001Okay, we're going to move on to the report of the superintendent of schools. Thank you, Madame President and members of the board. Those who are joining us in person and remote, welcome to June. Uh we had our final commencement ceremony. Uh Thursday uh a week ago and we can see here our adult ed graduates, their family and sta and staff. It was such a joyous occasion. The two graduate speakers, Chase Simpson, who earned his GED, and Joseph Johnson, who earned his high school diploma, shared their personal, inspiring stories about the interruptions that have occurred in their education and the obstacles they overcame to reach their goals. Both are employed and looking forward to brighter futures for themselves and their families. There were 19 graduates that participated in the ceremony that evening. In total this year,
00229 adults completed their GED and 33 earned high school diplomas. 16 from LHS and 17 from Free State. Special thanks to Mark Puit and the teachers and staff on our team who assisted uh these students in crossing that line of graduation. I wanted to give just a few remarks on uh special education services and supports in the district. This is just a portion of a public statement that we're issuing this evening and folks can read the full text. Just want to share a few remarks. Lawrence Public Schools takes very seriously our responsibility to serve students and to meet their individual needs. When parent concerns are brought to our attention, we engage directly with families to problem solve. Our staff of 1550 professional educator, support staff, and building and district leaders provide highquality special education services
003in compliance with all state and federal requirements. Uh we serve approximately 2430 students on an individual education plan. These students are eligible for both special education and gifted education services. Of course, as is true in any endeavor, there may be times when parents disagree uh with specific details of their students services. Our staff values that feedback and we use the IEP, the individual education program and IEP team process which by law includes the parents to resolve those concerns. So the IEP is the written plan for the child's special education and related services. The team that decides what to include in that plan is made up of school staff and parents. And when developmentally appropriate, students sit in on their IEP uh meetings and plan. The IEP team makes decisions as about about services together based
004on the unique needs of each child. If parents have a concern they feel has not been resolved, federal law provides both informal and formal methods to work through uh those uh concerns and that includes a formal complaint process and due process. Our special education team uses every complaint, even those determined to be unsubstantiated, as a learning experience for making systemic improvements. And I want to just share that the superintendent's leadership team uses every one of those situations to see what improvements we may implement even if the findings are unsubstantiated. So, a just to clarify, a formal complaint was filed this spring that IEPs were not being met. The Kansas State Department of Education's special education investigator determined that there were no findings indicating that students needs are being met and IEPs are being implemented in
005Lawrence Public Schools. Of course, as a community of learners, we are always striving for continuous improvement. So, I would just offer for anyone in our Lawrence community who has concerns about their own child. Our doors are open. Please reach out, call us, or email. Our team welcomes the opportunity to hear from parents to discuss with them their child's educational experience and to work together through any difficulties that we may face. So I just would encourage folks to reach out to us anytime concerns arise. Don't wait. Uh reach out to us early and often so that we can support. uh this statement is actually uh longer and involves a lot more um but those are some salient points that I wanted to bring forward to this superintendent update this evening. Now even though school is out
006our students and staff have continued uh to compete in extra and co-curricular activities. Uh they've been busy. So many of us enjoyed getting to be a part of the free state baseball win. Uh uh they won the state championship over at KU. It was truly a great event. Congratulations to all the players and coaches including head coach Mike Hill for such an exciting conclusion to their season. Our students from both high schools have received recognition for their accompl accomplishments in musical theater this year. Starlight's Blue Star Awards honored Lawrence High's production of Hayestown Teen Edition with its outstanding orchestra award and nominations for outstanding performer in supporting and lead roles. Free State's production of Foot Loose earned the outstanding performer in a supporting role award and the junior rising star scholarship. We join both theater
007troops and the students and staff listed here in celebrating these amazing accomplishments. Free State also continued its winning at the second of three national speech and debate contest this summer. National extemporaneous speaking champion Onwin Williams picked up the national runnerup award at the second tournament, the NCFL in Chicago, where 413 schools competed. Our other student honors are listed here on the slide. Overall, the Firebirds won a top five sweep stakes award, scoring among teams with the highest total points across all debate, public speaking, and acting categories. Uh again, the Lawrence Red and Black uh awardwinning yearbook um achieves another honor. It was named among the top 1% of yearbooks and featured in the anthology section of varsity yearbooks portfolio portfolio volume 30. This is a showcase celebrating the most exceptional yearbooks in the country. Uh
008printed by varsity yearbook. This is the third time that LHS has received this distinguished honor for their yearbook. The co-editors and their journalism advisor are acknowledged here. We know that many other students spent many hours contributing to this yearbook and what a tremendous honor. Our track and field athletes have been out also. Uh they are pictured here. Free state sophomore Satie Reynolds and her gold medal. She is the 6A girls state discus champion. She bested competitors by over 20 feet with a winning mark of 151 ft 2 in. Satie must have been at full strength that day because that's a 13 feet improvement over her personal best. So, she hit it um out of the park that day. Uh we're also proud of the other students listed here who placed in the top eight at
009the state level. We've watched Nathan Kramer, a photographer with Free State. I've enjoyed watching him over the year, snap photos of us during schoolboard meetings and he posts many wonderful photographs. Nathan shared these beautiful photos of fifth and sixth graders trying out woodwind, brass, and string instruments during our summer novice instrumentable music exploration program last week at LHS. Special thanks to our music educators who make these opportunities possible during the summer for our students. Uh we have free meal kits. We've been talking about this throughout the spring, but just want to make sure folks don't forget uh despite the pouring rain and thunder last week, um the meal kits were distributed right on time. We appreciate our school families for their flexibility and willingness to get a little wet in the process of pickup. Our
010second meal kit pickup of the summer is tomorrow morning. Or families may choose to stop by Woodlon from 11:30 to 12:30 Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays this month where their children can enjoy a healthy, delicious lunch at no cost. Our nutrition and wellness director, Julie Henry, and her team do a great job with the summer meal program. We are so excited about next weekend. Underground railroad tours, a parade, the kids zone, live music and food vendors are all among the activities planned for Lawrence Junth celebration next Saturday, June 14th in South Park. We enjoyed a fabulous time. Several members of the board and I at the Lawrence Pride parade last Saturday. And many thanks uh to member Franklin who organized uh our group. No easy task I will say in reference to myself. Um how wonderful
011to see such a strong turnout. On the left there are two LHS grads who recent just this year who've already earned their spot on the KU cheer team and that parade was their first official event in their new role as KU uh cheerleaders. I will report because we marched behind them. They did an extraordinary job on their first event. We will continue our parade Saturdays as we look forward to marching again this next Saturday in celebration of Junth right here in Lawrence. I appreciate uh President Jones, past president Kimell, and member buyers uh who have filed for reelection to the Lawrence Board of Education. We just want to make sure that our community is aware. uh you are to be commended for your willingness to continue to serve our community schools. We also want to
012sincerely thank candidates uh Chris Toeer, Niles In, Matt Lancaster, Pam Shaw, and Molly Star for their interest in school board service. Sand seven candidates is a robust turnout. However, it does not trigger an August primary election. So, we're just giving a heads up. District voters, everyone in our community should make a plan to stay engaged throughout this time, stay informed, and to vote in the November general election. We want to take a moment uh to officially welcome in our staff news. She's right here on our right to officially welcome Miss Nikki Nommen, board clerk and executive assistant to the superintendent. This is her first official board meeting. Welcome, Miss Nikki. We're so glad you're here. You may not know it, but Miss Nommen has a long history with the Lawrence public schools, having begun her
013career years ago on the food and nutrition services team. Uh spent some time at Quail Run and a few other stops from folks who recruited her away from us, but that's okay. We recruited her right back. So, we are proud uh she is the proud parent. We're proud along with her of a 2025 Lawrence High School grad and we are delighted to welcome her full circle back to our LPS team beginning this evening. Also, uh you may not have heard yet members, this is hot off the press. Uh we're delighted to share our congratulations with Dr. Jana Craig Hair, executive director curriculum instruction. Uh she has just been announced as the incoming superintendent of St. John Hudson USD 350. We know that Jana's leadership will certainly add value there as she moves to a new
014and exciting district leadership opportunity and I have promised uh my and our support as she moves into that new venture. She could not I don't think is she with us? No, she is actually in the new superintendent orientation uh sessions this week. Uh so we don't get to have her with us, but we're so excited for the impact that she will have. Uh this is just another uh reminder that our district buildings and offices are closed to the public on Fridays. Just a reminder that is to allow folks to take their earned leave. folks don't get a free day just because we're closed, but uh it does help us to have our folks take days in common when that's possible. And also uh we have a closed uh buildings on Junth, the federal holiday, and
015then July 4th, uh federal holiday for Independence Day. Thank you members for the opportunity to share this report and for the honor to serve in the Lawrence public schools. Thank you. Thank you.