Lawrence’s new school board president says the district faces the task of coordinating several planning processes after approving major changes to the district last school year.

“I would like for our team to keep our focus on leading our community through this planning process by providing political leadership and maximizing the values that our community expects to have expressed in their education,” Rich Minder said in prepared remarks to board members.

Board members elected Minder as president during their annual organization meeting Thursday afternoon. He replaced the most recent president, Scott Morgan, who will still serve on the board, but not as an officer. Presidents serve one-year terms leading the board starting July 1.

Minder said board members are faced with helping the district coordinate and implement changes from recent major decisions.

The district is planning to reconfigure all of its schools for 2011-2012, as it changes to four-year high schools and sixth-to-eighth-grade middle schools. Currently kindergarten to sixth grades attend elementary schools. Seventh to ninth grades are in junior high schools, and high schools consist of 10th to 12th grades.

A group made up mostly of 25 community members, including Minder and Morgan, is studying the district’s elementary schools after board members decided not to close any elementary schools as part of $4.6 million in budget cuts for next year.

Minder said board members also need to consider activating the district’s boundary committee amid all the changes.

“The planning process will be complex and require ongoing monitoring by the board and be transparent to the community,” he said.

Minder is the collaborative projects coordinator for Success By 6 Coalition of Douglas County, which supports families with young children. School board members chose Mark Bradford to serve as the vice president.

Bradford also serves as chief of Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical. The board next meets July 19 at district headquarters, 110 McDonald Drive.