Another donation is speeding up another Lawrence school district athletics project — this time for runners in cross country and track and field.

The district plans to purchase a new portable, automatic timing system for use by the district’s secondary schools.

The system will cost about $11,000, said Frank Harwood, the district’s chief operations officer. The purchased will be financed by earlier contributions to Lawrence and Free State high schools’ running programs, and by a $6,000 donation from the Bess Spiva Timmons Foundation.

The foundation’s donation allows the district to accelerate its purchase, an inevitability brought on after the Sunflower League mandated that such timing equipment be in place for championship meets — including those for the league and regionals.

Free State hosted the league meet for track and field last year, Harwood said, something that would not be possible this year without the new equipment.

The foundation’s donation isn’t the first for district athletics. Members of the Fritzel family provided resources to enhance the football complex at Free State, and now a Lawrence High alumni group is working to raise money to enclose scoreboards and add ticket booths to go along with district-financed concessions stands and a press box.

Betty Alderson, who lives near the expanded athletics complex near Lawrence High, questions the need for accepting the foundation’s donation, especially as the district struggles to put supplies in classrooms and handle other basic needs.

“Why,” she asked members of the Lawrence school board this week, “are we spending extra money on gifts?”

Board member Scott Morgan noted that having championship meets in Lawrence would benefit the district and community in numerous ways, including a basic one: saving money on school travel expenses.

“It’s not without thought. It’s not without a plan,” said Morgan, who welcomed the foundation’s “incredibly gracious” gift. “It feels great to be in a community that steps forward when it’s needed.”