Lawrence school board meeting postponed until Thursday

Plans for the Lawrence school board to approve next year’s school calendar will just have to wait.

Board members originally had planned to meet at 7 tonight, but inclement weather prompted officials to postpone the meeting to 8 p.m. Thursday at district headquarters, 110 McDonald Drive.

Officials say the postponed meeting will begin as soon as possible following the district’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Educational Event, which is set for 6:30 p.m. Thursday in the auditorium at Free State High School, 4700 Overland Drive.

Among items on the board’s agenda for Thursday night:

• Approve the district’s 2011-12 calendar, one calling for school to begin during the third week of August and end before Memorial Day. One day would be built into the schedule for inclement weather.

• Approve a plan to close — yes, close — Lawrence’s four junior high schools June 30, then reopen them July 1 with new names: Central Middle School, South Middle School, Southwest Middle School and West Middle School. The change is part of the district’s ongoing plans to reconfigure the district’s schools.