Lawrence school board to consider tax break request from local architecture firm

The Lawrence school district could expect to receive another $85,000 in revenue from a new architecture office, under a tax-break plan up for review Monday night by the Lawrence school board.

Board members will consider the Lawrence school district’s portion of a neighborhood revitalization plan for Treanor Architects, which intends to locate its headquarters at 1040 Vt.

The meeting begins at 7 p.m. Monday at district headquarters, 110 McDonald Drive. The full agenda and links to reports is available here.

Lawrence city commissioners already have approved the city’s portion of the project, and Douglas County commissioners also will be asked to approve granting a break on its portion of anticipated additional tax revenues that would generated by the project.

A cost-benefit analysis conducted for the city and county shows that the district could expect to receive an additional $85,000 in revenue during the next 15 years as a result of the project, if the tax-break plan were approved. The plan wouldn’t cost the district anything, according to the report.

Board members will be expected to vote on the plan April 25.

Among other items on the agenda for Monday’s meeting:

• Consider approving new names for Lawrence’s junior high schools, effective July 1: Central Middle School, South Middle School, Southwest Middle School and West Middle School.

• Receive a report about transition activities for students at Wakarusa Valley School, which is set to close at the end of this school year.

• Receive a report about “Ongoing Cash Balance Reporting,” a plan to update reports monthly that detail the amount of money in each fund within the district budget.

• Discuss issues related to a recommendation from the Lawrence Elementary School Facility Vision Task Force, one that calls for consolidating six elementary schools into three or four within the next three to five years.

• Discuss possible expansion of full-day kindergarten programming.

• Discuss potential budget cuts for the 2011-12 academic year.

• Consider approving boundary changes to account for the closure of Wakarusa Valley School.