The Lawrence school board has some big items to tackle in 2009.

Members need to hire three top administrators, pay attention to the state budget and what it could mean locally, and oversee the progress of the new athletic fields at both high schools.

For board president Craig Grant and vice president Scott Morgan, their No. 1 priority is filling their No. 1 spot — district superintendent. Randy Weseman is retiring effective June 30 after 33 years in the district, the last eight as superintendent.

“Randy’s been so good, you hate to see him go,” Morgan said. “But we’re resolved with the fact that’s going to happen, so you’re excited about a competent person coming in with fresh eyes and seeing how we can be better.”

The nationwide superintendent search should produce two or three finalists by early March.

“That selection will have a lot to do with how we continue to move forward as a district,” Grant said.

But the top level administrator isn’t the only leader retiring. Deputy superintendent Bruce Passman and chief operations officer Mary Rodriguez will also be leaving the district. Initially, the board thought the new superintendent should have a say in the hirings, but now they are looking for a smoother transition.

“That’s an awful lot of top level to leave floating out there,” Morgan said. Both he and Grant have talked to Weseman about filling Rodriguez’s spot before the deputy superintendent, but a formal plan has yet to be finalized.

Another pressing issue for the board is the budget. Grant says they are still unsure when the cuts will come from the state and how much they will be. “We may have to get by on less or get by on less than we thought,” he said.

Morgan has gone through budget cuts before, during his first term on the board. He said 2002 and 2003 were rough years and the board decided to fund top priorities and make cuts at the bottom.

“The reality is that money’s tight enough in any given year that we better not have a program out there that’s worthless, because we should’ve cut it a long time ago,” he said.

The board has yet to discuss potential budget issues, but Grant says they will be looking at everything closely in the future.

Construction on athletic facilities is under way at both Lawrence High School and Free State High School, and getting work done in time for the spring 2009 season is a large to-do item.

“The biggest challenge is trying to bring things in on the regular budget so we’re able to maximize what we’re able to do at both spots,” said Tom Bracciano, the district’s division director for operations and facility planning.

Bracciano says efficiency is also part of the equation. Hosting games at their own venues on artificial turf will save the district money and will go into the operations budget.

“We’re just going to have to keep trying to get more efficient with what we do and the dollars we have to spend in the operations department,” Bracciano said. “We’re pretty tight.”