This Lawrence school board election isn’t like the one in 2003, filled with anger and battles about the proposed closing of neighborhood schools.

But Craig Grant, one of three candidates for three open seats on the board, says school officials still need to make headway in mending fences with the city.

“I think the board still has a way to go in building bridges to the community, building bridges to the teachers,” said Grant, who is retired after serving 22 years as chief lobbyist of the Kansas National Education Assn., a teachers’ union.

He said the school board should increase its efforts to cooperate with the Lawrence City Commission and Douglas County Commission. And it should give parents a bigger voice — through parent-teacher organizations and site councils — in how the district is run.

“I’m not sure the rank-and-file parent, if there is such a thing, has much say in, for example, when the school year starts,” Grant said.

He added: “That doesn’t mean every decision will be what everybody wants.”

Grant’s get-everybody-involved philosophy even extends to making future decisions about school budget cuts, if the Kansas Legislature fails to follow a court order to “properly” fund education this year.

“I think we need a round of budget hearings around the city to discuss the possibilities,” he said.

Beyond that, Grant said, it’s difficult to say where further cuts would come. In recent years, teachers have gone without a raise, and all-day kindergarten has been cut from the curriculum.

“It is hard to imagine any further cuts in our district budget,” he said. “If further reduction would be necessary, I would try to protect money dedicated to the classroom. I believe that it is in the classroom where the most important activity occurs.”

The lack of teacher raises, Grant said, makes him somewhat uneasy of the timing of two bond issues totaling $63 million that would pay for the reconstruction of South Junior High School, renovations of other schools and upgrading of computers and technology throughout the district.

“This is not the best time to talk about building projects,” he said.

Nonetheless, Grant said he supported the bond issues; South was poorly designed in the first place, he said, and students need up-to-date computers to receive proper training.

Once the bonds are passed, though, Grant would turn the school board’s attention to communicating with the public.

“There’s a perception out there they may be isolated from the public, maybe isolated from teachers,” Grant said. “We need to fix that.”