School board to look at preliminary bond numbers

The Lawrence school board will hear a report Monday night describing how much work is needed to bring all the district’s buildings up to modern standards and how large of a bond issue it will take to fund those projects.

Consultants from the design firm Gould Evans and Associates are scheduled to make preliminary recommendations on the scope and cost of those projects.

The board plans to ask voters to approve a bond issue in April to expand and upgrade school buildings throughout the district, focusing mainly on elementary schools in older neighborhoods of central and east Lawrence.

The bond proposal will also include plans for upgrading technology throughout the district, improving the energy efficiency of several buildings and providing more facility space for career and technical education for Lawrence students.

The report is expected to include a range of options for the board to consider, especially regarding building improvements.

Those options are ranked in order of three priorities.

The first priority involves replacing temporary “portable” buildings with permanent structures; providing each school with a separate gymnasium and cafeteria.

The second priority is to provide equity among the buildings by expanding classroom and other space in smaller schools to match the space provided in newer, roomier schools and to facilitate 21st century teaching practices.

The third priority, which board members have said they are unlikely to pursue unless the costs are reasonable, would be to bring all the district’s buildings up to national standards for newly constructed facilities.

The board is expected to make a final decision about the project scope and cost before the first of the year. The bond proposal is planned for the April 2 local elections.

In other business, the board will hear a presentation from the Human Resources department about a new online tool called Teacherinsight to improve teacher recruitment and hiring, and consider approving a contract with Gallup Consulting to implement that tool at a one-year cost of $21,000.