001started. We are going to begin tonight by opening our budget hearing on our revenue neutral rate. So that hearing will be open for roughly five minutes or until everyone who wants to speak has a chance to speak. So I know of one person who wants to speak. So David, if you want to come up um Mike, do you know if if that mic is on? Okay. So, David, if you want to come up to this microphone right here and then um I know I know we talked about it earlier, but you just read your entire statement. >> Is this regarding which part of is it? The >> So, this is the revenue neutral rate >> on the revenue neutral rate. Um I know um I am not for increasing the revenue neutral rate. Uh me
002as a homeowner I I here in Douglas County I already pay I don't know it's just your USD497's portion is over $2,000 and that's just one person. So I don't know uh what you do with all that money. Uh uh but anyway, I'll go on to read uh part of what I've got here. Uh the US the Lawrence USD 497 school board should not receive additional funding due to its hypocritical handling of community concerns about explicit library materials and its suppression of speech during public meetings. Uh reports indicate that citizens uh including a parent who filed a lawsuit against the district were silenced uh or removed from the meeting uh for reading verbatim the books uh that are in the public library which I did I did watch that meeting and I was appalled by
003by that and I did have a question regarding that if Um, I mean, you obviously know some of those books are in there and are they still in there is uh one of my questions as a concerned uh citizen. Um, let's see. that yeah, this kind of contradicts where children can access these materials, but adults uh are penalized for quoting them in a public forum uh reflecting poor governance and a failure to prioritize students welfare, undermining any case for a budget increase. The board's action against the board's action suggests they recognize the problematic nature of these materials by censoring their public reading yet they allow the same text to remain in the school libraries for students to access. Um yeah, one of the commenters uh Justin Pe uh stated uh that you told him that
004he couldn't cuss in here because the children are listening, but yet it's okay in your library. Why am I not allowed to say say it when uh when you're protecting the children's ears, but you allow it in in your library? those same words. Um, the board policy BCBI allows the board Yeah, let me skip that one. Sorry. M >> um this pattern of suppressing dissent while um failing to address problematic library materials de demonstrates and lacks the accountability that does not warrant additional taxpayer funds. The district already faces a financial strain. And one other thing, I mean, a lot of this stuff, um, that you're, um, teaching. Excuse me, I'm terrible in public. Um, instead of more funding, the board should uh conduct a transparent review of the library materials, uh, engage with parents concerns,
005and upo uphold free speech at the public meetings. until these governor's failures are rectified additional uh resources would only um sorry I can't see either um yes and that's pretty much what I have to say right Okay, >> thank you for your time. >> All right, thank you. >> For the revenue neutral rate, is there anyone else who has comment? Okay, we move on to item 1.2, which is approving the revenue neutral rate. Is there any discussion before we have a motion? All right. Can I have a motion? I move the board of education approve the resolution authorizing USD497 to exceed the revenue neutral rate tax revenue neutral tax rates and identified funds for the 2025 2026 budget year. >> I second. >> Buyers, >> yes. >> Could you Blackwood? >> Yes. Costello, >> yes.
006>> Franklin, >> yes. >> Gordon Ross, >> yes. >> Jones, >> yes. >> Kimble, >> yes. >> Motion passes 70. >> Okay, we're going to close the budget hearing for revenue neutral rate and we're going to open the budget hearing for the 2025 2026 budget. Do we have anyone who'd like to make comment for the budget? There's someone online trying to speak. Okay, we're going to close the budget hearing for 2025 2026. We'll move on to our regular meeting. Can I get approval of the agenda? >> I move I move we approve the agenda for the September 8th, 2025 board meeting. >> Second. Kadu Blackwood, >> yes. >> Costello, >> yes. >> Franklin, >> yes. >> Gordon Ross, >> yes. >> Jones, >> yes. >> Kimbell, >> yes. >> Buyers, >> yes. >> Motion passes
00770. >> Our first item on the agenda is an executive session. Can I get a motion, please? I'm I move the board of education recess to executive session for the purpose of discussing personnel matters pursuant to the non-elected personnel exception under coma with Dr. Janice Kur Swift superintendent Dr. Larry Ingerbreck, Deputy Superintendent and Sammy Deallian, Administrative Human Services, invited to be present and with the board to return to open session in this room at uh see it would be about 6:31 with with action to follow. >> Second Costello. Yes. >> Franklin. >> Yes. >> Gordon Ross. >> Yes. >> Jones. >> Yes. >> Kebell. >> Yes. >> Buyers. >> Yes. Open session. >> Thank you. >> Wow. >> We have returned from open session. Uh open session. We have returned to open session from executive
008session. Yeah. >> Um, so now we are going to recess into another executive session. Um, can I get a motion, please? I move the board of education recess to executive session for the purpose of discussing a personnel matters pursuant to the non-elected personnel exception under coma with Dr. Jenny Kur Swift, superintendent, Dr. Larry Inglebrook, deputy superintendent, and Sammy Deine, administrative uh human services, invited to be present and with the board to return to open session in this room at U 6:52 uh with action to follow. >> Second >> Franklin. >> Yes. Gordon Ross, >> yes. >> Jones, >> yes. >> Kimble. >> Buyers, >> yes. >> Could you Blackwood? >> Yes. >> Costello? >> Yes. >> Kimble. Motion passes 6. And returned from executive session and we need to extend. So, we're going to do
009that and go back in. >> Okay. >> I get a motion. I move that the board of education resess to executive session for the purpose of discussing personnel matters pursuant to the unelected personnel exemption under coma with Dr. Janice Smith superintendent Dr. Larry Ingleberg, Deputy Superintendent and Sammy Deine, Administration, Human Service, Human Resources, invited to be present and with the board to return to open session in this room at >> 702 >> with no action to follow. >> Second >> Jones. >> Yes, >> Kimble. Buyers, >> yes. >> Could you Blackwood? >> Yes. >> Costello? >> Yes. >> Franklin? >> Yes. >> Gordon Ross? >> Yes. >> Campbell. >> Motion passes 6. And good evening board and all of our great team who've joined us here in person tonight. How delightful to have you and
010all of those who are joining us remotely. Uh we are beginning today the fourth full week of the school year and we just appreciate all the work of our students, teachers and support staff, our parents and community to achieve such a strong start to this school year. You may have noticed uh yesterday if you received this as an insert in your paper, Lawrence public schools presence. I'm going to just pause one second while they're getting the slides up. We want to make sure that these names are in the record. It's so exciting. Very good. As you will see if you get a chance to look at the best of Lawrence 2025, our um USD497 presence is impressive among this list. So they'll get us up and we'll run through them pretty quickly. You are okay.
011Can you make it full slideshow, please? Thank you so much. Um, so here we go. First of all, leading off with best large place to work, 100 or more employees. Uh, you can see third place, Lawrence Public Schools. This is our first top three appearance since 2021. So, we're really proud of that. Secondly, right here among us, the best community leader, racial justice, equity issues, uh Demetrius Kemp, our security officer at Free State High School, and our very own Carol Kadu Blackwood, member of the board of education. Congratulations. Next, um, we swept the top of the best principal category, uh, with Amanda Green at Sunflower Elementary, Katie Carson at West Middle, and Summer Meccl at Deerfield Elementary. Uh, our presence in the teachers K through five was also very impressive with Jacqueline Williams, Ingred Dugh,
012and Michelle McClennon. and they are from Langston Hughes in Sunset Hill. Uh teachers 6 through 8, uh we placed four out of five places, Blair White, Stephanie Herammo at, uh LMCMS and Jay Daer and Marissa Scott Pope at Billy Mills Middle. Teachers 9 through 12. It was a full sweep in Lawrence Public Schools. Sophia Cohen, Bryce Jones, Debbie Ziegler, and Susan Kerry at Free State High School, and Aubrey Trobridge at Lawrence High School. Such a nice job. We always love seeing our mascots there and they are well represented with Chusty, Freddy, and the Warhawk all placing in the top five. Uh we look forward uh the communications team and I will be out at schools to congratulate uh these winners in the top five. These awards are determined, I think you know folks, simply by
013online votes. So, this really is an award that's about uh members of the community reaching out, standing up, speaking up uh to support these selections. I've been out in the community. It was great on Thursday morning very early to be over with the J-Hawk Breakfast Rotary Club last Thursday. I just appreciated sharing the progress on back to school updates and very grateful uh for the Jay-Hawk Rotary. They are one of three Rotary clubs in uh Lawrence and they're the ones that meet early on Thursday morning. I appreciated the warm welcome from Annis Ber, their president, and the kind introduction by Julie Bole. I especially valued meeting members from the community, including an amazing 1958 graduate of Lawrence High School. And uh the bonus was a connection with the Hillrest first grader. You can see her
014there uh in the photos and loved that her favorite part of school is math. So uh very proud of that young lady. Uh also had the opportunity last week to meet with uh Deca and I'm sorry I'm interfering. I'll be I'll stop. um uh Deca and appreciate the work of this community organization. We are engaging together to see the overlap of where we can find synchronicity to better serve our students and our families in the community. Uh we already found in our first meeting a couple of places where we could really do better and uh that's what those meetings are all about. Um really excited next to be with the um chamber government and community affairs division. That's a large crowd. We'll be over at Innovation Park with those folks on Wednesday of this week
015to share updates about uh the work in Lawrence Public Schools. Um you may not have realized it but Lawrence Virtual School um has recently received some data regarding uh their academic performance in comparison with all virtual schools in Kansas. So I'll just highlight um and appreciate uh principal Zach Harwood uh shedding a light on this data for us. LVS outperforms substantially in math, ELA, and science than the state average for all virtual programs. Of course, the data has caveats inside of it, as is always the case. They're around the percentage of students tested, which is always a question in virtual uh programs. And then also um around how widely open their enrollment process is. Some schools are very selective about who they allow to enroll in virtual. Um our door much like our in-person schools,
016our door is wide open. So this is very much heterogeneous student population. Overall, this data supports that virtual schools are a viable option when they are done correctly and further that our LVS model in Lawrence public schools is substantially different and better from many of their virtual peers. In fact, I believe we are the best virtual program in the state of Kansas. And I just want to give a shout out to that LVS team. uh P uh P preschool through 12th grade schools update. I think folks are aware we've started fastbridge uh testing K 12 and it really is about measuring students reading and math skills and helping our teams to know where to start at the beginning of the school year. You recall that students are screened in the fall, in the winter, and
017again in the spring to see who's on track, who may need additional support, and to identify the trends that we see. I want to give a shout out to all of our folks at elementary as they are navigating these additional specials sections and really helping students uh to build their skills very directly around AVID around science hands-on science learning and expanded social emotional learning. These specials have fallen right alongside our traditional specials of art, music, and PE to really help provide that whole child learning experience and also to support our elementary teachers with having that second planning of professional time to do the work that's expected of them. There's never enough time in the day for that work. wanted to highlight just a couple of things. Uh planning is in place for a week from
018uh today, Monday, September 15th, our first professional development day of uh of this kind of fall season. And then a couple of updates. I appreciate Dr. Amaya and uh teachers sharing uh this work with us. First of all, we are uh launching kind of the name of learning the learning exchange uh as our professional development model. It is a model that's designed for teachers by teachers with teachers in support and service to students. This model will give teachers the opportunity to lead their peers to work in networks and in groups learning offering sessions on a variety of topics organized under strands. Our strands for this year will be about building dignity into school culture, high quality instruction, assessing learning in the classroom, social emotional well-being, and then systems of support, CI3T. Secondly, uh we've talked
019a lot about it since the spring really flattening the organization so that we are working directly with teachers in schools and not really having that middle level of administration. Um this this will look like teacher learning networks. It's early in the year, so at this point there are more questions than answers, but I want to point to a few things this evening. Teacher networks will be collaborative groups that tackle systemwide challenges in teaching and learning. So these groups and we have great examples already existing elementary math cohort. They've done a tremendous job for their first year and now into their second year by examining research and best practice. These teacher networks will work to address common issues in teacher practice and help us build systems that are aligned in directly in support of our classrooms.
020For example, two new networks that are currently being formed are one very important one to focus on early childhood technology integration in the classroom and a second one, this one by request from our teachers, an elementary specials team uh professional planning uh group. and those folks have put their hands up to be a network because it is a little bit harder when you're at elementary uh to connect for that professional planning because typically there's only one of each of those in each school. Each network will be facilitated by a teacher leader or by teacher leaders and supported by the teaching and learning team and by our principal team as well. Participating teachers will volunteer to act as early implementers to really refine our thinking and the decisions and guidelines developed in the group. The teacher
021networks are designed to build teacher capacity and to strengthen alignment so that our system is aligned right to the ground with our practitioners. On that note, I wanted to just touch on screen time at elementary and that study. This fall, we're continuing our work to ensure that we are thoughtful uh and research data informed in our approach to technology uh to ensure that developmentally appropriate uh learning experience at particularly at lower elementary. I need to acknowledge and want to acknowledge publicly that in retrospect I would have wanted more thoughtful indepth conversations directly with elementary classroom teachers last spring. That would have been ideal and I personally take responsibility that we didn't get that done as well as I would have liked. We are uh excited however for the opportunity this fall to convene teacher groups.
022We already have several volunteers from among early elementary teachers to come together to review the research, to have the conversations, to gain input from all of our teachers, and to work together to refine and calibrate technology integration practice in a thoughtful way at the elementary level. So, Dr. Jeremiah and uh assistant superintendent and elementary director Robersonson will be convening that group of representative K1 and maybe some second grade teachers also. We'll see uh for that conversation and we'll look forward uh board members and community to hearing more about their work as we move through the fall and winter. coming up on Friday. Uh you may not have realized it yet, but it's AVID day this Friday, September 12th. Um it is a national day that honors 45 years of impact of AVID educators, students, schools,
023and districts across the country. Several schools in our own district will be participating in celebrating including Sunflower Elementary, Southwest Middle and Billy Mills Middle School and Free State and Lawrence high schools as we raise our level of play with AVID across Lawrence Public Schools. We anticipate the full implementation in 2026. This is an excellent time to remember the why. And I thought it would be good, even though our time is short tonight, to hear directly from a student. This is Galani from the Lawrence High School class of 2021 talking about his why with AVID. Looks like it's not cooperating. Okay, I apologize. I'm going to send that out systemwide and I apologize that we didn't get it to work tonight. It did work in our dress rehearsal. I just want to make that note. Um,
024it was working beautifully only an hour ago. So, there we go. Uh I appreciate everyone who has uh made the transition to Parent Square. It is always hard to learn a new tool, but I appreciate that every single school is actively using Parent Square and appreciate that the vast majority, it's about 99 5% of our parents are connected with Parent Square, whether they're still just receiving those things by email or whether they've actually taken the leap to the app. But either way, it's good. The communications team is working. So, I just want to give a heads up. We will give a practice alert systemwide ahead of winter weather because we uh have been using the old system for many many years and we want to practice in the new system. So, um when you see
025that alert, we will put uh emergency practice all over the front of it and all over the back of it. So, don't get excited uh about the middle part. We're just practicing to make sure everybody gets the notice. The district's website has featured a combination of coverage for so much that's going on in the district, uh, including our enhancements. There's a spotlight there on preschool programming, on laptop usage at the high school, and some fun items including uh the 34 goats and residents that are continuing their work at Langston Hughes property. I just wanted to give you, you know, we progress monitor on our children and on our goats. So, uh I wanted you to know the update. They have cleared nearly three acres in two weeks since our last board meeting and they have
026three more acres to go. They're halfway through. Right, Dr. Inglebert? Very good. So, they are making good progress on their goal and you can see they're having a little snack right there. All right. Very good. I wanted to just uh give a shout out to social media engagement. Social media um can be a two a double-edged sword some days and yet this one is a really nice story. The community connections bakery, we shared that two weeks ago, but since that time, I just want to show you 60 shares, 40,000 views, 900 interactions, and the most important piece. Uh first of all, someone requested uh cinnamon rolls. Um, but secondly, a school district in Pennsylvania was really inspired and wanted to borrow recipes and I appreciate that Julie Henry has taken time and the communications team
027is working to connect them so that we can share that baking knowledge across states. That's uh social media at its best. Really want to give uh another shout out to Free State High School. I'm sorry I wasn't able to personally make it Friday evening. There were other pressing matters in the district also, but this was the happy note on Friday evening was that our quesa uh officials were out to Free State and made the actual award. Uh this is the Kansas high school of the year in performing arts and they are the only school to win it twice. Previously uh they won it in 201920 after the presentation. This photo is all of the students who returned to Free State who were performing arts students. So, there are a large number of KU marching band
028members and students from all over that returned for this uh pride photo at Free State High School. Just a couple of other updates. Elementary science, our first graders are using uh the um the uh traits to identify adult versions of baby birds. So, they are circling in this photo any identifiable traits like their beaks, feet, eyes, and match them to the bird's adult counterpart. Uh, also at Prairie Park, uh, the class of the district's lead STEM teacher, Stacy Olvers, are exploring nature and animals through a variety of hands long hands-on activities. After learning about snails, kindergarteners searched the Prairie Park garden to find one in the wild. I'm happy to report the kinders were successful. There were snails in the wild there. Nutrition and wellness. Woodlon Elementary had a great nutrition moment recently. Uh enjoying
029fresh local watermelon from Jurac family produce. This is part of our USDA fresh fruit and veggie program. I'm not quite sure how the puppy uh did with the watermelon, but that's a great photo, isn't it? Sunflower Elementary. Uh Sunflower 500. Uh this is uh over 1.2 million views. Uh but really this is about the Sunflower tradition. Uh is that students earn their best bucks and then place their bucks into a raffle. And one of the most popular prizes is the ability to run the loop at Sunflower Elementary. And a handful of students sprint two laps around the school as they are cheered on uh by their teachers. You can see a great photo uh actually the one on social media shows the child breaking through uh that uh that finish line. I just want to
030give a thank you to the boardroom art display. This is curated throughout the year by our art teachers and this year we're raising the level of play just a bit. Uh that for this next period of time it is populated by real photos from our schools and every one of these photos was taken by team member Andrew Beavenon. So congratulations Evan uh Andrew on this beautiful display of the work that we do. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Um I think it's more like a million when it's a picture of children and beautiful work that we're doing in schools. Uh just a friendly reminder there will be no school for early childhood through 12th coming up on Monday September 15th. um and lots of uh events coming up. Just reach out to
031your school. These should be right in your principal newsletter that comes to you, but we just want to make sure that you see them. And uh with that, uh we appreciate the all of the engagement and work across our district this fall to ensure a strong start to the school year. I thank you for your patience with this longer than uh usual report, but there is a lot going on. Uh many thanks to our students, our teachers and support staff, our families and community for all of your diligent work. We have 10,000 reasons every morning to do the work we do. And I just want to thank everyone for your support. Thank you members for the opportunity to share this report and for the honor of serving the Lawrence public schools. Thank you. >> Thank
032you Dr. Swift. Um moving on now to the president the report of the president of the board. Uh just a couple things. Uh start with two events I was able to attend since our last board meeting on Tuesday, August 26th. I was able to participate in the region one legislative listening event uh put on by um KB in Levvenworth. And then yesterday I was able to attend the schoolboard candidate forum hosted by Women for Kansas, the League of Women Voters and the NAACP uh hosted at the fairgrounds. Uh as a reminder, the upcoming election for school board will take place on Tuesday, November 4th. The last day to register to vote is Tuesday, October 14th. Inerson advanced voting starts on Wednesday, October 15th and goes through Monday, November 3rd at noon. Last day to apply
033for an advanced ballot is Tuesday, October 28th. There are three seats open in this election and seven candidates. When you vote, you can vote for up to three people. For any group out there that would like more information or is interested in having a conversation about the school board, how it works, or what our role is, I'm happy to come and talk to you. Please feel please feel free to reach out and we'll attempt to work something out and get it scheduled. My contact information is on the district website. Lastly, at our last schoolboard meeting, there were concerns raised about busing and specific bus driver staffing and how the board had done nothing to address this issue. For clarity, the district contracts with First Student, which is responsible for hiring and managing bus drivers. I
034reached out to first student to get details on pay, hiring, training, and retention and wanted to share with the public what I learned. Currently, starting pay in Lawrence for a bus driver is $21 an hour, which represents about a 23% increase over the last 5 years. First student proactively raised the the rate above their 2025 2026 collective bargaining agreement rate of 2025 to attract drivers and drivers also receive an annual CBA increase. Sign on and referral incentives. There's a $3,000 bonus for fully licensed drivers, 2,000 for nonCDL, and $1,000 referral bonus. Uh drivers receive eight paid holidays plus longevity longevity pay. additional paid day off per year of service up to 12 days. The recruitment channels that they've used is targeted Facebook, Facebook, Indeed, Craigslist ads, hiring events, community booths, fairs, parades, kids expo, banners,
035and local outreach. Retention and engagement are regular driver events, gift card giveaways, recognition programs, and seasonal engagement activities. And finally, for route coverage, they use part-time drivers, admin staff from first student cover routes were needed. And at the time that I received the email, they had four AC applicants currently working on their uh um licensing that they needed uh to take up permanent driver positions. So that is my report and so at this point I will turn the time over to Emerson Hzales, president of the Lawrence Education Association for some time and comment from the union. Good evening. Can you all hear me? Okay, fantastic. Um, as so well stated, my name is Emerson House and I'm the president of your union, Lawrence Education Association, and my pronouns are he and they. Um, tonight I
036just wanted to share an update with the board, but also to district admin and to the community overall. Um, I do want to make a very personal note on a couple of things. One, this is not a normal occurrence and I don't take this lightly. So, I do want to thank President Gordon Ross and also President former President Jones uh for helping make this moment happen. Um, it's just work with the board and that partnership that it's it's rebuilding the trust that's happening here. And small steps, but they're mighty steps. And so, this is something that I don't take lightly. I I cherish every moment that me and my fellow members are here on the stage. I say stage, this clear podium in front of you all talking to you about things that are important
037for us. Um, additionally, um, because I have not gotten to personally say this, um, GR, thank you for taking space and time to be vulnerable in front of everyone in our community to acknowledge, um, I will say harm that was caused. Um, but also just like reflection of misgendering me at a new hire event. Um, that is not an easy thing to do. And it is, it just shows once again that people are trying, that you're trying, that we are trying. And it allows me to go talk to my kid, my both my boys, and let them know that there are people here that care, that want trans men, children, queer folks to be in this space, to be in Lawrence public schools. And so that means a lot to me. Um, so going back
038to the the actual thing that we need to talk about. Um so that the humility and moment of discomfort that GR sat in. I want to extend this to everyone in the room and everyone listening. Um this is not to just sit in shame. This is not to do to point fingers and blame. It is honestly to just tell you why Lawrence public staff are angry. We're mad. We're frustrated. And it this is the only way we can do that. And is it performative? Yeah. But it is a truth that needs to be shared and we all need to own every part whether we indirectly or directly made a decision to get to where we are in this space today. To say that our district is picture perfect is very naive. We are far from
039it. But we also are not terrible. We've made great strides. We've done really amazing things here in Lawrence public schools. And I think we can all attest that that comes from our staff. It comes from every magical moment that's happened in the classroom and in those schools every single day and a lot of it comes from our ESPs. We would not be where we are in this moment without them. And I want to just highlight that certified or angry about the wage that we were given. $800 is not enough. 54 cents is not enough. But I know that's just where we are, right? We got to this point somewhere down the road and we can blame anyone and everyone to that why we're here but that's not going to do anything. What are we going
040to do? We can sit uh as I told my kiddo going to case day you can sit and complain today but move in day when you walk on campus you go fight for what's yours. And that's what we did this week. On Thursday, you saw a lot of red as you were dropping kids off or as you were driving through. And that was all Lawrence public school staff supporting our ESPs for a living wage. And you saw us at uh the school board forum wearing red, listening, asking questions. And even today, Billy Mills, shout out to Bob or not Bob, Tom Barker. Tom Barker. I was looking at Bob when I was saying that. My bad. Oops. Um, it's been a Monday, but you know, we we saw so many people advocating and asking and
041now it's to the point where we're frustrated and we're demanding. I know demand is a kind of harsh word, but it's where we're at. Um, so like I said, we can point fingers and blame whoever. Um, but everywhere is not fully funded and sped. Everywhere is, you know, we're we're all every school district in Kansas are in the same thing. And the question that I'm getting fielded a lot and I don't have an answer is why is Lawrence public schools still behind? Our base is 6,000 behind the rest. Our ESPs are dollars behind. I would even say closer to $10 behind what they could be making elsewhere. And why? What is that? Well, we can go backwards and point fingers or we can look forward and figure out what are we going to do about
042it? What are we going to fight for? and how are we going to fight for what's ours? And that comes from the community. I I ask you all on the board to leverage and move and use your positionality like you have for us today in this space to push push cities push our city to do more. Push our community partners to do more. Um, you know, I I implore our families who support and value the work that we do and our ESPs do daily to to do something to help out, to offer even a little bit because we're all, I lack of a better way, bashing our head against the wall trying to make money come out and it's not working. So, we need to do something different. We need to be creative. We need
043to figure out what it is and make it happen. Because this same whole song and dance of one number thrown out and then we wait a little bit and then we throw another number out and then we wait. It's old. It's tired. You're tired. I'm tired. We're tired. So, when is it going to be? When are we going to get there? And so, I mean, I'm going to just end on this. Um, I became a parah. Um, it would be like nine years now. Nine years ago as an ESL parah and in that moment of working with three students, I figured out my calling. Figured out that I wanted to be an education. I wanted to support the kids who were like me, who hated English class, who hated reading, who didn't feel like they
044belonged, except for the few teachers that did. Mrs. Spike, Mrs. House, Mr. Meliker, Mr. Rose, and my coach Hatfield all took a moment and took time for me. And as I became a parent and I saw the wage that I was getting, barely getting by and my partner not getting what he needed and he was getting by as a teacher, I am pissed because my teachers who they gave me the only love I could ever ask for were fighting for scraps then too. So I don't know what we have to do to stop beating our head against the wall and actually do something. But I implore find it. Do something. Community members, let's get creative. Let's figure out the the solution. Every single person in here, I'm sure if we put our heads together, we
045can make Lawrence Public Schools show up and value every single ESP, every single certified staff like we know we do. And for that, I'm going to pass it on to Leia. >> Thank you. [Applause] So, good evening members of the board and good evening and thank you so much to all 145 of you that showed up for us today. I'm actually going to cry. I'm probably going to cry. Um, my name is Leia Bernson and I am an education support professional, a pareducator at Billy Mills Middle School in one of the specialized classrooms. But more important importantly, I'm not just here as myself. I'm here tonight as part of a unified voice that of the certified staff and the education support professionals. As ESPs, we work within our school as PAR educators, custodians, food service
046staff, administrative assistants, and countless other jobs. We are the people who keep our schools running day in and day out. We are the first people that you see in the morning coming into school and the last people you see when you leave at night. and we are essential to student success. Yet far too many of us are forced to work second jobs just to make ends meet. And we are dedicated professionals sacrificing our own time and well-being to stay in public education because we believe in our students. And if not us, then who is going to do who is going to do it? When we underpay the people who care for our children, who feed them, keep their schools clean, and support their learning, we are telling them that their work is not valuable. But
047our schools are not going to function without them. So if we truly believe in equity and dignity, we must ensure that all USD497 employees earn a wage that they can live on, not just survive. And this offer of 54 cents only allows many of us to continue to survive and not does not reflect the sacrifices that we make. Nor does it fulfill the district's promise years ago to provide every staff member with the dignity of a living wage, especially members of the board who previously campaigned on this promise and that we support it. So, let me be clear. We are not here tonight as separate groups of ESPs and teachers. We are here as one union, as one community, one community of school employees standing here shouldertosh shoulder. We teach, we feed, we clean, we
048care, and we keep our students safe together. When one group of us is undervalued, the entire system suffers and our students feel that loss most of all. Thank you. All right. Good evening. My name is Mindy and I teach fifth grade at Quill Run. And if you know me, you know I hate this. So that's how you know it's bad that I'm up here speaking. So, I wanted to use this time as a certified staff member to amplify some of the ESPs who make our schools run every day in Lawrence. And so, I'm going to read two statements from two of our amazing ESP colleagues at Quail Run. This first one is from my colleague Victoria. Victoria writes, "I'm a new single mom to a three-month old baby, a full-time college student, and a dedicated
049employee in the school system. I recently relocated to Topeka, which makes for a longer commute, but I love my job and the kids I work with, so the drive is the least of my concerns. Working at the school has given me flexibility to continue my education, support my son. But I'm going to be honest, it's incredibly hard to make ends meet with the wage I currently earn. Between paying for college, covering essential bills, and trying to provide for my baby, I often find myself falling short. I chose this work because I care deeply about students and the impact I can have in their lives. But caring doesn't pay the rent or cover childare. The reality is we do important work that deserves fair compensation. Right now, many of us were sacrificing our financial stability just
050to stay in roles we love. This raise isn't just about money. It's about survival. It's about valuing the people who show up for students every single day, even when it means putting our own needs last. Please consider the real cost of underpaying essential staff and what it says to the people who were building the foundation of our schools from the ground up. And then this next comment is from Amy Quail runs a lovely secretary. Amy writes, "I'd like to take a moment to explain the importance of a living wage for classified employees. From my perspective as the school secretary, I make a difference every day by greeting students, providing information to teachers, managing communications, and helping to set the tone for our school's climate. Despite this wide range of responsibilities, secretaries are paid less than
051a living wage, making it difficult to afford basic necessities and causing constant turnover in this important role. And a side note, it is a very important role to the teachers. If you value welcoming schools, safe environments, and effective communication, you must invest in people who make that possible, starting with the school secretary at the front desk. So tonight, I've shared just two voices of the many people who keep our schools running, who greet students with smiles, care for their needs, and create safe, welcoming spaces for learning. They are showing up every single day for our kids. It is time for this district and community to show up for them. A living wage isn't optional. It's essential. And if we want strong schools, we have to start by valuing the people who make them possible. Thank
052you. [Applause] >> Good evening, members of the board and my union family. I am a proud LEA member, but I'm here today. My name is Denita Long and I serve as a special educator at Sunflower Elementary. I want to speak tonight in strong support of our educational support professionals, our ESPs, who are currently bargaining for a living wage. I cannot do my job without them. None of us can. ESPs are the backbone, especially of special education. They support students with complex needs in every way. Academics, communication, behavior, activities of daily living like toileting, diapering, all while ensuring safety and dignity. They're often the first smiling face a student sees in the morning and the last reassuring voice they hear before going home. our food service workers, custodians, administrative assistants, IT professionals, FNO workers, all of
053them, and paraprofessionals touch the lives of students every single day, especially those with special needs. And yet, despite the critical nature of their work, they are not paid enough to live in the same community they serve. We all know Lawrence's cost of living in Lawrence is high. To live here and work here takes a lot. Many are forced to take second or third jobs. Others leave the profession altogether, not because they want to. I mean, we've heard from several of them. They love their job, but because they cannot afford to stay. When that happens, our students lose stability, trust, and progress, the very things that they need the most. If we say we value students, then we must also value the people who care for them every single day. A living wage is not a
054luxury. It's a necessity. It allows our ESPs to stay in this district, raise their own families so that they can go to school here and continue to provide the consistent, compassionate support our students need. Now, we say dignity is a district priority. Dignity and action. I've heard it. I believe it. But we're treating our ESPs But are we treating our ESPs with dignity when they have to go to food banks to provide for their families? Are we treating them with dignity when they have to shop at thrift stores not because they choose to, because that's all they can afford. When they when they must work multiple jobs to make just to make ends meet. Are we showing them that we treat them with dignity? Dignity must be more than a word on paper or on
055a slide. It must be reflected in fair pay. I urge you to prioritize a fair contract and a living wage for our ESBs. Choosing to invest in them is choosing to invest in the success, safety, and well-being of our students. Without them, special education cannot function. With them, our schools thrive. Choose dignity. Choose justice. Choose to value the people who make our schools work. Thank you. So, my name is Tom, not Bob. Um, thought it looked like >> Tom Barker and I teach uh here here's the worst part. 67 uh sexual studies at Billy Mills Middle School and I'm the chair of LEA advocacy and I'm the proud parent of a freshman at Lawrence High School and future student at Quarterly. Um, I think a lot of people have a huge misunderstanding of what schoolboard
056members do. I think when they think of school board members, they think of you guys as the managers. Like, oh, they're going to fix this problem. If I have 32 kids in my class, then it has to be GR's fault. It's immediately his fault. He set the schedule. And it's not. Schoolboard members really are elected or run on a vision that they have for our public institution of education, our greatest public institution. And in taking that vision, we elect you and then you bring that vision here and work with your colleagues to come up with a plan or to move forward with our public schools that our superintendent carries out. Um, I think that that's really, really important is that you're elected not as managers, but as advocates, advocates of your vision of what you
057feel our community needs and what makes a good public school. I have watched my fair share of state legislative meetings. Um way too much educational task force meetings. Even at 1.4 speed, it is way too much. Um and I have tried to advocate as much in that space as possible. Yesterday at the forum, we keep hearing about both uh incumbents and people who are running for the first time uh about fighting and about the $14 million that we are shorted because we don't receive that 92% of excess cost. But the problem that I see in my own opinion is that and I I'll just be frank advocacy is not there. The exception being Shannon who is that's their job. And it's been too long that as board members we've relied upon Shannon to be that
058advocate for us. If that $14 million of sped funding that we don't receive is the crux of why we can't have a living wage, then why is not why are you not submitting testimony? Why are you not speaking at these meetings? Where is your advocacy in that? Because I can tell you we as association are submitting testimony. We as association are going there both written and in oral. We are doing that because we believe in that advocacy. You're our strongest advocates. As I was going to get a drink, um I saw some of our our previous winners and I saw one of my former colleagues, Kelly Hart, who I loved working with, Kelly. When she left Billy Mills, I I was heartbroken. And they left to go to a higherp paying job in Dodto. and
059we've lost other members of who are on those walls going to other districts except for Becky Reber who's doing an amazing job at quarterly. We have had amazing great ESPs within our district and they literally have left us for Papa John's. I want that to sink in. We are losing people to school districts in Kansas City, but we are losing ESPs to Papa John's to Walmarts to Raising Canes. That's kind of disappointing. I believe as an advocate and many of you have ran previously on this promise, a promise that was made to our ESPs that you would fight for a living wage, but that hasn't been very apparent at all. It really hasn't. I understand that things happen and it's hard to plan, especially when we think of the change that we're going to see
060in the state finance formula beginning in June of 2027. It's hard for us to predict what sped additional sped funding we're going to get if it's going to be like this la last legislative session or what's going to happen, but we can at least come up with a plan. We can have a plan to say this is what we're hoping to do and move forward. And just like Dr. Swift with her presentation, sometimes you're hit with a curveball and the video doesn't work and you just keep moving forward and you're like, "Okay, we're going to do this." Um, and that's what we do as teachers and we we need that from you. Um, we simply could just can't just stand by and just hope. Um, you know, as I heard all the time, hope is
061not a strategy. It really isn't. Um, I am here as a teacher with some of my fellow teachers. I'm here with some of our educational support professionals. I'm here with community members. I'm here with parents. I'm here with leadership from our state affiliate, K&A. I am here with some of our state legislators because we are here to advocate for our ESPs and getting a living wage because we believe that when we fight, we win. >> Win. >> Say that again. >> When we fight, >> we win. >> Thank you very much for this time. >> Thank you very much for that. Um, we'll move on to committee reports. So, we'll start on this end. Bob, do you have any committee reports? >> Um, actually not, but we are having negotiations tomorrow. Okay. >> Carol, do
062you have any committee reports? >> Uh, yes, I do. Uh, let's see. Last week, Bob and I met with the equity advisory council committee. That's okay. And along with superintendent Dr. Swift and school board candidate Molly Star. And we discussed um reestablishing the application process for the equity advisory council committee. And let's see. And we also discussed at length the um general questions about the esports issue. >> Sports. And if I can >> add because I did forget uh one of the tasks that I was asked to make sure for equity council I did was to locate um information about the history of the equity council and and it's uh the the information that brings it into existence and actually we located it. >> So good. Okay. >> Thank you. That's all I have. Um
063just a note that policy is meeting this Thursday. >> Okay. >> Thank you, >> Kelly. Uh, I'll add to the policy um committee report and share that um we to Shannon and Ann and then to my board colleagues in in conjunction with some of the things that were just discussed. the um policy platform we need to write um in the next couple of weeks. And that is what we utilize when we speak with our legislators about the request from um this district to their charge. Um so we'll if there are items um that are pertinent to your committees that you serve or anything from the ELT, anything from LEA. Um we would want to make sure that we're collaborating on uh messaging as we do every year. >> Okay. Shannon, do you have any committee
064report? >> I do not have a committee report. I do have a board report when the time is appropriate. Thanks. >> You want to just do that now? We'll just start with you and come back the other way. >> Sure, I can do that. Thank you very much. Um, I want to start off by saying thank you to our certified and uh, ESP staff who are there this evening. Um, I want to express my um, apologies for not being there to uh, uh, hear you in person. I am traveling for work. I'm actually I'm actually out across the state uh, doing legislative advocacy meetings this week. Um, and uh, the things that you said are the very things that um, we are talking about across the state. So, I appreciate that. Um, I hear what
065you shared. I feel it and I know that we aren't where we need to be um as a district and I am committed to continue to work on how we get to where we need to be because it is a priority uh for me and um we do need to do something about it. I don't disagree with that at all. So I appreciate um you sharing those thoughts with us this evening. Um, in terms of some updates to share with my board colleagues, I attended on August 29th the Chamber of Government Workforce and Education Sector meeting. Um, it's the first one of those I have attended. I they only hold them twice a year. Um, so the next one won't be until uh 2026. Uh, they gave an update on some uh uh the new
066development code for the city uh which was interesting. I think it will have some impact on how housing is built in our community which is certainly an issue afford of affordable housing that we have been concerned about and talked about at the board table. So um that was helpful and then they did give an update on um what the city is doing to prepare for World Cup uh activities in the Kansas City area and possibly here in Lawrence uh next year. Um the education funding task force met in Topeka uh on Wednesday and Thursday this past week. Um Wednesday was a full day uh some of the discussion centered around uh career and technical education courses. Um Thursday was an update on some work that special education directors have done to provide feedback to the
067committee on their thoughts about the special education funding formula. the special ed director's work was excellent and I uh highly encourage you to watch at least that portion of the day on on Thursday because it will give you some really good insights into um maybe things that we should be advocating for around special education as it relates to the um funding formula work. And then there was a discussion of what the committee's next steps are going to be. This was the last authorized meeting for the task force in 2025. um they have talked about having additional meetings, but those additional meetings have not been authorized. So, we don't know if they will be meeting again before the start of the 20 26th legislative session. There will be a written report issued by the Kansas legislative
068research department to the legislature. So, we will be um waiting to get a hold of that and see what uh what summary they provide to legislators. Um, so I will update you all when I know if there are any additional meetings that get scheduled for that. Um, and then I wanted to thank uh Dr. Swift and other staff for the invitation to um, attend and be a part of the celebration at halftime last Friday evening at the Free State um, high school football game for the Free State Performing Arts School of Excellence Award. Um, I'm extremely proud of our district um and of Free State High School and the uh performing arts and forensics and debate staff who were um and students who were honored and recognized um with that award this year. It's really
069um a great accomplishment. So, congratulations to them. Um and then finally um just a brief uh for the board federal update. There's some concern that grant money that is supposed to be distributed to school districts on October 1st for competitive federal grants um is not going to be distributed. Um so the landscape as far as federal funding goes continues to shift nearly daily. Um and there is quite a bit of uncertainty. So, I just wanted to to put that in front of you again as we are thinking about um the decisions we have to make later this evening about the state budget questions that we have um an opportunity to weigh in on. So, uh that's all I have. Thank you very much. >> Thank you, >> Kelly. Um there a couple things I wanted
070to say. So one, I want to thank you all for coming and um sharing with us the importance of the continued work related to increasing wages. It is a commitment that I have. Um it is hard to hear uh the telling I have I'm going to just speak I'm going to speak with I but I don't mean to say that it to Emerson's point that has to do with just one single person. Um it is uh it is challenging to not have gotten to the space that you all are asking us to get to and that is a shared vision uh that I have and do want to continue to the extent that I can to work in this this space with you and again not wanting to make it about me. I do want
071you all to know we did submit testimony. I was up in Topeka. I did speak to our policy makers. I did speak to other board members in this state. I was doing that work and I did it because I know what you do is so important for the kids that we serve. Um I don't I'm not asking for credit for that. I just don't want you to think that we weren't doing it. Um and that's no disrespect to Tom who I think knows that I have a deep regard for the work that he does. We can do more. I hear that message loud and clear. We can do more. I just don't want you thinking that this isn't a commitment that we have and share with you all. Um and we'll continue to to uh
072and work in the best way that we can to come up with the ideas that you've asked us for um to ensure the living wage and additionally just to to pay you um that which you're due. So thank you. Um so that uh related um I uh had an opportunity yesterday to speak with the teacher and um learned a piece of information that is really um it's something I knew about but I don't think I understood the severity of it. Uh the um number of science and math teachers that were graduating from KU. I spoke to um Dr. Swift about that and and um Dr. Engel Brick and my uh board colleagues um GR and Bob and I had a conversation about it during agenda setting and and check-in today. Um I asked for just
073some communication to understand whether or not that is um what you know what the accuracy in that. um not to throw my own husband under the bus, but he is a uh scientist and did also share that he has some concerns about programming that's shift at the KU level. So, thinking about other spaces that we can do some advocacy work. I know that we need teachers of in all spaces um particularly special education. And I just wanted to draw some attention to that science and math um piece because it it um came it it was a new level of awareness to me given our partner with um with KU and then also with Haskell. Um so those were the two things that I wanted to bring to the table and just again thank you all
074for coming and um for reminding us you know what we're up here for. So thank you. Um, I don't have much either. I just want to acknowledge LEA for for coming in and um, thank you, President GR, for putting them on making space to put them on our agenda. I think it's nice and that we can hear from the people that we are here to serve. We are elected into these positions by you guys so to be your advocates. So, I want to let you guys know that I hear you. I see you. I have family members who are you and to see some have to take on a second job and move in with family members because they cannot afford to stay here. So, I see you and I will do everything in my
075power to make sure that we all agree to get you guys to some type of living wage. Um, not to echo everyone, but really want to echo what um, Yolanda and Kelly have said as far as like, you know, being aware of what you guys are asking. Um, and really, you know, as Kelly, >> as Kelly said, you know, we can do more. We need to do more. Um, I have done some testimony and advocacy, but I can do more as well. So, I I hear you and it is something that we want. Um, as Kelly said, it's not easy, but it is something that we are committed to. And so, I want want you to know that. Um, and I appreciate you all being here. And I love seeing the support of um, you
076know, teachers here supporting their ESP um, partners and just hearing kind of the um, impact that they have on their lives as well, not just our students lives because we know they have an inordinate amount of impact on our students lives. But um, so thank you for that. Um also wanted to talk so um I attended some leadership for tomorrow sessions through KASB in Ellsworth and Russell school districts. Um so I just want to share a little bit of information and I will share more with the board um soon. But so Ellsworth is about 425 square miles. Uh it's 626 students, three different community communities. Um excuse me. They have um schools in Canopoulos and in Ellsworth. Um and they also have students um in Jennese, but there's no actual building there that was closed.
077Um and we um it was interesting to hear about um the way that they did busing, which was completely different. Obviously, that's a a big thing when you're 425 square mile school district um versus, you know, we're much smaller um from that perspective. Um and then we got to um see some presentations and do some hands-on activities um with their fax students and their FFA students, which was really fun and exciting. Their um fax students um on Thursdays do um you can pre-order the week ahead for like a take and bake dinner that they'll um do um for families um that's you know at an affordable price. And one of the thing activities that we did was actually make a um a jar of so we could make a chicken noodle soup. So um that
078we got to take home with us. So that was really exciting and interesting to see. Um Russell um so they're a 3A district. They are a declining enrollment district. Um the superintendent's been in his role for about three years, but seven years in the district and he said they've lost about 100 FTE since he's been in the district, which is a lot considering they're about a 600 student um district. They do have student representatives on their board of education um for they serve two-year terms. So last year was the first year they start with juniors. Um and so that person's now on their senior year and they had added the second person this year that's a junior. Um, and I thought that was a really um, interesting idea. I don't know, I don't think they
079have like voting rights, but they um, the superintendent said and the students actually spoke to us as well is a lot of times um, you know, board members or the superintendent will directly address them to answer questions because they are, you know, obviously on the front lines of what's happening in the schools and understanding, you know, kind of how the decisions we make are actually, you know, impacting the students. So, I thought that was um, a really interesting thing. Um and then um they had this amazing welding lab. So um they spent about $600,000 um on different equipment and that sort of thing. Um and this uh they are one year in and last year over 10% of the graduating class went on to welding jobs, some form of welding field jobs um just in
080that first year alone. Um so that was amazing. We actually had a presentation from a student who's now at uh Witchaw State um studying welding engineering which I didn't even know was a thing. Um and neither did she until she experienced this. So they have a really amazing welding teacher who spoke to her knew that she was interested in engineering and robotics and said, you know, we've got a robot here in the welding lab, so if you're interested. So she kind of had to take all the intro courses in welding and kind of realized she kind of liked it. she had to learn how to do some welding before so she could understand what the robot was doing. And the more she experienced it, the more um she got interested in it, you know, she
081talked um about how she was um in a class with all guys at the time from ages 13 to 18. She was the only girl. Um but she realized that she really liked it. And so um she decided to she wanted to do something with welding and that's where she kind of did the research and was able to find the two things that she enjoys which are welding and engineering and that's now what she's studying. And so it was just really inspiring because uh to see, you know, it's not, you know, you don't hear a lot about girls in welding programs and to see how excited she was about it and just like non-traditional and just she was an really inspiring um speaker. Um so that was um awesome. I have photos too I can
082share, but they have like five or six different like um virtual reality welding things that they can practice on along with the actual stuff. So, it's a huge program. It was a um really started out of um a community member coming and saying, "Hey, we've got a lot of these jobs that are open in the community that we need filled. What can we do to build a program here to help these students and and help turn out more people that are willing and able to do this?" And so, um, they, you know, obviously had to raise a lot of money. Um, but that's how the whole thing started and it's just been, it's an amazing program. So, that's all I have, >> Carol. >> Yeah. Thank you. Uh, out of respect for everybody's time, I
083would like to thank everyone from LEA and our ESPs that came in here tonight and and spoke with us. And thank you all. Um, and I don't I just um I want to just te just take a little bit of time to, you know, echo what Kelly says. you know, some of us, you know, we we have been we've had the ability to meet with some of our lawmakers and I've met with some of lawmakers who are outside of my district who may have may or may not have, you know, listen to what I've I've what I I see and I hear within Lawrence public schools. And um I knew all too well what it is to have to struggle to make ends meet or moving with relatives just to you know get by. And
084and uh unfortunately too many of our people are living with um with the uncertainty of you know the bottom of your life falling out. And I and um I promise that I will do my best to advocate. And on those days when I did advocate and I lobbyed at the state house, I did have to take a personal day for my own work and my day job as a mental health professional. And I let them know that I am missing work to come and come in and convey this message that our um people need to improve their livelihoods, live with dignity. And again, I'm I'm going to talk again about the $3 billion potential price tag of the cheese stadium. And I just it it's appalling to me that so much time and energy went
085into the pot the possibility of funding a stadium when we have hungry people right here in Lawrence, Kansas. Thank you. Welcome. Now, first I want want to thank the ESPs and LEA for their presentation. It takes me back to a bit when I was um in high school. I had to support my family and working after school as a janitor at the local high school and did that through high school. Um, so I when I when I listen to presentations like that, I can understand. I've been there not as an adult but but in order to support my family's livelihood that was my part that I could do do at the same time of staying involved in sports and trying to keep my grades up so I could get into college. Um, with that, I've
086I've sat here and and I and I do understand uh what the what the special ed dollars have meant, but I I think it's a different challenge we have because the challenge really, you know, we can depend on the state, which we have to because that's where we get most of our funding or all of our funding. But the reality is we didn't get to where we are only because of that. So my thought is and I think what our true challenge is is to look internally and reimagine what we do in order to better able be better able to afford to do the things we know we should be doing. So I'm not going to sit here and tell you that just because I cannot depend on the legislature to do things. What I
087can say is the people we can depend on and should be depending on is us >> as leaders to sit back and reimagine what we're doing as a district in order to better to be better able to fund the things we need to fund. Uh so and I I truly think that is our challenge. I can say I we can lobby that's what we need to do and should be doing. But the other part of that is we need to relook at ourselves and make sure that we're doing the things and all the things that we can actually do to be able to afford to do the things that we know we should do. And I and I, you know, and I first when I was talking about what I would say, um, I was
088going to talk about the goats because I spent a Saturday morning out in the community up near near, uh, Langston Hughes and had to drop in and see the goats. Uh, you know, and I attended Free State uh, versus Gardener Edertton. go Firebirds. Uh and enjoyed u se the celebration of their award and I thought those were the most important things that I could say today. Uh but what I now realize is is the most important thing to say is is that we should we hope and we should lobby for the legislature to do the right thing, but we cannot rely on them to do what's right. So the best the other thing that we need to then do is look internally to try to figure out exactly what we as a district administratively as
089board members can do in order to figure out how to get to where we need to go because if we're waiting on the legislature to give us more money likely not going to happen in the near future. uh and we'll be sitting here this time next year saying, "Yeah, we we know we want to and we know we should, but we can't." So, I think our challenge really is something different. I think our challenge is to reimagine education, come up with ways to save to free up dollars to do the things we need to do. That's >> Thank you. Um, I will just add that I appreciate you all coming. I appreciate what you had to say. Um, I don't know that I can add much that's already been said. I will say, um, I
090will take for me personally, I will specifically take to heart Tom's message. Um maybe cuz he threw me under the bus, but um but no, I think I think something that that that I can specifically promise and commit to is is that the advoc advocacy work that I do do that I can tell you about it. I can be I can make sure that that it's transparent and it's it's that that that you know about it. I know I know Kelly did it when when she was president and so adding that to my board president report when it when it happened. So, um, it's there and and if if going forward if it's if it's something where you need my support, if you need me to do something, if you need me to give testimony,
091if you need me to do something, just ask and and I will I will be there. I will I will I will be there to support you guys. So, again, thank you for being here. All right, so we're going to move on to we have one retirement. Nope. There he is. Right there under special recognition. Okay. LGR, I do not see it. There you go. Okay. I see. Oops. The board of education recognizes the following staff member with sincere appreciation for their years of service and devotion to the community. Rodney Ecklund, uh, congratulations on 13 years of service. Thank you, Bob. We're now going to 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 the superintendent requested an
092item be removed. >> The item or items removed are voted on separately. Can I get a motion for the consent agenda? >> I move the board of education adopt the items listed on the consent agenda. >> Second. >> Gordon Ross. >> Yes. >> Jones. >> Yes. >> Kebell. >> Yes. >> Buyers. Yes. >> Kadu Blackwood. >> Yes. >> Costello. >> Yes. >> Franklin. >> Yes. >> Motion passes 70. >> Okay. Now move on to old business. Item 4.1 adoption of the 2025 2026 budget. Do we have any >> motion? >> What? Do we have any discussion? >> Shannon G. I'd like to say just a couple of things if that's all right. Um, >> so I want to uh share with the community that I am going to support uh passing this budget because it
093funds the continuing contracts that we uh entered into with our staff back in May. It supports the uh agreement that we reached with our certified staff at the end of June um regarding their wages and it will help support the agreement when we reach it uh with our ESP staff. Um, it's really important to maximize the resources that our district has available to meet the the absolutely clear needs that we have in these areas. Um, and I want to also state very clearly for the record that our board has heard the needs assessment that was completed by our district staff. I u as a board member have taken all of the information in that needs assessment into consideration in um approaching my vote this evening. It is my conclusion that the state funding that is
094available to us is insufficient to meet the needs that we have. Um and I am considering that as part of my decision-m this evening. It is true that teacher pay in our state lags 25% behind where it should be for t for people with similar qualifications. It is true that education support professionals do not make a living wage in our district and in many districts across the state. It is true that our base state aid funding is 20% behind the rate of inflation. So that means in in general our instructional funding as a district is 20% behind the rate of inflation from where it should be. It is true that special education is underfunded by um and has been for the last 15 years. And that's $14 million that we are spending out of our
095general fund and our local property taxes to cover that gap. And these are the findings that I am have made as an individual board member to support my vote this evening. Um it's also the reason why I supported the revenue neutral rate resolution that we passed earlier. Um it's absolutely necessary as I said in my opinion um that we maximize the resources that are available to us that we do have control over. So I just wanted to provide that explanation um as as I um prepare to vote on this budget this evening. Thank you very much. >> Okay. >> Anyone else? >> This is Carol. I will echo Shannon's sentiments and I deliberated on this and I I I I um you know to just um tonight we are going to talk about the the
096Dell apartments, but I think our ESP said it best when we need to ensure the value of those who work for us and live here in Lawrence. And I we just like like Shannon said, we need to maximize every resource we can because um as Dr. Swift has said, nobody's coming to save us. So I am full I'm in full support of this. >> I uh again just wanted to echo Shannon and Carol. Um you know we have um you know a lot I have also looked at the needs assessment um and taken that into consideration. We have issues and the state has been unreliable in providing funding. I don't see that changing. So, we really need to maximize what we're able to do ourselves in order to make sure that we can meet the
097needs of all of our students and all of our staff um in terms of salaries um but also just providing the top educational experience that we can. So, I will be supporting this as well. I I as well will support uh the budget and my thoughts on it actually go back to my my my prior thoughts about what where we're at and how we need and what we need to do in the future. Um, I think at this point our community and we've heard at different times about uh our community's fight uh with us about raising uh taxes and I think until we uh take a internal look at ourselves to see where we can save save that I don't see that there is a choice because we do need to take care of our
098staff as best we can today. We do need to ensure that we provide an adequate education to the youth that we're responsible for. Uh with that in mind, um I will be supporting the budget. >> All right. Can I get a motion? >> I move the board of education approve the 2025 2026 budget. based on the findings presented in the USD497 needs assessment, state assessment review and discussion among the board of education, including the academic data and progress of each building, district curriculum, staffing and faculty needs as well uh facility needs as well as other important items that are critical to the success of our students. >> Second, >> I think she's just having trouble, guys. >> Yes. I'm I apologize that I was having trouble getting unmuted. Yes. >> Buyers, >> yes. >> Could
099you Blackwood? >> Yes. >> Costello? >> Yes. >> Franklin? >> Yes. >> Gordon Ross? >> Yes. >> Jones? >> Yes. >> Motion passes 70. >> Okay. Moving on to item 4.2, two, local option budget resolution. Anybody have any comments? Okay, Kelly. >> I move the board of education approves the resolution to certify the local option budget in amount of 33% of the 2025 for 2025 2026. >> I second. >> Kimble, >> yes. >> Buyers, >> yes. >> Could Blackwood? >> Yes. >> Costello? >> Yes. Franklin, >> yes. >> Gordon Ross, >> yes. >> Jones, >> yes. >> Motion passes 70. >> All right, moving on to new business. Item 5.1, the nine delu neighborhood revital revitalization request. Dr. Ingleberg, >> I just want to introduce him if that's okay. You always do that to me.
100Dr. Swift, >> I thank you. Uh, President Gordon Ross and everyone who continues to join us this evening, Dr. Ingerbrick, uh, and members of our facilities team and our board members are uh, GR Gordon Ross and Shannon Kimble uh, who serve on that committee. I just want to thank both of those members and Dr. Dr. Inglebrick for this work and partnership and Dr. Ingleick will introduce our guests who will share from the work that they've done. Thank you. >> Thank you very much Gordon Ross. Thank you board members. Thank you. And Dr. Swift, thank you for this time. My words will be short this evening. I'd like to highlight the people that did a great deal of work over the past number of months on this project and getting the information to a point that
101is as accurate as we can give you. We do have the request from the city for a project known as the two Dell I'm sorry the nine Dell 2 neighborhood res revitalization project request. Cindy Frick, our executive director for finance, has worked with uh consultants and members of the city staff over the past two and a half or possibly three months to go through the budgetary items and to work through those and get those as accurate as possible. I'd like to give Cindy credit for that and to ask her to introduce our guests from the city this evening. Cindy Thank you, Larry. Um, tonight we have joining us Tom Calico, a consultant with the city and um, Brandon Maguire, assistant city manager. The request tonight is a cooperative agreement with the city, the county, and
102the school district to participate in this project and they are going to explain the project to us and the financial impact to the district. Good evening. Tom Calico with Baker Tilly Municipal Advisors. We're a financial adviser to the uh city. Um Oh, great. Thanks. So, just by quick explanation why why as a consultant here instead of a city staff, some of you may be aware that the city is currently recruiting uh they had a retirement. They're currently recruiting for their economic development director and uh my firm and I have stepped in kind of helping with the city with their projects in the interim. But I am uh joined this evening by Brandon McGuire, the assistant city manager. He will speak to part of the presentation and I understand um on uh remotely connected is uh
103is Tony Kresnik, the uh developer for the project who will be available to help answer questions at the conclusion of our presentation. All right, let's see if I can figure this out. >> Nope. Okay. Which way do I Just second. I'm going to need some coaching on the uh remote, it seems. You might have to >> somebody just advance it for me. >> That'd be great. All right. So, uh, what I'm going to quickly cover this evening is, you know, what is a neighborhood revitalization area? Um, so it may be new to some of you. U, maybe it's been a while since you've heard about it. So, a quick refresher on that. Talk a little bit about the project itself. um the requested school district participation and then finally the estimated fiscal impact on the
104school district should you choose to participate. Go ahead. So neighborhood revitalization areas are created by state statute. Uh the intent of the uh of the law is to help address blighted areas. uh blighted um either because ar because we have architectural or historical significance or other areas that just sort of are put it in economic decline. Um, the way it works is the property owner pays the property taxes, uh, but then a portion of those property taxes, and I'll that I'll describe a little bit in a little more detail shortly, but a portion of those property taxes are then rebated back to the uh, property owner. Uh, the terms of a neighborhood revitalization area are set in a plan that is uh, established by the city. That plan talks about the eligibility, uh the re
105rebate percentage, the number of years. Um and finally, the the way that entities other than the city, um so specifically the school district, the county participate in a neighborhood revitalization area is through the uh uh through the adoption of a cooperative agreement. So the way it works is you know you have a given piece of property. It has a assessed valuation as of today prior to any improvement. So this is this particular piece of property that we're going to talk about as a vacant parcel. So it has you know a relatively minim you know minor assessed valuation as exists today. someone comes in, they build a project that creates, you know, additional value on the parcel, increasing the assessed value. The and so in the neighborhood revitalization area, we identify the incremental increase in valuation
106that is created by construction of the project. And it is that incremental increase or percentage thereof that is then rebate eligible to be rebated back to the property owner as an incentive to uh complete the project. One thing I want to really stress here is that none of the taxing entities including the school district are being asked to give up anything. All taxes that are currently coming from the property to the school district will would continue to flow to the district. We're only talking about a percentage of the incremental increase. And and under the neighborhood revitalization act law, there is specific requirement that the school district capital outlay levy cannot be rebated. So you this, you know, the school district would continue to receive, like I say, all the taxes that it currently receives, plus
107it would receive the capital outlay levy assign as it is assessed against the new higher assessed value. I'll pause there. That's probably the most complicated part of everything I'm going to talk about. All right, next slide. All right, so the pro the project is uh is located at the northwest corner of East 9inth Street and Delaware Street. Um, if you've ever visited the uh the Lawrence Beer Company and maybe you've parked in the parking lot kind of behind the buildings, um, that's where the uh the project is. Um, the project consists of a total of 42 units, 24 uh living units, one-bedroom units would meet affordability standards. So, this project is all about providing affordable housing to Lawrence residents. Um, so 24 one-bedroom units meeting affordability standards, either 30, 40, or 60% of median area
108household come. There will be 12 market rate units and six work of units on the ground floor. Uh, the project cost is around $14 million. Um, there are various tools that are being utilized to make this project a reality. Those include federal and state low-income housing tax credits, uh, money from the National Housing Trust Fund, and the city of Lawrence has put in money from its affordable housing trust fund as well. The the affordability period, which is basically the time period by which the developer is committing to maintain the affordable housing uh, units, is 30 years. Next slide. So, the requested incentive is the school district uh the the the city the school district um school excuse me and the county participating in the neighborhood revitalization area. 95% property tax rebate again on that incremental
109increase only not on the base taxes that are currently coming off the property for a period of 15 years. Um, and the site is eligible for a neighborhood revitalization act by virtue of the site deterioration. They're also requesting a sales tax exemption on construction materials. This would have no impact whatsoever on the school district. Um, but for those entities that uh impose, you know, that impose sales taxes might have some. In cases like this, a lot of the construction materials are purchased outside of Lawrence. So the impact tends to be more on a state level, statewide level. Um but uh um but that is the other incentive that is requested. At this point in the presentation, I'm going to turn it over to Brandon u because I think it'd be helpful for you to hear
110a little bit from city staff about their affordable housing efforts. Uh so Brandon, >> thanks Tom. >> Good evening board members. Brandon McGuire, assistant city manager. Um, ideally our affordable housing administrator, Leah Roslin, would be here this evening. She's our subject matter expert on affordable housing. I've been helping with the incentive part of this uh project. Um, and uh, she's educated me quite a bit about that. I've also been involved um, from the very beginning with our community strategic plan to end chronic homelessness called a place for everyone. um with within that plan um and that's a plan that is jointly adopted by the city and the county commission um but it really is a plan for our whole community and within that plan the city's uh commitments revolve around uh kind of the the
111uh far ends of the spectrum of housing from emergency sheltering and outreach uh to affordable housing. And so this project really um contributes to our affordable housing goals along with a number of other um affordable housing projects that the city has invested in uh through the affordable housing trust fund or through incentivized um or in incentives for development. Um so when we talk about affordable housing uh one way of thinking about that is a housing wage. um in the slide here obviously defines that as um the ability to afford um fair market value without spending more than 30% of your household income on your housing expenses. So that 30% uh threshold is really critical um to establish affordable housing. Currently uh the data shows in Douglas County that's $21.88 an hour. um almost half of
112our renters uh in the community, almost a quarter of quarter of homeowners experience housing insecurity. Um and so that's why we are engaging in a strategic plan to try to do work on this. One of the goals for affordable housing in a place for everyone includes construction of 1,500 affordable rental units and 200 affordable um owner occupied units. Uh we've been working since the uh voter approved um affordable housing sales tax back in uh I think it was 2018 uh to um to leverage those funds to incentivize uh development of of affordable housing. And since that time um we've built or we've funded 1,12 units. So we are getting really close to that number of 1500 units. Um, of those funded units, 424 have been completed. Uh, we have 54 currently under construction, 523 in
113the development process, and an additional 101 uh, units in preconstruction phase. Uh, I do just want to point out that we are um engaging in a new housing study. The housing study that currently guides our goals and our strategies was completed prior to the pandemic. Um, I think everybody understands the housing industry um has it has changed dramatically since then. So, we're looking forward to having the new study to help us establish um more relevant uh goals and strategies to support our work towards those. >> Um, >> any questions about >> Yes. >> this piece of it? >> Yeah. GR, can I jump in? >> Yeah. >> Okay. So, I did have a question about the age of the study. So, I appreciate you qualifying that because that's certainly something that has to be >>
114absolutely >> updated. Correct. Okay. So, you have currently $21.88 per hour for Douglas County um is a housing wage. Can you clarify is that for an individual? >> Um I think it is. So that would be the income needed either for an individual or a household to be able to um to meet the affordability. >> So if an if if um you can tell from this evening this number is relevant to us. >> Understand? Um, so I'm asking this question because it's an interesting um framing for us and knowing um a bit more about what that looks like if you have children versus like so I'm wondering about that housing wage and it sounds like maybe the right person to ask is not here. Um, so it's some research I can do on my on
115my own, but I did want to at least invite if you knew um to educate the board, is this an individual or a family >> um >> housing wage? >> Yeah, my understanding is I it's based on it's based on income and cost. >> Okay. >> So, not necessarily >> um you know, how many individuals live under the under the roof. Yeah. But what what would need to be earned whether that's you know a single earner or a household income >> um in order you know based on the cost that we see in the market. >> Okay. The reason I'm qualifying is because a living wage for an individual in Douglas County is around $20 an hour but for a family as you increase that number obviously goes up. Um and so that's why I
116was just wondering how that factored into that particular right like the you know the MIT living wage piece. >> Yeah. That's a great question and and it is an interesting way of framing it. I I think it's really more a product of the of the co on the cost side >> than um on the you know a a more traditional living wage calculation. >> Question. >> Okay. So on one of the previous slides it says affordable equals 30 40 and 60% of median area household income. So, does that mean that the affordable the 24 one-bedroom units that are affordable meeting affordability standards that some will be at 30, some will be at 40, and some will be at 60 or will they all be at the same? >> Um, do do you have a >>
117Yeah, it's specific for the project. So, I'll let Tom speak to that. >> So, there will be some there will be some units allocated to 30, some come some allocated to 40 and some allocated to 60. So reaching down um obviously at lower levels of income and then >> do you know how many are allocated at each level? >> I don't um that may be something that uh Mr. President can answer. >> Well and I guess how does this number tie back to the 21 88 and the 30%. So because that's um see housing wage but then medium area household income is a completely different statistic. So how are those two like related? I'm trying to understand how truly affordable is this because I do believe that we have a an incredible need for affordable
118housing, but I want to know that it's actually affordable before we start, you know, and I know we don't lose any money on it. We actually gain, but I think it's an important message that we give here today that we are in need of affordable housing and the city needs to work on this and if they want our partnership, then they need to come to the table with actual affordable housing. Sure. And I would defer to Mr. Kresnik on this. I don't know the logistics of getting him um whether you want to answer questions in real time now or maybe bring him in at the conclusion of our presentation, but >> that would be >> and just just to address that kind of briefly, this is a a low-income housing tax credit project. So, it
119is, you know, part of the capital stack includes um federal litec low-income housing tax credits as well as um state of Kansas um housing tax credits. Uh so, those programs, those tax credit programs come with definitions around affordability. Um I do know Mr. Kresing has a has a pretty comprehensive knowledge of how th those programs work. if he is able to um respond to that question, he could address that. >> Do you have what the median area household income is? >> Do I know that number off the top of my head? I don't. >> No, I do not off the top of my head. >> I mean, personally, I feel like that would have been something that should have been included in the presentation. >> It's important number. >> Yeah. Go ahead. I I think
120I think the important piece to remember is that the whole goal of affordable housing, right, is that we don't burden a household with a with a housing cost that exceeds 30%. So the way affordable housing is set up, the tax credit program and the subsidy is to it's all designed so that the household is not overburdened. So it's not their housing cost does not exceed 30%. So you can sort of picture it sort of a sliding scale. >> Okay. >> I mean I understand that but when you talk about 30% of the average median household versus 60% that's a huge swath there. there. And so I'm trying to understand what does that look like and relate it back to perhaps understanding how it relates to what our ESPs and our certified staff is earning to
121understand is this an option for them should they need it or is this still out of their price range, >> right? And and we would certainly be happy to provide you with whatever information um subsequent to this presentation that gives you that exact information that you're looking for. >> This is Carol. I'm sorry. U I am I'm looking at that $21.88 and I had a conversation with um somebody that I know very well near and dear but they just barely they were just above the poverty line to to receive free and reduced lunches. They were just just just above the minimum threshold. And so that the 2188 that's $42,000 a year. And so if you go to the the the Kansas Department of Education for those who qualify free and reduced lunches, that's a the
122free lunch would be 41,795 for a household of four. And for a reduced benefit, that would be for a family of four, 59, 475 maximum. So I'm just wondering how affordable this really is. Yeah. >> And and now I'm I'm regretting um putting this statistic in here, but let me explain why we even included that 21.88 uh for Douglas County in the presentation. The only point of putting it on there, and I think the point was made by your speakers this evening, is that 21.88, 88, right, is in excess of what many people who live in Douglas County make. That was the only reason for including it was just to basically reinforce that point. But I think that point was well reinforced by your speakers this evening, >> right? Because I think um whoever I
123mean 2188 I mean for whoever created this and maybe that they thought I it's just a difference of opinion but whoever thought of that that maybe they thought was a lower wage than what a lot of people what what we heard tonight >> which is why I think it's important to know what the average or the median area household income is because we have nothing to gauge it against. >> Yeah. I have actually two questions uh to start with. Anyway, um okay, we're talking about affordable housing. How does that differ or does it differ from when you're talking about lowincome housing? >> Yeah, there there are a lot of terms that get thrown around in the in when people talk about affordable housing. you maybe you've heard the term workforce housing for example um and
124there are specific definitions for say workforce housing affordable housing the the the point I think to keep in mind is that the goal of affordable housing programs is as I said to not overburden a household right to not have household expenses exceed the 30% standard and that's a longstanding you know index that has been used uh for many many years. So the different programs are aimed right at different economic groups. Uh so when we talk so you when when you hear when you talk about workforce housing you know that tends to be more in like this you know the income is like 60% of the median right >> you get it and then you know as you work your way down it's you know there are different terms supplied but you know the important thing
125I say to keep in mind is the whole goal is to not overburden a household >> right and that's what my my question is is usually I think some of our issues that's coming there's when we talk about affordable to me that's a different standard than low income >> because us then then you're talking about uh even a lower level when you're talking to me about and you correct me if I'm wrong that was one of my other other questions was uh that these are onebedroom units >> okay so this is not a family development >> right >> so so then it's a Then to me it makes the low in the the the affordable housing more understandable because you're not talking about a family moving in and then I'd have some other issues about
126safety and stuff stuff like that because we all know know already that project housing of families is really not a safe good idea. Um, so but when you're talking about affordable housing, it's a different issue because really what you're talking about is is enabling people to stay at a at a level rather than helping people gain housing that they can't housing even though they couldn't afford it anyway. So, it does help me understand what they're talking about better because what you're actually talking about is not lowincome housing. What you're talking about is housing that are more affordable for people of lower of lower wages to have give them the ability to have a place housing, >> right? This is this is quality housing that is affordable to people of modest means. Yes, >> that's what
127this is. And you and there are other projects in Lawrence right now that you drive by every day that are similar and I'm going to mention them later in the presentation but I'll mention them now. The nine del roughly caddy corner to this site silver building you've probably driven by many times. Um the pen street lofts also you know in the warehouse district another project just like this. Yeah. >> So you know this is not a new concept but yes it is it is quality housing for people with modest means. That's what this is all about. I get it. >> I have another question. >> The to your question, Ann, the US Census Bureau in to 2023 had the medium household income in Douglas County is $68,756. So 30 30% is 20,626 and 60% is
12841253. So that would roughly align with the 2188 number, but >> 2188 would be on the fi the the high side based on >> so I still think it's important to understand how many units are available. No, I >> agree. But also um and you may or may not be able to answer this but you spoke of like slightly over,00 units um for rent have been either approved or built somewhere in that process line. um h like are those following the same standards and how like I'm just curious like how much of that is sitting at those levels. >> I don't I was going off of our uh public facing dashboard on the city's website. I don't know if it breaks down uh by those levels, but there is a um useful dashboard on the
129city's website. Um I I will say we we see affordable housing uh development for you know first of all we do scattered site approach so it's not you know concentrated project housing we have affordable housing for seniors uh senior citizens 55 and over invested in that this developer is actually doing one of those projects right now around 11th in New Hampshire Street uh in downtown um so I think providing a you know high quality um housing product for uh folks um who are you know that 55 over uh age category or age range um a lot of whom you know tend to be living on a fixed income at a certain point. So there's a number of different uh projects um different types of projects for families, you know, multiple bedrooms, duplex, uh apartments, >>
130have like the numbers on like how many are for families because for me selfishly. I care about families because families mean kids, that means enrollment. That means we all have more children to work with and do our jobs with. Um, I think the city does a lot to attract um, retirees, and I'm not slamming on retirees at all by any means, um, because they are an important part of the community as well. Um, but if this city is going to survive, we have to be drawing families here. And so, 24 one-bedroom apartments is kind of, but I would love to know what else has has gone on out there. >> Yeah. And maybe this goes back to you uh made the um not say proclamation, but the invitation last meeting to have a meeting with
131the city and the county so that we can discuss issues like this. And so maybe that's something this is a specific topic we could um talk to them about if they were amanable to meetings. So >> So we do still have a couple more slides. Um if if the board agrees maybe we'll complete our presentation. Uh like we said the applicant is on um and he he is this is the main uh type of development that his company does is affordable housing units. They've done several projects in the community using LITC um and state affordable housing tax credits. So he has developed quite a bit of expertise and I think could probably answer some questions. um about how those programs work if you have any additional questions. >> So I want to talk a little
132about a question that as as uh elected officials you certainly should ask um and that is is this incentive even needed? Uh we did as part of the application ask the developer to provide us with a proforma a business proforma for their project um that we expected would demonstrate that the project but for the requested incentive would not likely happen. Uh I you know I think most people common sensically would see that affordable housing projects generally need help. They don't h they don't tend to happen on their own. But um to trust but verify, we looked over the we Baker Tilly looked over the developers proforma. We paid particular attention to their assumptions. Their assumptions on costs, their assumptions on the anticipated revenues and the rate of return. Um we found all the assumptions to
133be reasonable. um and you know feel confident that yes this project would not happen but for the requested incentive. I will also note that the developers return in these uh low housing tax credit projects is limited just by by the nature of the tax credit program. The tax credits are based on the cost of the project. So if for some reason the project were to come in less less costly than what they showed in the proforma the tax credit income would go down as well. In these cases in low-inccome tax credit projects the the developers uh compensation is primarily through a developer fee uh which is again performance-based. [Applause] So the requested school district participation is adoption of a cooperative agreement. Um this the cooperative agreement is modeled on one that has been used uh
134previously. Uh the school district entered into um basically the same uh cooperative agreement for two projects that I mentioned a moment ago. the Nedell the first Nedell apartments project which was also 15 years 95% and the Penn Street Lofts um NRA which again 15 year 95% um that cooperative agreement then references the NRA plan uh which I believe you received um that sets out uh the uh the district uh here I want to pause um when we came before the facility committee um there was a lot of discussion about how we were looking at the fiscal impact uh to the district. And I want to thank uh Larry and Cindy and the those those board members who were on the facility committee for asking us to go back and rethink how we presented this information
135to you. So, we're presenting it to you in a way um that is with a great deal of input from your staff and I hope um is is more helpful to you than our first time around. So, we're looking at it a couple different ways. We're going to first look at it from the taxes that are paid by the taxpayer. And we're going to look at it in three different periods. Current, what's happening today, what would happen during the 15-year term of the NRA, and then what would happen post NRA, so after the rebate ends. So you see here we've got your uh different levies and we have the current 2025 levy which I think what changes like tomorrow or something but but uh current as as of I think this moment. Um and you
136can see that of all your levies. So the the taxpayers to the district for this piece of property um would pay 2,900 or excuse me $2,957. Um during the term the payments would total closer to 20,000 and that's because as I mentioned earlier the capital outlay levy is not rebated. So principally during there the the increase is is attributable. Now remember we're only rebating 95%. So there is still you know some of that. Um and then after the NRA uh termination then it would go to a little over a 100,000 is what the tax what the taxes that would be paid. Now the next slide looks at the actual uh direct impact to district. So what the district would receive. Um again we've got the two the the three phases current during the term of
137the NRA and then post. And we've got your fund and we have your different funds over here. So let's take them one by one. So the general fund because of the way districts receive money from the state would first have no impact. You're going to get the same funds. Um the capital outlay as we discussed a moment ago, you would see that basically increase once the property is is constructed and you would receive that levy um uh on on the uh the full value of the of the property. The other the next uh one two three four funds um you are going to see some modest growth because we're again we're only rebating 95%. So, we'd see some modest growth in all of those. And then you see the totals down at the bottom. Um,
138now keep in mind again, you know, post uh we've got the 15,545 because we wanted to make it all total up properly, but keep in mind at the end, right, that we're back to that 100,000 um total post the uh the NRA. That concludes uh our presentation for tonight. We've had some great discussion. would happy to answer any other questions that you might have. >> Um, first I'd like to apologize to my for my colleagues that you might not understand that this has been brought to us before with another development company. When I sit back and look at Lawrence, I see that people see how we have the need for housing, so they throw the word affordable in front of it and then they bring it to the city. The city knows that we have
139a homeless problem, so then they go for it. But we voted on something similar for the East Heights building and it's still sitting there. Okay. And so then we voted for the loft and it's not affordable for any single family home or one person that's living there still can't afford it. So um I'm going to be brutally honest with you. Um and I'm I may be quoted in the newspaper for it, but hey, I got voted for a reason. Um, when I first looked at this and I went through the slides, I already knew I was going to vote no. And I'm voting no because it's not helping us at all. I know we're not losing any money for it, but it's not helping our community. The community that needs it is not helping. You
140know, you clearly said that it's basically and what you should have said in the beginning and when you presented it to us was it's basically for somebody with a modest income. That would have been truthful. That would have been transparent if we'd have known that from the very beginning. But when you throw affordable in front of it, then you have the district thinking that it's affordable housing for even a father with one child that can get a child to one bedroom while he sleeps on the couch. that's still not affordable and it's it's not helping our community. So, we can continue to vote. You can continue to present or whatever, but my vote is no already. So, this is Carol. Uh, I want to thank you for all of your time and input, but um
141I'm a I'm an East Lawrence girl and so I'm just concerned about um this is my I'm not hear any um talking about families or efforts to move in families and I'm worried about the impacts of potential gentrification on those neighborhoods and pushing the families out and making that area unaffordable and pushing our our families who are at, you know, just at the the cuts at the margin. So I um I um I like my colleague here I would have to pass because my concern is after the 15 years or 30 years 40 years down the road when me and my family members will probably still be here in Lawrence I'm concerned that that area might those aband those apartments just may become a blight down the road. Thank you >> Shannon. >> I I
142am going to weigh in. So, um appreciate the presentation this evening and I do want to thank um Tom and uh Brandon from the city for taking the feedback that was provided to them quite seriously and coming back to the board with information um that accurately reflects the fiscal impact of this kind of request on the district and on our community. Um, setting aside the question of of whether it's um completely accurate to call this affordable housing or not, I think um I think that there may be some uh impacts on terminology from some of the federal programs and state tax programs that impact these kinds of projects that um I'm going to give the benefit of the doubt to um the applicant and others because um there are definitions that apply that apply to
143these programs. Um we might not agree with them, but that's those are the definitions. Um that being said, I um this is the first time we've had one of these come before the board with an accurate assessment of impact on the district. So, I think that's a huge accomplishment. I know that our staff worked very hard um to to work with folks to make that happen. So, I want to appreciate um Cindy and Larry as well. Um, I think it's really important to acknowledge that, um, although a project this like this may not perfectly check all the boxes, um, to people who want to do large projects in Lawrence that may qualify for these kinds of incentives, um, the participation of the school district is, essential to these projects going forward. Ours is a large
144share of the mill levy that is assessed in Douglas County and in our community. And if we become the place that always says no to these, these kinds of projects will stop coming to Lawrence because if we're not going to participate, they won't come here at all. Um, I think that the there are two really important values that saying yes to a project like this will help us with and it's the reason why I will vote in favor of this this evening. One, we we have talked a lot about maximizing our opportunities for additional revenue for our district. Um clearly these kinds of projects and this project in particular would increase the revenue in a small way but in a way in our capital outlay fund. Um, the other thing that we don't often get
145an opportunity to do as as a district, um, or as a board is to vote on something that will potentially have a downward pressure on overall mill levies for all of the other funds that we have. Um when we increase the tax base by having improvements in project in property in our community, it because our funding is formuladriven, the increase in the valuation drives down the lob levy, the bond and interest fund levy, the adult ed levy, and the cost of living levy. Um, I I there are not very many ways that we can truly impact property taxes without also taking away dollars that are available for our operations. And um saying yes to improving a property um and increasing that tax base in this way is is actually one of the ways that we
146get to do that. Um, so for those reasons, um, I I will be supporting this. Um, I appreciate the opportunity to weigh in. Um, I see that Mr. has his hand up. Um, GR, I don't know if you can see that. >> Um, >> okay. Thank you, >> Tony. >> Oh, hey guys. I uh I I raised my hand earlier. I >> Oh, sorry. >> No, no worries. Um if it sounded like somebody had a question earlier, but um I've I've listened to a lot of the lot of the comments and uh on some level don't disagree with any of them. If you'd like me to weigh in really quickly, I'm happy to do so. >> I would recommend that you do. >> Okay, sounds good. I I always ask for permission in in these
147situations. So, um yeah, my name is Tony Kresnik. I own Flint Hills Holdings Group. I know many of you on the board. Um just a couple of points of clarification that I wanted to make. Um if somebody um wants this project to uh solve all workforce housing or exclusively workhouse housing to be this project, it is definitely not that. Conversely, if somebody wants this to solve all low lowincome housing or have this project be 100% what I too would consider low lowincome housing, this project does not do that either. Um, we set out on our projects to hopefully provide something for everybody and we believe that we have done a good job of that on this project at least on the small scale that it is. So I I I think that initially it was
148discussed that there is 36 apartment units and in a multifamily environment like this, yes, they are all onebedrooms. I've made the mistake in the past of having three bedrooms, four bedrooms, two bedrooms in multifamily elevator buildings. Unfortunately, it's just not a very good setup for what I'm going to call a traditional family. Although we have lots and lots of single moms, uh people that have joint custody that do have uh kids at Polar Lofts, Ninell Lofts, Penn Street Lofts, uh Schoolhouse Lofts, which by the way uh is in Baldwin City. This board also gave that abatement as well. Um but um but of the 36 units um we do have 30%, we do have 40%, and then we do have 60% units as well. Of those what I would call lowincome units, somebody mentioned that
149they would consider 60% AMI more affordable or workforce, which by the way, I would agree with that. But of the lower income units, the 30% the 40% of the 24 units, 45 of them are rent restricted to those lower AMI categories. And just as a reminder, 30% AMI is under is right around $21,000 a year in Lawrence, Kansas. And so if somebody is really focused on the lowinccome units, I guess the way that I would look at this request is we're providing 10 of them, right? And it's not going to cost the school board anything. If somebody's more focused on the workforce or affordable, which I too agree is very very important, I would look at it as about 14 of those. And then if somebody was looking for, you know, not wanting to turn
150anybody away, what happens if somebody makes $44,000 a year? We have 12 of those, right? So the whole point of this was to provide something for everybody. I heard somebody say that New Hampshire Lofts, which is the first and only senior affordable housing coupled with low-income housing development in Lawrence, uh, greater downtown area, I believe, in like close to 10 years. Don't quote me on that. that is the same exact program, right? We have a a whole variety of of income levels. Um, another piece that I heard was that East Heights uh was brought up. We made a we made an application to East Heights. Uh, that was denied. Um, we are resubmitting that application um to the city and um look look forward to hopefully getting that one approved. East Heights is not an
151elevator building. that is designed for families. But keep one thing in mind. Any single time somebody moves out of a house into this one-bedroom uh apartment community, another house opens up. It's just from a supply and demand standpoint, it does help families. Even though a lot of traditional families, for lack of a better term, do not uh typically live in a studio unit or a one-bedroom unit, it it all it all does help solve affordable housing. It all does help from a supply and demand standpoint. So, um if there's any specific questions that I've that I've missed, I'm I'm happy to answer them. And I do appreciate the time. Thank you. Go ahead. >> I'm frustrated about East Heights. That's a different matter. But >> okay. >> Is that all you're going to say? >>
152That's all she's going to say. >> All right. >> What did she say? So, having listened to some of my fellow board members, I've been kind of going back and forth in my head on what I felt about this project. Um, and I don't think it's fair necessarily to penalize this project um when I don't have information about the other projects. So, my concerns may be addressed there. I think again it's a conversation for us to be having with the city um and not one that the people here are probably apt or able to um have with us at this time. Um and I do think that Shannon makes good points about um the um maximization of opportunities for additional revenue for the district. Um, and also I think um because I'm a big believer
153in growing the city, adding to the tax base because the more we add to the tax base um although I prefer it be commercial versus residential because we already already are backwards in terms of the ratio for that. Um I do think that anything like that that might be able to bring um mil levies down at some point is a good thing because we are heavily tax burdened um in this area. So, um, despite the fact that I don't love the presentation, um, I do think that the potential is here. And I also think that affordable housing, even if it's not the ideal of what I would want for this project, it is something and it is important and we do have a need for it. Um, and so I'm leaning towards um, supporting it
154at this point for those reasons. So >> as I and actually from my original question is this why separate out low income and affordable because to me they're two different animals and when you look at them you're looking at them in a diff in different lights. Um my I I wholeheartedly agree with Shannon that that it is that for the district for this particular project it is really about added revenue and added tax base for the community. Uh the reality and I think each of us sitting here would agree that affordable housing in Lawrence is kind of very hard to find for any income level. It is we're not a we are a town where like where people like to live. Our cost of living is high. Uh so giving people the availability of housing
155is a good thing thing. I think we have a discussion that we need to have with the city about lowincome housing and that's a discussion I think that part of the concerns here is really about is we need more housing for families. uh but that does not take away the need for uh affordable housing for other groups. Um so where I'm definitely I'm leaning is supporting uh based on on that is this really is about income to the district and the tax base. Uh so that's where I'm at. Ellie, did you have something you wanted to add? >> Uh, I'll just note that it did sound like for um and Tony, I'd like you to just clarify this. It does sound like there is some transitional housing. I mean, in terms of the the availability,
156there are some h there is some rent control housing. Is that correct? >> Yeah. >> Well, yeah. All I mean all every single one of the affordable housing units has a land use restriction agreement. Um which will be recorded with with the county. Um but yes, every every single one of the the property every single one of the affordable housing units um will be rent restricted for the entire 30 years. >> Okay. So >> and and I will and I will also mention that we do accept HUD V or uh section 8 vouchers. We do partner with the housing authority and um and again I I appreciate everybody's comments being different, you know, coming from a different place here, but 10 of the units are going to be unquestionably set aside for lowincome people. >>
157Okay. So there there will be folks that um this could be housing for them coming from an unhoused circumstance. >> Absolutely. We often we often times have domestic uh people that have suffered from domestic abuse as well. Uh that's not just for this project, that's for every one of our uh projects. And that's a commitment that we make to the state and a commitment that is in the land use restriction agreement as well. >> Okay. And additionally, um, one of the things that I think is really imperative is that we also that we are looking for, um, affordable housing that is certainly, um, welcoming to families, but also welcoming to young teachers. And this is not a, um, a terrible area to be in. If I were a young person and single, it would might
158be an interesting place for me to be in. Um, and the I well I live down there, so it's interesting to me as a married person with a family as well, so I um I am I can see I absolutely hear um the concerns, but on balance, I think that there are people in our community that will benefit from this unit and >> and I think it's um and and to Shannon's points were well made as well, I do think we need to um ensure that that meeting with the city and the county is scheduled and we are part of the dialogue pertaining to affordable housing because there's clearly some misunderstandings here that could have been avoided if um as we have asked before we were brought to the table to be able to talk
159about these things and um be part of the solution to keep our neighborhoods filled with children and and families and also making these um Lawrence in a a place where educators can live. Uh, this is Carol and I I thank you for your clarification, Tony, and I do like the um that you stated there would be the the plan does call for vouchers for working with HUD. I do appreciate that and I do agree with my board colleagues here that you know Lawrence is a great place to live, work and retire and this is something that you know I could get behind um because um I was listening to Mr. Barker and he was talking about our advocacy efforts and I just um I was thinking about him during the presentation thinking about him down
160the road if he wanted to retire in one of these units. So it's not him specifically, but people like him. So I do thank you for this and I would I look forward to further discussion. Thank you. >> So I'll just add um that being asked to participate in these things drives me insane. >> I understand why we're asked to participate because we're a taxing authority along with the city and the county. So by state statute, we have to be involved. Um but the the position that we're put in constantly to be the last line to vote and then to be either in a position to be referred to as u the group that increased people's taxes or to be labeled as a group that stifled development in the city. um for any number of
161reasons is is incredibly frustrating. Um, I think every concern that was listed up here is a valid concern. And it's a concern that should be expressed and shared by the city, but is expressed by us as the school board because we also live in the city. And we see the concerns and we see the problems that the city has. And we we have our own problems that we're trying to solve. And no offense to the city, I'm not up here, nor was I voted to solve low-income housing. I was voted to support teachers, students, staff, and families within my district. And this particular project does that to some extent and doesn't it does it on one hand and it does it on the other. And we're always put in this position of having to decide
162which side of that line we want to fall. Um and and and there's nothing and there's nothing either one of you can do. I'm just having to look at the two of you because you're here. So it's not um but it it to Kelly's point. We we we used to be involved earlier. We we no longer are. these we find out about these when they come to facilities and we remember that that that was not a pleasant conversation. Um and and we we have very strong feelings about this. Um and I think that a more collaborative process needs to happen going forward because we are we are not anti-growth. We are not anti-development. We are not anti um providing what is best for the city, but we also have our own needs that we have
163to meet at the same time. And to to be put in a position to have to decide is your need greater than my need or is my need greater than your need? Um is is a difficult position to constantly find ourselves in. Um and so um that's just some thoughts that I had sitting up here. I don't know that I have much more to say, but um we will certainly work uh I will work with Dr. Swift. I've done some preliminary conversations on that on a meeting. We will certainly get that scheduled and get that going. But I think if nobody else has anything, I think right now we have a motion on the table. >> Someone to make the motion. GR. >> Yeah. >> Okay, I'll do that. I move that the board of
164education approve the district's participation in a 15-year 95% neighborhood revitalization area or NRA tax rebate for the 9 del2 apartment project. >> I second >> buyers. >> Yes. >> Could you Blackwood? >> No. >> Pastello. >> Yes. >> Franklin. >> No. >> Gordon Ross. Yes. >> Jones. >> Yes. >> Kimble. >> Yes. >> Motion passes 5 to two. >> Thank you. All right. Um before we move on to public comment, we're going to take about a five or fiveish 7 minute break. >> Thank you. So, we're going to move on to public comment. Um, would someone read the public comment statement for me, please? >> We don't want to do it. >> Do I need to read it? >> I can read it. Obama was going to scan Here we go. The USD 497 Board
165of Education welcomes public comments and thanks you for taking time to talk to us about our policies 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.org by noon on the day of the board meeting to participate in person. Information provided will make it easier for district staff or the board to follow up with you as necessary. This is your time to share your opinions. However, public comment is not the appropriate form for making complaints about specific staff or students. If your comments relate to complaints concerning students or staff, such complaints must be addressed to district staff as provided under board policies KN and GAE general complaints and personal personnel complaints. The board president or presiding officer
166of the meeting may direct that public com that a public comment request be redirected to staff to comply with board policy including and/or to protect the privacy of individual staff and students. If you need assistance in sharing a complaint or concern with district staff, please let the board clerk or other district staff know. Topics discussed in public comment shall be gerine to the business of the board. Furthermore, comments must comply with the standards laid out in board policy GAE and board policy JCA, anti-bullying and hazing of staff and students. Comments or acts that are threatening to the 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
167online, members of the public will refrain from using foul or obscene language. The district assumes no responsibility and/or liability for the information shared during public comment. The views expressed are solely those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Lawrence Public Schools. The board president or presiding officer will invite comments on topics not included in the meeting agenda at the beginning or end of each meeting. Comments related to agenda items are welcomed after the board has had the opportunity to discuss the topic. Limit your comments to three minutes. Patrons who are unable to comply with the above procedures may email their comments or viewpoints to the board at schoolboardusd497.org. >> Thank you very much. All right, so we'll start with Justin. >> All right, Justin's not with us. We'll start with Michael.
168dogs. That was awful quick to determine that Justin's not with us. No, I was awful quick to determine Justin's not with us. It's almost like you knew something in the background. H, that's interesting. So, how come I wasn't able to speak to the tax items earlier? You know, I've screen recorded everything here, guys. Got all the evidence of how you just went ahead and moved along with that discussion, ignoring everything that was going on. Um, that's cool. That's cool. we can just add it as another violation, another count to the federal lawsuit that was filed this week and last week on you guys. I think you've all been served by now on that. You know, it's kind of wild. I came in there trying to show you idiots that you couldn't violate people's rights. and
169instead of paying attention to the laws in this country, you decided to go ahead and double down. So everything that you have claimed that it is, you know, all this performative stuff and everything, um, no. came in there to try to get you guys to uh not get in the position that you're in now where you're being sued by multiple families over sexual abuse in your schools at the same time as you're being sued by multiple in uh individuals over your First Amendment abuse in your meetings. There's other abuses happening at the same time. We have people on our school board, Shannon Kimble specifically, who go ahead and uh leaves her camera on and just lets her image and the whole thing go on out there during executive sessions so that we're practically participating in
170executive sessions with you guys. I raised my hand multiple times trying to speak to budget issues tonight, guys. Bad move excluding me. And I know you knew I was there. I don't need to discuss how. I know you knew I was there. Bad move. Anything you want to adjust there, Gordon? How about you, Shannon? You want to adjust anything yet? We know Kelly doesn't. You whiny little are going to learn that you can't just shut us down. >> I don't give a damn about your warning, Gordon. The days of you warning people are going to come to an end. >> Thank you, Michael, for joining us. >> Have a good night, >> All right, we'll move on to Carrie. Hello. >> Hello. >> I want to make you aware of a book in one of
171your high schools called Ugly Love that has sexual content and obscene words in it. I would love for someone to explain to me the educational value this book brings. I would uh also like to know why this book is in your district for adolescence to read if you don't allow adults to use what you call obscene language during public comment time. He thrusts himself inside me so unexpectedly, hard and fast. I practically scream into his mouth. He doesn't slow down. He pushes harder and deeper until there isn't any way we could possibly get any closer. It doesn't hurt, but in the be it it does hurt, but in the best way possible. I'm moaning into his mouth and he's groaning against my neck and his lips are everywhere along with his hands. It's rough. It's
172fast. And I can tell by the tensing of his back beneath my hands that he was right. This won't take him long. The muscles in his legs become tight and he begins to shake. "Fuck," he groans, his lips pressed to mine hard, and he holds himself still despite the tremors moving through his legs and his back. "Jesus Christ," he says. still tense, still shaking, still pressed deep inside me. The second he pulls out of me, his lips are on my neck, moving down until they meet my breasts. He kisses them, but only briefly before his he's back at my mouth again. I want to taste you, he says. Is that okay? I nod vigorously. His hand glides across my stomach, then moves down until he reaches my thighs. He pushes my legs apart. Two of
173his fingers slide into me. His thumb remains outside me, teasing every spot it can touch. I moan. I pray he doesn't stop. His mouth slowly begins to explore its way down my chin until it's on my neck, trailing down my chest, covering my nipple, down my stomach. Down, down. Holy He settles himself between my legs, leaving his fingers inside of me. Um, as his tongue meets my skin, separating me, causing my back to arch and my mind to let go. My legs begin to shake and his fingers find their way back inside me. I'm Oh, God. I'm Jesus Christ. I'm falling. I'm floating. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. One more time. He says he's inside me again. His fingers are intertwined with mine and he's pushing, thrusting, living inside me. He slows down to a gentle
174rhythm, pushing into me, then pulling up completely. He holds himself still, then pushes into me again, then pulls all the way out. He does this several more times, and all I can do is lie here and feel him. He pulls out of me and stills himself again. He thrusts back inside me. He holds himself still, breathing heavily against my ear, gripping my hands so hard they hurt. But he doesn't make a single sound while he releases for the second time. This book says 14 times. >> Morning, Carrie. >> It says ass three times. It says one time. It says 15 times. Give me just a minute. >> Dr. Swift, do you have any announcements? >> I don't. I think we're in good shape. >> Okay. >> Jar, >> yes. >> Um, may may I share
175a point of information uh for the benefit of the reporters and others in the room before we close? Yeah. >> Um, so, uh, I just want to make clear that I did not enter any of the executive sessions that the board held this evening because I am participating in the meet meeting virtually for security reasons. Um, I did not participate in those. So, that is the reason why my camera was on in the boardroom uh, during the executive sessions that the board entered in the conference room. I was not participating in those conversations. In addition, um I did not vote on the second and third motions because uh of technical difficulties. I did not have sound um during those times. So I was I did not get to participate in taking those votes. So I
176just wanted to make sure that everyone knew that that is the reason why my camera was on um during that time. Thank you very much. >> Okay. Thank you. Does anyone else have any announcements? >> No. >> Oh. Uh, I have a final announcement um that uh I want to invite my um board colleagues to. Uh we have a um oh gosh, sorry. I know everybody wants to go and they can't believe I'm doing this right now. Give me just one second. Um there is uh a bringing civility back to civic discourse, a panel discussion with civic leaders. Amber Sers will be there, myself, uh, Chief Lockheart, um, a law a law faculty member, and Patrick Kelly at the, um, Lawrence Public Library on October 6 from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. And, um, I look
177forward to having that conversation in the context of our last six or seven months. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Motion to adjurnn. >> I move we adjourn. >> All those in favor? I. >> Any opposed? All right. >> A second in case you need a second. >> I didn't hear it. >> We We have it handled. >> Have a good day. >> Okay, good. Thank you. >> Good night, Shannon.