The 2008 to-do list is long for board members and administrators in Lawrence public schools.

It includes:

¢ Working to improve high school outdoor athletic facilities and elementary schools.

¢ Negotiating a contract for 2008-2009 with teachers.

¢ Crunching numbers and prioritizing for next year’s budget.

¢ Deciding the future of the district’s mental health services.

¢ Trying to recruit new staff because 40 percent of the district’s classroom teachers are older than 50.

¢ And continuing to adjust to a new set of district administrators who took office last summer after several longtime administrators retired.

These challenges, and others, such as helping teachers improve student proficiency rates on assessment tests, mean administrators and board members have plenty on their plates.

“I would probably anticipate this next year is going to be as busy a year as we’ve had,” said Bruce Passman, deputy superintendent.

A major discussion for board members will center on a $16.5 million backlog of projects at elementary schools, and construction of outdoor practice and competition fields at both high schools.

“We’re looking at ways to maximize the scope of our resources. We want to get as much as we can get for as little money as possible,” Superintendent Randy Weseman said.

Board member Scott Morgan said it’s possible the board would discuss a bond issue this year.

“We’re going to decide what we can and can’t do at this point and have a plan so we can try to get those things up to speed,” Morgan said.

Linda Robinson, the board’s president, said she thought it was too soon to talk again about a bond issue.

To improve facilities, administrators are looking at what money was left from the $54 million 2005 bond issue; about $2 million to $3 million in the district’s capital outlay budget; and a tool known as performance contracting, a way to pay for projects by using energy-efficient and environmentally friendly materials.

“I think we can get a lot done with those three pieces of financing,” Robinson said.

Board members also will also discuss whether they want to ask voters to approve a slight increase in the local option budget, which is funded by property taxes. An increase could help to fund teachers’ salaries and the district’s mental health services, Robinson said.

Unlike the city and county, most school funding flows from the state. Under the third year of the Legislature’s school funding plan, Weseman expects the district to receive a little more than $1 million in unrestricted funds. The district also has a $6.5 million list of budget requests, such as staffing requests and new band uniforms.

School districts can tap into local property taxes up to 31 percent of what they receive in state aid. The Lawrence district currently gets 30 percent, and voters would need to approve the increase to 31 percent. Weseman said such an increase would mean about an additional $750,000 for the district.