001An approval of the agenda. I move the board of education to approve the agenda for the May 27th, 2025 meeting. Second buyers. Yes. Could Blackwood Cadoo Blackwood Costello? Yes. Franklin Gordon Ross yes Jones yes Kimble yes Purdue Blackwood the motion passes 5 okay can we pause for a moment and make sure that Yolanda and Carol can hear us before we proceed All right, my mic is the one that's live. I'm going to test this. I have no idea what's going on. Very sorry about that. do. So, we'll take a 5m minute break and come back at 612. calling it cuz I'm on my computer here as a second person. Test. Test. Check. Check. check. Can you hear us? Hello. I don't think I can. I have no idea what to do about this. It isn't
002even making sense. Um, so the audio device is the correct one. I don't know why it's not coming through. Yeah, we could if we needed to. Absolutely. Yeah. So, I don't know what it could be that you That's me specifically. Yes. um the board meeting. Thank you, Carol and Yolanda. Sorry about that glitch. We're going to move on to a report of superintendent of schools. Thank you u madame president, members of the board and all who are here with us per in person and those who are joining remote. Uh it is May 27th and we're delighted uh to be able to share this report this evening. I think our team is pulling that up right now. Yes, I have that. Very good. Let's go ahead and get started. And James will bring that slide deck
003up shortly. Um it's the content that matters. So the photos will follow. Uh you know uh members and community such a great time the end of May as we celebrate the culmination of our school year graduations and it also is the culmination of our PK-12 experience. And it was a delight to greet personally a little over 900 members of the class of 2025 and to wish them well this past week. We were delighted to join uh also with our community transition and project search program graduates at over at Pinkney. Uh we were out at Lawrence Virtual School, Lawrence High School, and Lawrence Free State High School graduates. Now, on this Thursday, uh just two nights from now, we'll be with um over at College and Career Center with our uh adults who are earning uh
004high school diplomas and also GEDs during this year. That event begins at 700 p.m. It is always inspiring. Among many highlights of this graduation season, several of our clicker for this one. Okay. Can you get it in presentation mode? Is that possible? Um, okay. Very good. Among many highlights of this graduation season, several of our elementary schools also hosted grad walks, inviting graduating high school and in some cases also college graduating from college uh students to walk their halls. It's just an inspiring moment for younger peers um who uh then can see the model of their older uh classmates. So um teachers and staff are also delighted to see what a transformation has occurred since the time when they um had students at the at at their level at their elementary level. um our Lawrence
005public schools podcast. Uh we were delighted to get to meet in conversation out at our high schools with members of the class of 2025. I appreciated that Andrew has put those uh conversations together in kind of an interesting format. So I love that you can hear directly the voices of the class of 2025 on uh this podcast. This is uh undoubtedly the best podcast so far uh because it really is centering the voices of students. Uh Lawrence Public Schools uh joins along with Morgan Hunter, our recruiter and manager of substitute teachers. We are celebrating Dana Taperman, Lawrence substitute teacher of the year. She's pictured here with Free State School Administrative assistance Julie uh Plarts. Uh we are so proud and thankful to all of our substitute teachers for serving a critical role in ensuring students
006continue to receive instruction and support when our teachers who are absent from the classroom. This year we honor each of these substitute teachers of the year designated by our own campuses uh that are all shown here on the website. Thank you for all your work teachers uh substitutes who stand in the gap to support our students. We're really proud to congratulate all 19 of our retiring teachers and staff. We've been out in the community, members of my team, uh to greet those retirees. Um we have one administrator retiring from our own team this year, uh executive director of communications, Julie Bole, after 27 and a half years in this role. Uh Julie has added immense value to the organization over her years of service. She literally has birthed um and developed all of our communication
007uh during those 27 and a half years. her consistent support of students, teachers, staff, and school leaders, and her commitment to diligently and accurately tell the story of our neighborhood public schools has ensured uh that the stories of our students, teachers, and classrooms shine brightly as a celebration of learning and the excellence of Lawrence Public Schools. You may not know this, but prior to joining USD497, Julie was the education reporter for KLWN, KLZR Radio, where she discovered the Lawrence Public School News. She covered that uh in her prior position. So, we did some math and across both of the positions, Julie has worked with approximately 47 board members and attended more than 748 board meetings, keeping our community informed of board discussions and actions. This includes in her district role, helping us share information as
008a part of four successful school bond issue elections totaling $259 million that funded improvements to all our school buildings. Uh we'll honor her more properly at a subsequent June meeting, but congratulations Julie on your retirement. We're extreme extremely grateful for your exemplary service in the district. We should probably pause [Applause] even. Julie, I've already heard from students who fear uh that the snow days will never be the same uh without your morning call. Uh we had so much fun on the last day of school, the last morning accompanying the Lauren Schools Foundation and our own GR Gordon Ross joined us over at Woodlon Elementary and we were there to present a $10,000 excellence in teaching award to Gina Carter. You can see her pictured here with her family. Woodlon Elementary learning coach colleagues nominated her
009for her devotion in mastering the science of teaching reading and the meaningful relationships she builds with all students. This is the 28th year for this special award thanks to the generosity of the Bobs, a group of community members who all share the first name Bob. That group includes a few uh female Bobs who also participate. Um, President Kelly and I were able to join them at a dinner a few months back and it was really inspiring to be in the room and see uh teachers who've won this award over 28 years and we're delighted and proud to have Gina Carter Woodlon teacher join that tradition of excellence in Lawrence public schools. Again, we want to thank the Lawrence Schools Foundation. Kindness is key. a service organization led by Free State staff member D. Camp and
010the Habitat Restore for helping to make our first year of geometry and construction a success. You can see here a greenhouse uh Free State students Amanda Torbett and Laura O'Neal learned by building green houses and other structures for grateful clients. Congratulations. wanted to just share a little bit about the Langston Library project. Langston Hughes Elementary Library Media Specialist Jenny Williams shares that at the end of last year, staff reorganized and restructured the entire non-fiction section of the school library. This involved changing how every single non-fiction book in the library was cataloged, labeled, and shelved. Miss Williams ran a report last week and found that this hard work on this non-fiction initiative paid off. Student checkouts of non-fiction books increased by 79% this school year. We appreciate the efforts of all our library staff to ensure
011children continue to read. And just as a side note, members, it was my great honor to get to sit with our with our elementary district librarian team last week face to face. I appreciated them giving of their time during that final week of school. And we have set next year is a year of focus and enhancement on our libraries and on perpetuating a culture of the love of reading. We're going to do that right alongside the reduction of the use of technology at elementary schools. It's going to be a beautiful, beautiful thing. So, I had to tease that uh just a little bit. The librarians inspire me uh for this work. Wanted to just touch on our West Middle School Service Project. Look at these animals at the Lawrence Humane Society enjoying the warm and
012cozy blankets made by students in the Good Vibe Warhawks Club at West Middle School. We appreciate teachers and staff supporting students and learning about the importance of giving and performing acts of community service. Just a highlight of May uh and several board members either were there this year or you've been there in other years. Our students participating in the adaptive PE program uh swam, biked, and ran to much applause and fanfare led by their peers, staff, and families during the 2025 Pat Gresenda adaptive PE triathlon at Lawrence High. teachers Tiffany Russell and Rodney Hes organized the annual event supported by our wonderful middle and high school special education staff. As you know, a highlight of the event is really all of those beautiful interactions um that our students have with each other and with our
013staff and the community. Uh right here a national champion Free State High School celebrates on when Williams national championship in extemporary Annie is speaking and Bri Bana Randall an octo finalist in the top 60 in original oratory. Both are members of free states champion speech and debate team. Williams also finished as an octo finalist in informative speaking at the National Individual Events Tournament of Champions in Liberty, Missouri. Um, Free State placed 13th in the nation in its division. Congratulations to these students and their coaches. Uh we often uh have uh folks I'll come back to free meals. If you'll uh scroll on to the next item, please keep going. Um okay. Keep going. Okay. I uh trustees or members, you have the chart. That is not the latest version of that deck, but it's okay.
014Uh the members have the chart and we'll make sure the correct version is posted to board docs. But I just wanted to share as an update this evening the current number of employee exits so far during this 2024 25 year members. You can see that on your individual screens. As you can see, the number of exits to date, we're here at May 27th, is 73. And that is approximately 50% of the prior 5-year average number of exits of 146.4. So, uh really excited to see that stability in our team. And you know, one of our top goals has been to ensure a top quality team that includes consistency and stability uh in the team uh when that is possible. So, we're very grateful to see that change coming. Let's talk a little bit about some
015work our nutrition and wellness team is on. They have families covered with free summer meals for children ages 1 through 18. Families may stop by the Woodlon Elementary from 11:30 to 12:30 every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday in June for lunch. Adults may purchase a meal for $5 while there if they would like. Families must pre-register for the free weekly summer meal kits. This is a separate endeavor uh from the um lunches that are served at Woodlon. Um, these meal kits contain five breakfast and five lunches ready to prepare right at home. So, after registering, families will drive through uh to pick up their summer meal kits from 6:45 to 8:45 in the morning on Tuesdays in June through July 22nd at the Youth Sports Complex. If there are meal kits that are not picked up,
016uh there will be a window between 8:45 and 9:15 for same day registration and then just swing right by and pick up because we want every bit of the food to be distributed to those uh who can use it uh to help our students. So, just go to our website, USD497, to register and to find the menus, meal kit preparation instructions, and all the information about summer meals free for all children and youth. Uh, just a reminder about voting and our elections coming up. Uh, as we all know, the deadline to file as a candidate for schoolboard election is coming up very soon on June 2nd. Additionally, the deadline to register to vote in the August primary election is June 15th. Make sure your voter registration information is current and make a plan now to
017vote. We invite everyone uh to celebrate Lawrence Junth. That's coming up on Saturday, June 14th in South Park. I appreciate um member Franklin kind of leading the charge to help us get organized. I look forward to being a part of that event. The event includes an underground railroad tour beginning at 8:00 a.m., the parade kickoff at 11:00 a.m. and a community celebration from noon to 8:00 p.m. with the kids zone, live music, food, and craft vendors. Kids eat free at the event. You can find more information at lawrencejunth.org. Just a reminder that we will be observing summer hours uh at all of our district offices June 2nd to July 25th at all school buildings, I should say it that way. Uh the buildings are closed to the public on Fridays. Uh this allows folks to
018not have an extra day off, but to take their earned leave. Um, our 12-month staff will work with their supervisors to confirm their weekly schedules. Um, but we just want to make sure folks remember that Fridays are a little different uh during these two months of the year. Also, we have two holidays that fall. Uh, one in June and that's on June 19th, our federal Junth holiday. And then in July, Independence Day on July 4th. We are excited to share uh just a a little bit of other news. Um and the I want to begin this section uh by sharing uh members, you've been briefed today, but we are delighted to bring Denise Johnson as interim principal forward to the board and the community this evening uh for Prairie Park Elementary. In selecting J Denise
019Johnson, we have selected a leader who is well known in the Prairie Park community, an individual who is hardworking, respected, and a long-erving member of the Lawrence Public Schools community. She is someone who has built relationships over time. Miss Johnson will join in to work alongside the Prairie Park team, parents, and community. And what I love about Denise is she always keeps students at the center of her work. I was delighted recently along with um Kylie Luckett and JC Robersonson to be out visiting with the Prairie Park staff last week. I appreciated that conversation. and appreciated hearing directly from them their consensus and desire for someone who would prioritize relationships, confidence, consistency, and trust. Someone who would serve uh their word that I loved was someone who would serve as a bridge to the next
020chapter of Prairie Park. All these priorities are achieved in the naming of Denise Johnson to this interim leadership role. Denise will also partner I brought the book along uh the book uh partly by Darcy Krauss and Jerry Parcell. Um the uh she will partner with well-known leader in our community, Miss Darcy Krauss around next steps to ensure traumainformed leadership moving forward at Prairie Park. We need trauma-informed leadership in every school in the district. And I'm especially proud uh for this work uh to go on at Prairie Park. We look forward uh in the fall to working together through a robust principal search. We will engage with all members of the Prairie Park staff, parents, and community, and students beginning next fall in order to take the time that's needed uh to name an incoming long-term
021leader for Prairie Park. I do want to touch on some other transitions that are also occurring. Now, uh June is typically a transition month, uh in all school districts, and it is here this year as usual. Um we, uh the board, you've been uh thoroughly briefed on this work, but I just wanted to say it out loud, uh publicly, a reminder that our current leaders in teaching and learning are on duty here with us throughout the coming month. their their tenure extends through June 30th. Um, further, as we indicated at the prior board meeting uh weeks ago, the assistant superintendent teaching and learning position is currently posted. I'm proud to share that there are uh a robust pool of applicants gathering uh for uh for review in that position. In addition, uh, several from across
022my and our team will be working to support this critical transition on the teaching and learning team during the coming weeks of June and July this summer. In other updates, we want to share a very special public thank you to Miss Janice Dunn, board clerk and executive assistant extraordinaire. Janice, as you all know, has stepped up, leaned in, pitched in throughout this school year. She has worked tirelessly to support the board and superintendent. I'm not telling you anything you don't know, uh, board and team. Janice is a shining star and we are so fortunate, I am so fortunate that she answered the call last summer and we will forever be grateful for her support bridging us through this school year. Thank you, Miss Janice Stunn. And I think there are some folks scurrying about to
023bring you some sweet treats. So don't decline them when they come to you. Uh next to Janice, I think members that you've already met. Uh but we are delighted to share and we will share more information in the June board meetings. We're delighted to welcome Miss Nikki Nommen, incoming board clerk and executive assistant to the superintendent who joins us for her first board meeting this evening. Welcome Nikki Nommen. [Applause] Okay, we want to just share our deepest appreciation and gratitude to the students, teachers, staff, and dis school and district leaders, board members, school families, and to everyone in our community. All of the diligent contributions that everyone has made to make this a successful 2020 2024 25 school year. We just wish everyone a safe and peaceful summer. Thank you uh members for the opportunity
024to share this report and for the honor of serving the Lawrence public schools. Thank you. Thank you Dr. Swift. Okay, we're going to move on to the report of the board of education president. Uh there are few uh opportunities I've had to read uh public comments from the Lawrence Times and the Lawrence Journal World and see enthusiastic support for our staff and the way that I did uh for Julie Bole. Uh the um concern that there will not be another snow day certainly was drafted and noted. there was a a very um serious request that she send a this is my last day um voice uh voice message and I I want to say to the Lawrence community I've requested that. Uh Julie has let me know that not every parent enjoys interruptions from the
025school district in the middle of their workday. So I'll defer to her. Um, being one of the 47 board members that Julie has had to manage and and uh support and and help, I can tell you that this would have been a very um challenging position to be in without her expertise and knowledge. And I extend my gratitude to Julie and hope that we are able to recruit someone of her caliber to that position as well. So many congratulations to Julie Bole and I look forward to having this conversation about her in an upcoming meeting as well. I want to also extend congratulations to the graduates and happy summer to the um uh students, faculty and staff uh as Dr. Swift did and just extend the board's gratitude for all your hard work and dedication
026to your studies and um education and to our community in general. On uh June 24th, the board has a retreat. We've settled on a date and this afternoon the board policy committee met and on that uh retreat agenda there will be an item pertaining to the board manual um which isn't the most exciting retreat uh opportunity but I think it's one that we can uh dive into and make some changes to and and really set the board up nicely for our upcoming year. Um the uh board election related to the board manuals, board elections are uh board officer elections are uh the first meeting of July. So board members want to take inventory and make some determinations about whether or not you would like to nominate um one of your colleagues or yourself for board
027leadership. It has been uh an honor to serve in this position and I know that you're all ready to to um take over uh in this role as well. um and look forward to seeing who our our next board leaders are. I also want to just for good measure echo the general election um opportunity to file for the the board is takes us to June 2nd and to the four candidates who have filed. Um I'm I'm really excited about about some of the candidates and and certainly appreciate your willingness to put your name in the hat and see how things land. If you have any uh questions about board um service or want to know um any uh any uh information at all from the perspective of board member, I know that all seven of
028seven of us are prepared to meet with any potential or current uh candidate that is interested in doing so. Um and then uh I also want to in addition to um uh the Junth parade that's coming up, we also have uh Pride on June 7th with Yolanda has been helping the board um coordinate for. So that parade is on 11 on June 7th and um I have a broken foot so I will not be walking in any parades but I I will be there on the on the sidelines rooting everybody on that is at both of those. So um look forward to attending. And now finally um I also as board president need to tell uh Janice Dunn this is the third time that I have I've said goodbye to you in this role. So
029I suspect I'll see you again before I leave. Um it is not an easy position to just jump into and I've shared this with you before but you made me make my first motion on the board. you were in your your final days as I sat down in the seat for the first time and you you helped me orient to board service and I remember those meetings whether you do or not. I'm sure my colleague GR does as well. Um and then there was a baby that came and a board clerk needed to step by and you just jumped in and when we had um the next vacancy and you raised your hand I thought okay we're fine we can make it. the board clerk position is really critical to uh how the board operates
030and you are expert at it. Um and I'm just really grateful that that you're agreeing to continue with us at uh the board policy committee um because you've had such a huge impact on Lawrence public schools and on our students and our policy and our procedures in this particular building and it's not a position that people should forget about. So, I'm really grateful. Thank you. I asked if she would like to say a few words and she told me unequivocally, "No." Um, but u I know that I know that's I know that's out of love and appreciation for the work that you do. So, thank you. Okay. Okay. So we are going to move on to the board um committee reports and I led with um the policy committee and typically uh Ann gives us
031that update. So can I start with you Ann would you like to give an update on the Shannon she could oh Shannon would you like to do the board? Sure I would be glad to. Um so I have two I'm going to do facilities and policy. We uh met the policy committee met today. Uh because of the holiday uh week and some other things going on, we're a little later in the month than usual. The main topics we talked about today were preparing for the board's work to um read our board uh governance and operating procedures manual at our July organizational meeting. So we talked through some of the things that we need to work on in terms of suggestions around that document uh for to prepare for July. And then we spent a good
032bit of time looking at suggested changes uh to our policy BDA which is our policy review and adoption policy. There have been some suggested updates from KASB. Um our policy is quite different. So we just have been talking through how we um manage those suggestions and and what that's going to look like. Uh that is probably going to come forward on a board agenda uh for first and second read in June. Um and then we have some other things that uh administration is working on making recommendations about some uh forms and other items that we'll we'll report on um after our June meeting. And then for for facilities uh we met on May 14th and um there's a couple of things on our agenda tonight that we talked about at the meeting. Uh first of
033all, the middle school theatrical uh uh uh capital work that needs to be done. Those bids were issued on May 13th. They're expected to be open on June 3. So looking forward to getting those results and getting those projects going. Uh we are also working on getting bids for track resurfacing at our secondary schools. Uh so that will be coming up to the board. And then we have on tonight's agenda um a um uh HVAC controllers uh need to be upgraded for this building. We have never done that in all the years we've owned this building. Uh it's absolutely necessary that we get that done. So that's on tonight's agenda. Um as well as some required fire fire sprinkler system repairs at buildings throughout the district. Um that's on tonight's agenda. And then finally with
034the board um decision to go back to MacBooks at the high schools, we have uh um we are entering a contract contract with a company that will help us uh dispose of our surplus devices. uh and they offer something that has been asked for in the past and we've never been able to do which is um a potential buyback opportunity for um the community and that we will have more information about that when it becomes available later this summer. Uh but that is part of this contract that we're that's on our consent agenda this evening. Uh uh as usual, facility usage is very busy. Um last month 1360 events were held at buildings across the district. um our facilities and operations staff um received 711 work orders um in the previous month. Um they work
035very hard and we have a lot to be proud of in the work that they do in our district. So um that's what I have for that committee update. Thank you. Um other committee updates. Go ahead. So um on the 20th the school's foundation board met um where we had a presentation on KU blueprint. Um they talked a little bit about aligning the content and the naming of the key introductory courses kind of to ease the transfer of credits. Um especially within the state but hopefully um externally as well. Um and then um also some new math recommendations based off of the degree programs that you're entering and stuff like that. So, negotiations. No negotiations. Okay. All right. Okay. I think that's our last board committee report. Um I'm just going to pause for a
036moment, make sure there's not any others. Correct. Okay. All right. We'll move on to um board commentary. Um uh Yolanda or Carol, do you want to jump in? Carol, I really don't have that much to add, but I would like to announce that on Saturday, June 21st, the city of Lawrence is going to or the city of Lawrence is going to host a recycling event at free or Free State High School is going to host a recycling event on Saturday, June 21st. And it's always a it's always a because that was a great segue. You talked about recycling our electronics, but it's a great opportunity for folks to do some summer cleaning. You can bring in your televisions, projection TVs, and whatever electronics you want to get rid of, and they don't have to go
037to the landfill. And again, that is Saturday, June 21st from 9:00 to 1. So, just uh bring your unwanted laptops, desktop, printers, phones, and small appliances, etc. And there's a nominal cost or fee for TVs depending on how large they are. And also Planet Fitness iso um um opening up their doors for teenagers again this summer. Teenagers ages 14 I do believe through 19 can come into Planet Fitness this summer. It's for the high school summer pass returns from June 1st through August 31st. And that information can be found on the Planet Fitness website. That's all I have. Thank you. Thank you, Carol. Okay. Uh Yolanda, at any point you want to jump in, go ahead. Hi. Uh no, I don't have any updates. I want to congratulate all the retirees and thank you so
038much, Miss Janice, for stepping in and showing out as you do always for us when we are in a bind. Thank you, Yolanda. Uh we'll now head down this way. Go ahead. Um so I along with a lot of the other board members got the pleasure to attend um the project search and see graduations along with Lawrence Free State Virtual School and um Lawrence High and as always super amazing and super interesting to see the different um the differences in the ceremonies between the different schools and how it kind of reflects the personalities I think of the schools. Um, I was also able to um help participate, not really participate, but help uh with field day at Sunflower on the 16th where Miss Riley did a fantastic job setting up an insane amount of stations.
039I swear it was like 90 something with all kinds of activities for the students to cycle through. So, that was really fun. Um, on the 20th, I was able to um join in on the Southwest Middle School field trip to Science City. Um, so that was also fun. And on the 22nd, I went on the sunflower fourth grade trip to the Capitol. We were able to actually go to the top. Uh we lost a few on the way. Not literally, but um but we still had a good amount by the time we reached it. And I made a new friend, E. Anthony, and we spent a lot of time together that the rest of the day hanging out um having lunch together and stuff like that. So, and thank you to Janice for everything. We
040appreciate you. Okay. Uh first of all, uh my sincere thanks to Julie and to Janice um for all of your service to our district. I'm excited to welcome Nikki um as our new board clerk and also congratulations to you Denise. Um you have done so many things for our district over the years and it's just um I'm very grateful for your service. Um just have a couple legislative updates. The um state board met in May and I think I mentioned in my update at our last meeting that they were considering a board item for uh approval at their June meeting about requiring districts to have bullying prevention procedures prominently um featured on their district or school websites and andor their handbooks. Um they had some enclosures to their board agenda that looked like they were
041going to be very prescriptive. Um it was nice to hear in the discussion at the meeting they clarified that those were meant to be mockups of what you might choose to use and that their guidance is going to be um just that guidance. Um they're going to say these are the topics that your information needs to cover, but there will still be um local control maintained over the specifics of processes and procedures related to those bullying uh plans. So I wanted to share that with the board. That was a a welcome uh update uh at the state board meeting. Um also uh shout out to the Lawrence High School Barberhop Quartet that per performed for the state board. Um they were fantastic. I tried to go back. Their names were not listed in the agenda,
042so I could not get their names, but they introduced themselves as a group of uh young men who are graduating seniors um who have now graduated that uh had been performing together, started doing this when they were freshman at uh Lawrence High, and they were just fantastic. Um, also wanted to let the board know, um, that the state board is now putting out a meeting summary after each of their meetings and it's available on their board agenda website. It's very helpful. Um, so I have sent Janice a link to the May um, uh, summary and you can go and check those if you want to know more specifics about what they have discussed. Their work actually does impact us quite a bit and so I think it's good to be aware of what they are
043up to. Um legislative update. The education funding task force will have their next meetings next week on Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesday is noon um to probably 4 or so. And uh Wednesday is going to be 9:00 a.m. to probably around 4 p.m. Those meetings are at the state capital, but you can also watch them online on the um Kansas legislator's YouTube channel. Um a federal legislative update. So, this is uh an issue that uh we have fought hard on in Kansas, but unfortunately um our uh congressional members in the House um largely with the exception of one of them voted to support this. Uh the budget reconciliation bill that passed out of the house last week contains a $5 billion program for nationwide school vouchers in the form of scholarship. Uh it's a tax credit
044for scholarship granting organiza people who make donations to scholarship granting organizations. Um it's really important that our the senators hear from public education supporters about the need to prioritize funding public education services especially special education instead of creating a tax shelter that is predicted to um cost somewhere um upwards of 25 to30 billion over the next 10 years. um and will largely be used by very wealthy individuals who make uh charitable donations to organizations and get a 100% tax write off for them. Um if you want to know more about the specifics of that particular proposal, I sent um an NPR article to Janice to share with board members um that just sets out the different pieces of that. Um and then finally uh wanted to share my congratulations to all the graduates. Um, unfortunately
045I wasn't able to attend a couple of our graduations uh because my I had a family member graduating in Shauny Mission School District and um so I I attended to her graduation. But congratulations to the Lawrence High and Free State and Lawrence Virtual School graduates and I um look forward to congratulating our adult ed and diploma completion graduates on Thursday. That's all. Thank you. Yeah. Well, what I really don't have much to say other than I wanted to congratulate uh Julie on her retirement. Um, and one of the things I do remember from my first time on the board was actually Julie and Janice B. Um, and actually when I was thinking about it, for some reason, I think my second time on the board, Janice was here for something. I don't remember what she
046was here for, but I remember her. So, I think every time I came on the board, you were back revisiting also. Yes. But I wanted to congratulate both of you and you both will be missed. Um, also wanted to congratulate the graduates of both our high schools and well, actually all of our graduates. Uh, I enjoyed the ceremonies. Uh, actually I like the one where I didn't have to walk. That was real good. But other than that, that would be it. Um, I'll just echo a lot of what's already been said. Congratulate the graduates. I enjoyed this time of year, this season. I enjoy going to see the the different graduation ceremonies. I I liked what Ann said. I like how they they reflect the personalities of the the different um the different organizations and
047buildings. Um I'd like to congratulate Denise Johnson. I think she'll do a fantastic job at Prairie Park and and it's fantastic. Uh to Julie, I think um I think it's important to recognize and to specifically state that, you know, Julie's job is more than just calling snow days. and uh and you know, I know I know that's that's what a lot of people know her for, but I think the the um what she brings to to this organization um she could stop doing that and her value to this organization would still be unmeasurable. And so, um she will be missed. She'll be hard to replace. Um but, uh happy retirement to you. It's welld deserved. And then Janice, it's been a joy every time I've had a chance to work with you. You will also
048be missed. Nikki, you have some very large shoes to fill, but welcome. We look forward to getting to know you and working with you as well. Thank you. Uh I can definitely say I like the idea of Principal Johnson. That's an okay and welcomed thing. So, thank you so much for stepping up and I'm very excited that you get to work with Darcy, who is um in addition to being expert in trauma responses, uh is also just a a really good support in general to elementary education when she had uh JC's role. So, appreciate it. Okay, so we'll move on to uh um special recognition. Yep. In addition to uh Julie Bole, we also have another retirement, Scott Forkin Brock. We'd like to recognize him and his 31 years of service and devotion to our
049school district. It's its community, schools, and families. He taught both my kids. Nice. Okay. Um All right. We'll uh move on to approval of consent agenda. I move the board of education approve the items listed on the consent agenda. I second. Kadoo Blackwood. It's Costello. Yes. Franklin, yes. Gordon Ross, yes. Jones, yes. Kimble, yes. Buyers, yes. The motion passes 70. Okay, we're going to move on to public comment and I'll ask my colleague uh GR to read the board policy. The USD 497 Board of Education welcomes public comments and thanks you for taking the 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 at usd497.org by noon on
050the day of the board meeting to participate in person. Information provided will make it possible for district staff or the board to follow up with you 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 complaints relate to compl if your comments relate to complaints concerning staff or students, such complaints must be addressed to district staff as provided under board policies KN and GAE. The board president or presiding officer of the meeting may direct that a public comment request be redirected to staff to comply with board policy including and or to protect the privacy of individual staff or students. If you need assistance in sharing a complaint or concern with district staff, please let the board clerk
051or other district staff know. Topics discussed in public comment shall be gerine to the business of the board. Furthermore, comments must comply with standards laid out in board policy GAE and board policy JCA. Comments or acts that are threatening to staff, the board, or others in attendance, including the use of language or behavior that is disruptive of the board meeting, will not be permitted during public comment. In addition, because students may be in attendance or watching online, members of the public will refrain from using foul or obscene language. The district assumes no responsibility and or liability for the information shared during public comment. The views expressed are solely those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Lawrence public schools. The board president or presiding officer will invite comment on topics
052not included on the meeting agenda at the beginning or end of each meeting. Comments relating to agenda items are welcome 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 schoolboards497.org. Okay, we have one uh virtual comment. So uh Dr. Spece, can we pause the till we get him on there? Dr. Spece, are you with us? Me? Can you hear me? You can. Welcome. All right. My name is Dr. Justin Spece. The USD497 school board is enforcing an unconstitutional policy that prohibits speakers from using foul language during general public comment. This board has removed me from several meetings for the words I used while speaking during my general
053public comment time. In order to speak here at the meetings, people must sign up via email prior to the start of the meeting. And when signing up to speak during general public comment, speakers are asked to provide the topic they wish to discuss. For tonight's meeting, I signed up and the school district approved my topic. In my signup email, I made it clear that the topic I wish to discuss and the words I'm going to use to discuss that topic are quote, "How Kelly Jones's restriction of free speech during general public comment is complete bullshit." That's your close quote. Well, if you have a problem with the words I was going to use here tonight, then why did you approve me to speak using those words? Seems like you gave me the okay to say
054those words. Otherwise, you would not approve me to speak those words right now. There, Kelly. So, I've been trying to figure out which words are not allowed here during general public comment. I've asked you all for a list of prohibited words, but I haven't heard back from you on that. Other people have asked you for a list as well, and you haven't provided one to them either. So, no one knows what is allowed and not allowed other than the vague foul language you say is prohibited. So, tonight I want to let the community know what is and is not allowed here in case they want to come speak here someday. And this is what I've learned so far. You can say dumbass and damn and hell. You can spell f u c i n g,
055but you can't say Okay. You can't say even though it is not a cuss word. You Thank you, Dr. Spece. Okay. Um and we'll move on to folks that are here. And I believe um Carrie Schmidt is here. I saw her earlier. Welcome Carrie. I don't have the topic, but I believe you typically talk about banning books. Okay. You are consistently interrupting and banning people during their designated three minutes to speak to the community due to the words you have defined as obscene. However, the reading material you are providing to minors use those same words. So again, I am here to inform you of your double standard. I'm going to start off reading from a book called Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas. It is located at Southwest Middle School, Billy Mills Middle School, and both
056high schools. It says ass 109 times. 151 times. Can you please explain your point without using that word? Okay, you need to sit down. That's it. You are done. Do you need help leaving? Do you need help? Can you help her leave, please? No, you cannot. Good It happened. Okay, that's three. Curious, now you're at your three minutes. Could you sit down, please? Okay, thanks for coming up to Lawrence. You're welcome. All right. Uh Chris Flowers, welcome thing. Um noon sign up. That's one more way you all are trying to limit the amount of public comment. um this this change I think it's about making it harder to give public comment and it's just funny how okay I it's funny how the local Democrats about Trump trying to take away power and limiting protest on
057campus which he does but this past year has seen KU the city commission and you all start implementing changes to stifle public involvement locally And I I think it's kind of BS. Um, let's see. Oh, yeah. Democrats may be the lesser of two evils, but being the lesser evil doesn't make you good. Um, also, foul words at these meetings. From what I've read, curse words aren't bad for kids unless they're being cursed at. I hear curse words coming from your playground at Schwagler all the time. So, if you're if you're all going to claim we need to keep foul language out cuz it's bad for the kids, then where is the data to back this up? Where's the science that says curse words are bad for kids? Cuz when I look it up online, it
058says curse words aren't bad unless kids are being cursed at. Um, do your child psycho psych your child psychologists that you have employed, I'm I'm assuming you have some, do any of them say curse words are bad for kids? Um, so I'm just wondering where you get this this notion that curse words are bad for kids, unless you I'm I'm assuming you must have data to back these claims up. Um, let's see. Also, I would like to say that that banning it, banning curse words, what that does is give give fuel to the other side that's mad about curse words and public libraries. cuz I think I think both arguments are absolute BS. Like if curse words are bad in the library, then why is it okay to be saying it out here in public?
059I it's it's okay in either circumstance. So I want you to adopt the this the stance that curse words aren't bad. Then you could use it against the people saying you need to get you need to ban these books from the library. Say, "Hey, well curse words aren't that bad." And the thing is that these cur books using curse words that that's reflections of of life of teenagers and kids like curse words are part of their life. Sex is part of teenagers lives and we need books that are actually reflecting life in our libraries and we need to be able to reflect life at these meetings. So I say Chris, that's the end of give free speech a chance. Thank you. Thanks for coming. Appreciate your comments. Okay, we'll move on to uh Dr. Courtney.
060Thank you all. The last day of school was pretty hard this year. Time after time, when we asked or our kids asked, "Will we see you next year?" Friends and teachers said, "I'm sorry, but no." Often with tears in their eyes. For many, it was simply because they no longer felt safe bringing their kids to our school. While some were simply changing to different elementary schools within the district, my heart was broken by stories that included families risking their jobs so they didn't have to bring their child back to a district school. The decisions you have made and will continue to make here will have a huge impact on our communities in student retention and especially on our Prairie Park vulnerable community. We've asked for the opportunity to heal and move forward. We're still a
061little confused why the district felt the crisis debrief was okay for teachers at Prairie Park, but might be harmful for district parents. However, you have shown an interest in helping facilitate community information sessions such as those offered by other experts. Please reach out with updates or to discuss this in more detail. Unfortunately, I think some of what I'm experiencing is due to the ongoing lack of discussion and transparency, which perpetuates that feeling of secrecy and continues to make parents feel unsafe sending our kids to school. We would like to see an outside agency provide an external expert audit of USD497 policies and procedures to prevent sexual assault and harassment. On a recent call with the ethics director of the American Speech Language Hearing Association, I learned that she had never heard of our situation and
062that Mr. Gidley was still a member in good standing of their organization. I believe that making this kind of ethics report would be the kind of common sense step that could help protect future victims and would or should have been caught by a comprehensive safety review. Given the presence of two alleged sex offenders in our elementary schools in the past two years, parents understandably still have serious concerns about whether the background check procedures are adequate, why, for instance, is an FBI check not conducted on all candidates, but only on those who have not lived in Kansas for the past 10 years. Parents of special education students are particularly concerned. If this external audit is not going to occur, we would like some answers to some specific questions about the review that has been done. I've
063I've emailed those to the board and to Dr. Swift. I'm happy to send those again. Um, and again, since we have been assured of timely updates, we would like an easy to access resource with up-to-date information relevant to this situation. We're willing to collaborate on what a user-friendly website might look like, but we have not heard back so far. I hope we can convince you we're not going away and that meetings aren't enough if they're not followed up with meaningful action. It's important for the district to take specific outward facing actions to show what we've learned from what's happened, give our community a chance to heal, and make our students safer going forward. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Courtney. I appreciate you coming. Okay. All right. Do you have any announcements. Dr. Good. Thank you.
064Okay. Is there a motion to adjurnn? So moved. Seconded. All those in favor? I. Anyone opposed? Have a good evening.