He’s worked with districts across the state.

And in his three years on the board of education, Craig Grant has seen Lawrence’s school system up close.

“This is the first time I’ve been able to really know the inner workings of a particular school district,” Grant said.

The retired Kansas National Education Association staffer and lobbyist is about to get an even closer look.

At the 7 p.m. Monday meeting, if tradition holds, board members will elect Grant as board president for the next year.

He’ll serve during a busy time for the district. Leaders will try to plan a budget without a net tax increase despite skyrocketing fuel prices, settle a contract with teachers and work on a major high school outdoor athletic facilities upgrade.

With several budget and facilities projects in the works, Grant said the district’s most important task is to make academic gains, especially with students who haven’t reached their full potential.

Besides working for the KNEA, Grant, 62, has also been a consultant for the office of Kansas Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, D-Topeka, and for the Kansas Democratic Party. He was chairman of an area Democratic caucus site last January.

Grant said the Lawrence board has worked well together, especially in the past year. He said he wants his participatory leadership style to keep board members working on several big-ticket items.

“I’m more of a ‘let’s work together and find out solutions to the problems that we have,'” Grant said.

Board member Scott Morgan, a Republican candidate for the Kansas Senate, is expected to be named vice president.

Grant was elected to the school board in 2005, and he plans to wait until after December to make a decision about seeking re-election next year.

Busy year

Grant has been a school board negotiator in teacher contract talks. A mediator will be brought in because the two sides are more than $1 million apart on salary raises.

Lawrence Education Association negotiators wanted the board’s team to go back to ask for more budget authority to spend on salaries. But during a negotiating session, board member Marlene Merrill said the board had done the best it could, and Grant said he didn’t see the budget authority being granted.

“In three years, I think we’ve improved the relationships with our teachers. The teachers may not think so right now, but I think we’ve done a better job of improving salaries for our instructors,” Grant said.

He hopes a settlement can be reached soon. Classified staff and administrator salaries are considered after teacher negotiations finish.

The board’s budget talks will also heat up in July. Administrators have already warned about the district incurring $350,000 to $500,000 in diesel fuel expense overages, which could limit field trips and make other cuts necessary.

“We’re going to be having to fit that into an already tight budget and still keep the mill levy from going up,” Grant said.

The board will also look at trying to fulfill some requests, like new high school band uniforms for an estimated $125,000, and school-based mental health workers.

Superintendent Randy Weseman is expected to recommend a budget with a flat mill levy.

A mill is $1 in taxes for every $1,000 of assessed valuation.

Athletic fields

Grant said he would like to see construction work started soon on outdoor athletic fields at both high schools to keep some students from having to drive off campus for practice.

Administrators and engineers are working with city planners and taking concerns from neighbors about drainage, noise, lights and traffic at the Lawrence High School campus, 1901 La.

Weseman and administrators have proposed a financing tool called performance contracting, which rewards energy-efficient projects, to pay for new fields and possibly even elementary school projects without a tax increase.

“I’m impressed with the hard work people have done, the administrators, teachers and staff. It’s taught me a lot about how, if people are on the same page, you’re going to make a lot of progress,” Grant said. “And I have seen people on the same page, working in the same direction.”