Having endured six days of temperatures in excess of 90 degrees, Lawrence area residents were facing a forecast of temperatures reaching 100 to 105 degrees for a few days. The heat index was expected to reach 105 to 115. On the plus side, the municipal pool was doing a brisk business, with at least 600 people visiting each day.

School officials were predicting that Lawrence elementary schools were destined to grow in both size and quality over the coming years. There was no argument that the schools were getting larger, as the board had recently agreed to expand several existing schools by about 500 students each. However, there were proponents and detractors on both sides of the large-school issue.

School closings were also a subject of controversy. Five years earlier, four schools – Grant, Riverside, India, and Kaw Valley – had been targeted for closing, but after heated discussion at public hearings, the board had voted in 1982 to keep them open.