. >> Uh and I think that's that is commendable. Mhm. >> My other other thing, although we didn't talk about the bakery, I have had the opportunity to taste some food from >>
064It's delicious. Yeah. >> Excellent. >> Yeah, it's delicious. And and the bakery will start to to employ students second semester. We gave the guys a semester to kind of get on their, you know, get their feet wet and figure out what to do. So, starting second semester, we will have students that will work in the bakery. They're very excited about that. >> Any other questions? our comments. >> Uh, this is Carol. Um, will the public have an opportunity to maybe buy a merchandise to help support the school? >> That's a great question. >> This is an excellent cup. >> Aren't they great? Yeah. Um, so part of my vision for the coffee shop is to have merchandise that students make within that coffee shop that will be for sale um for the public. Mhm. >>
065And my qu my question was going to be can you tell us a little bit about what the steps are that that are in front of you to launch that project? >> Oh, there's a lot of steps. There's a lot of steps. So, um we actually uh Julie Henry and Pont and I went to visit Dialogue Coffee in Silverlakes School and that really got my brain going about we need to go big. um and and really take a look at um what we can offer the community in terms of uh and and offer my students as terms in terms of work experience. And so right now we're just in those beginning steps. We did get um a small grant that um is going to help I think jumpst start some of that um get some
066materials purchased that um we saw we saw a really great espresso machine that had been adapted for students with um motor disabilities. They're levers instead of little knobs and I have my eye on that. Um and so um right now we're just thinking about funding. >> And then is the vision, you know, you called it a a district coffee shop, but is is the vision then that this will be one of the the ways that you are able to invite the community into your building and your program? >> Yes. My my vision, again, it's just a vision, is um not only to provide o job opportunities, work experiences for the students at Community Connections, but also open up opportunities for high school students that are on the path to coming to Catran, that are coming
067to Project Search work experience as well. >> That's fantastic. Thank you. Mhm. >> coming. >> If if a community member wanted to donate to Community Connections specifically, they do that through the foundation. Dr. Swift, >> I believe so, but I'll double check that. I think that's an excellent question. >> Thank you. >> Yeah, I don't do that. Okay. >> We would love it if people donated though. >> Okay. Any more questions or comments? >> Thank you so much. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Yeah, you're welcome. Thank you. >> No, you're fine. >> Okay. Um, could someone please read the public comment? >> I will. Oh, you got it. Go ahead. The US board, the USD497 Board of Education welcomes public comment and thanks you for taking the time to talk to us about our
068policies and procedures. We set aside this time during our regular meetings to hear from the public. Patrons who wish to participate in public comment must email public comment at usd497.org by noon on the day of the board meeting to participate in person. Information provided will make it possible for district staff or the board to follow up with you necessary. This is your time to share your opinions. However, public comment is not the appropriate forum for making complaints about specific staff or students. If your comments relate to complaints concerning students or staff, such complaints must be addressed to the district staff as provided under board policies. The board president or presiding officer of the meeting may direct that a public comment request be directed redirected to staff to comply with board policy including and or to
069protect the privacy of individual staff or students. If you need assistance in sharing a compliment, a complaint or concern with district staff, please let the board clerk or other district staff know. Topics discussed and public comment shall be gerine to the business of the board. Furthermore, comments must comply with standards laid out in board policy GAE and board policy J [snorts] GCA, the anti-bullying and hazing of staff and students. Comments or acts that are threatening to staff, the board, or others in attendance, including the use of language or behavior that is disruptive of the board meeting, will not be permitted during public comment. In addition, because students may be in attendance or watching online, members of the public will refrain from using foul or obscene language. The district assumes no responsibility and or liability for
070the information shared during public comment. The views expressed are solely those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Lawrence public schools. >> Okay. So, we'll start with Audrey Pope Troage. Can you hear me? >> Do I need to? Okay. Good afternoon to the board. My name is Audrey Pope Treage and this is my husband, Tyler Trebridge. Very lucky to stand up next to a standup individual like he is. Um, I think it's very interesting that I've had a thousand things and words to write that I cannot possibly fit into the three minute time limit that you guys have given me. Um, it's been a six-month process that we've been dealing with as a family. And as I sat in the back and listened to you guys as you gave your
071shout outs, it made it gave me pause in how do I stand up here and share what I need to share when I've been handicapped and I've been gagged in such a way. I don't know how to do it. What I do know how to do is to appeal to people who have been put on this board to protect and serve our children and to the schools. I want to talk to you mostly about policies and procedures. That was the topic that I posted in my email. The what you guys just read about public comment and how you are holding the public responsible and accountable to how we show up here. I will absolutely maintain that respect and decorum because I am also I've been raised to do that. I've been taught to do that.
072you employ me to do that and that is the code of conduct that we should all share. My question to you is why is that so long and why is that shared with us as a public comment but we are not upholding that in our buildings. I would ask you to read that exact same statement and ask are you upholding that for our building staff. I think it's important. So many of you are asking for us to vote for you coming up in this election and there are plenty of things that I wish that I could say and share that may sway whether or not you get that vote. And I'm not going to do that today. I'm instead asking that you pay attention to what it is that you are asking the community to
073do and uphold that same standard of excellence and that same standard of respect and decorum with your staff. I'm a parent of three children who are in this district. I'm not even sure if I could say what school they go to because when I walked in here, I was thrown off by some of the rules that you guys employ in this, but as a parent of three kids, two of them went to a school where they no longer are at that school. They've been moved due to inappropriate actions of staff members. My son is a high schooler and he is still at the school that I am thankful and very happy to be employed at. And I can't imagine what it would look like if I wasn't. I know that you guys know what I'm
074talking about because I've sent you plenty of emails, plenty of emails to you, plenty of emails to other people who are you guys, they report to you about what's happening the issue and the policy of how to make a complaint. I followed it to the letter to the letter and I was told it would take 10 days and it is 6 months and I'm still standing here unsure what the what the outcome is. So, please, if you're going to ask us to uphold that as community as we come in front of you and try to share as a parent what it feels like to go through that process and what the experience has been like to go through that process, then I ask that you understand what's happening to stop us from getting to you
075because that's important, too. And your job is to uphold that as well. Thank you for your time. Thank [music] [music] okay. Are we good to go or [snorts] Okay. Okay. So, let's >> One moment. Okay. So, let's start with Dr. Space. Okay. >> Can you hear me? >> Uh, yes. Before you start, I wanted to take the opportunity since uh uh when you sent in your information to apply for for making board comment, you uh told us you would be violating our our decorum rules. And I wanted to give you your first warning uh at this point so you're aware. So go ahead. You have your three minutes. Well, that's a prior restraint. I'm getting warned for something that I haven't even said in here yet. So, uh, that's going to be an issue. So,
076anyways, my name is Dr. Justin Spece. An Costello resigning tonight is fantastic news. I will not miss her one bit. Remember when she interrupted a previous meeting to call me crazy Justin Spece? Completely unwarranted. Remember that? Total violation of your guys' precious decorum policy and completely unprofessional. I wonder if her resignation had anything to do with the lawsuit I filed against the district on September 6th in which her calling me crazy just speech is a part of it. I think so. F that be. On October 26th, 2021, I received a unconstitutional lifetime permanent ban from all USD497 pro uh property for not wearing a COVID mask one time at Lawrence High School while while trying to attend a public event there. The ban was placed by previous superintendent Anthony Lewis and the school board and
077then and then has been continued by current superintendent Jenny Swift and this school board here. So, I have a question for Superintendent Swift and this board. The school district leases out Central Middle School to Free City Church on Sundays for their church service. Can I go to Free City Church at uh Central Middle School this Sunday for church service? Now I'll wait to see if these answer me. >> That's your second warning. >> I wasn't tell Hey, hold on a second. I first of all, I ain't got a first warning. Secondly, I'm sitting here in my living room saying that. >> Thank you. >> Okay, so let's move move on to uh Carrie Smith. Okay. I wanted to him. I closed my eyes and waited. A moment later, I can feel >> call for a
078point of information. Um, if she's going to be >> waiting from material, she needs to specify what the nature of her public comment is before she begins. Thank you. I felt his erection against me, the tops of my feet jostling in the middle of his shins. >> Please to my right, his ear a seashell tunnel beside me. He grunted beside me. An animal waited to be touched. Sarah had a crush. Okay, let's Okay, so I any any closing items, any announcements or >> I believe our district is wrapped. >> Okay, need a motion for >> move to adjurnn. I second. >> We're done. >> All in favor? I I I. Thank you.