Lawrence became a two-high-school town when Free State High School opened Aug. 21, 1997. From left are Amy Cuda, Nicole Allen and Amanda Rocha, who were juniors at the time.

It’s been a decade since the Chesty Lions and Firebirds first squared off in Lawrence.

And it appears, by many accounts, that the move to two high schools has gone well.

Longtime supporters of construction of a second high school say more students are engaged – in academic, extracurricular and sporting events. And even though the schools are rivals, the rivalry is more friendly than contentious.

“The more opportunities there are to engage kids in activities outside the classroom, the more successful they will be inside the classroom,” said Lawrence Mayor Sue Hack, a former junior high school teacher.

But some say opening Lawrence Free State High School divided community loyalties. The city no longer has one high school to support.

“I think it changed Lawrence drastically. I don’t think they foresaw that,” said Jim Fender, whose two sons graduated from Lawrence High in the first classes after the split.

When students return to class Thursday, it will mark the 10th anniversary of Free State’s opening.

Although Lawrence students attend two high schools, they aren’t completely isolated from one another. Many students have mutual friends because two of the city’s four junior high schools feed into both LHS and Free State.

“There are pros and cons, but if people want to stay connected, people definitely do,” said Jordan Brown, LHS senior class president.

He’s good friends with one of Free State’s student leaders.

“The teachers set the standard definitely that we should all respect each other equally,” said Kevin Willmott Jr., Free State’s senior class co-president. “Most of the students try to follow that. I think everyone, especially with Lawrence in general, are pretty much nice people.”

The issues

The road to Free State’s opening on Aug. 21, 1997, was a long, circuitous one.

The 1994 bond issue passed by 2,000 votes and funded the $25 million Free State school building, near Sixth Street and Wakarusa Drive. It followed years of meetings, discussion and compromise after voters rejected a similar bond issue in 1990.

Concerns centered on equity about facilities and dividing the city along socio-economic lines. Others worried that having a second high school would not allow as many students to take advanced-level courses, said John Tacha, then a school board member.

Some also feared losing the community cohesion that comes with a single high school.

And others felt trepidation about weakening the storied tradition of Lawrence High, including its dominant football team. Then there was the cost of a second high school.

“That made a pretty formidable opponent,” Tacha said.

Proponents of a second high school argued that the city’s population had soared, packing hallways at LHS, built in 1951. According to U.S. Census data, Lawrence’s 1990 population was 65,608, and the 2006 estimate is 88,605.

Enrollment also has grown, although less so the last few years.

During the final year with one high school, LHS had 1,979 students. Last year, Lawrence had almost 2,600 high school students – 1,339 at LHS and 1,236 at Free State.

After the failed 1990 bond issue, a 25-member Commission on Mid-Level and High School Education, made up of community leaders and a few school board members, studied the district’s needs.

“My perception always was that both sides actually wanted the same thing,” said Al Azinger, now an Illinois State University professor and Lawrence’s superintendent from 1992 to 1998.

The two sides wanted student opportunity and community support, but they could not agree if one or two high schools would be best, he said. In 1992, the commission split 13-12 and issued two separate recommendations to the school board.

But the dominoes began to fall when the commission agreed on key issues. Among them was using 15th Street/Bob Billings Parkway as the high school boundary. Previous discussions of using a north-south street – Iowa, for example – had been met with concerns about socio-economic equity between the schools.

“It’s pretty close to ideal in terms of what you would hope,” said Lawrence Superintendent Randy Weseman, who was an assistant superintendent in the mid-1990s and was responsible for programming the new high school.

Last year, 241 Free State students, about 19 percent, qualified for free- or reduced-price lunches. At LHS, the number stands at 384 students, or 29 percent. That’s up from 25 percent the previous year.

Another important component of the equity issue was a plan developed to offer two separate bond issues. One – approved in 1992 – included renovation of LHS among work at several other junior high and elementary schools.

Two years later, came a second bond issue to construct a high school. Although discussions about a second school at one point had centered on moving ninth-graders to the high school, the bond proposal didn’t include that.

“The approach that was finally effective, represented the least amount of change,” said Mary Loveland, a Lawrence school board member.

Former board member Tom Murray led the charge against having a second high school. Murray, who is an attorney with Lathrop & Gage in Overland Park, said he was too busy with work to be interviewed for this story. According to newspaper articles and others involved in the discussions, his main objection was: two high schools would affect the quality of both academics and athletics.

“Tom was a very vocal opponent, and he was a very formidable opponent. He did not want two high schools. Tom did a wonderful job presenting his side of the case,” Tacha said.

Meanwhile, supporters centered their arguments on increased opportunities students would have to participate in athletics and other activities in two high schools.

“I thought the high school (enrollment) was big enough, and it was just going to get bigger. I didn’t have a problem with two (high schools),” said Cory Brinkerhoff, an LHS alum whose daughter, Corinne, also graduated from LHS after Free State opened.

With about 2,600 Lawrence students in high school now, people who supported building Free State said that would produce numerous challenges to have them in one building.

“It would scare me to death,” Tacha said.

Others who opposed the 1994 bond issue have said the increased chances for students to participate in activities have been positive in 10 years.

“Keeping young people busy as much as you can is so important. That’s what the second high school did,” Fender said.

Early challenges

After voters approved the money, construction of a second high school ran relatively smoothly, Weseman said.

Other pieces of the transition were not so easy.

Before the new school opened, soon-to-be Free State students had to vote on a mascot – while they were Lawrence High Chesty Lions.

The outcome of the vote was, well, unpredictable.

“What are the chances that, out of five, two of them would end up in a tie?” Weseman said.

It took a committee of students and community members four hours, in a closed-door debate, to decided between Firebirds and Panthers.

“That was kind of symbolic of this whole thing,” Weseman said.

The school logo also had to be tweaked after it had been painted on the new gym floor and plastered on uniforms because it too closely resembled Temple University’s Owl, Azinger said.

The Firebird didn’t cause the only consternation.

Loveland lobbied heavily for the school to have a historical name that would not dilute the name of Lawrence High School. One anonymous suggestion was William Quantrill, who led a murderous and destructive pro-slavery raid on Lawrence in 1863.

Loveland successfully pushed for Free State. The board added Lawrence at the front.

“Your name is coming from a tradition that founded this community, a philosophy that founded this community and that makes you pretty special,” Loveland said in an interview this week during a new educator breakfast at Free State.

The district hired Joe Snyder – principal at Turner High School in Kansas City, Kan. – as Free State’s principal in 1996, before there was a building.

He met with community groups and students.

“There was always that element of skepticism (as well as) people who were really excited and enthused, incredibly supportive. They came to meetings and volunteered to do things,” Snyder said.

And then there were staffing issues.

District administrators also had to divide the LHS staff and hire some additional staffers. Teachers were asked their preference.

Mary Chapman, who retired in 2006 as a Free State English teacher, said she was excited about moving from LHS to start a new school, something not every teacher gets to do.

Dirk Wedd, now the LHS football coach who was then an assistant coach and a physical education teacher, said he applied for the Free State head coaching job. When he didn’t get it, he stayed at LHS.

“Overall, I think the teachers who wanted to go, got to go, and those who wanted to stay, got to stay,” Wedd said.

But Weseman clearly remembers the day his office sent placement letters to all teachers. It had been an incredibly emotional process, and it was complicated because not everyone got their wish based on the needs of each academic department, he said.

“It was very complex. I don’t ever want to do it again,” he said.

Free State opened its doors with only 174 seniors. That’s because seniors who lived north of 15th Street were given a choice whether to stay at LHS or move to the new school. Most chose to remain at LHS, which had 471 seniors that year.

Time passed

Now, 10 years later, the two high schools remain competitive athletic rivals, but administrators and students say it doesn’t typically spill over.

Best friends Carly Fish and Kate Melton were split up after they left Southwest Junior High.

“It’s been good because we’ve had an opportunity to meet a lot more people,” said Fish, a Free State senior.

The rivalry can lead to pranks and animosity between fans during games and activities, but school administrators typically come down with swift punishments, Weseman said.

“There are a few kids who take it over the top, but that doesn’t happen very often,” said Melton, an LHS senior.

The high schools’ two principals, Snyder and Steve Nilhas, who is starting his fifth year at LHS, are friends. They talk often, and encourage the two staffs to collaborate when possible.

Nilhas said students at the two schools both support each other and compete against each other.

“I think it would be fair to say the community as a whole, many people, will support both high schools,” Nilhas said.

Snyder also said changes at the national and state level during the last 10 years – such the federal No Child Left Behind law – have had more impact on high school education than adding a second school.

But others still say building Free State has split community support, particularly from the LHS tradition.

Fender, the Lawrence insurance agent who opposed the 1994 bond issue, said he grew up in Russell, admiring one Kansas high school for its academic, athletic and extracurricular success. He wanted his sons to attend LHS.

If the bond issue for the second high school were held today, Fender’s not sure how he would vote.

“It changed a lot of people and their desire to go to the games, to be involved, to travel on the road and watch them compete,” Fender said.

Dick Purdy, the legendary LHS football coach who now lives in Arizona, agreed.

“I noticed a change in the community. Less it’s us against the world, and more the territory got divided and territorial wars got started,” Purdy said.

Others say most opponents supported the change once the 1994 bond issue passed.

“For the most part, we’ve realized that life goes on, and we have two great high schools, and they serve the wonderful kids of Lawrence,” Mayor Hack said.

Tacha said voters and community leaders spent years on a “healthy” and passionate debate, but once a decision was made, most people supported the change.

“I’m sure there’ll be a few people who will not like it until the day they die,” Tacha said.