Members of the Lawrence school board meet in this file photo from July 27, 2015.

As the Lawrence school board begins planning next school year’s budget, its members will be looking for where the district can save money and where it will have to make cuts. Lawrence public schools Superintendent Rick Doll acknowledged the board has tough choices ahead of them.

“Ultimately, it is the board’s responsibility — the decision to make about how low do we go (in our contingency reserve fund), what do we cut to give raises, what don’t we cut to give raises, do we give raises?” Doll said to board members at the conclusion of Monday’s school board meeting.

District finance administrators presented a budget overview to the board that included breakdowns of the district’s projected operating budget and expenditures for the upcoming year. The district operates 20 schools and a college and career center, and Doll said principals have been asked to try to come up with efficiencies for their buildings as part of the budget planning.

With many assuming that block grants put in place by the Kansas Legislature will remain in effect another year, the board’s expectation is that funding will stay relatively flat while student enrollment increases. Student enrollment increased by about 250 students districtwide this school year, and that trend is projected to continue next year.

“We know that in effect we’re going to have less money, because we’re going to have more kids for the same amount of money,” Doll said.

Some possible changes mentioned by district officials included eliminating certain high school course offerings, making changes to the middle school schedule, and increasing thresholds for elementary class sizes.

“There are a lot of conversations that are happening, questions to be answered,” said Kyle Hayden, assistant superintendent of business and operations.

Criticisms by Kansas lawmakers that school districts spend too much on administrative costs, too little on instruction and maintain high cash reserves all informed the board’s discussion Monday. As board members prepare to start working on the budget, those factors will be kept in mind, Hayden said.

The budget overview report will be reviewed by the finance advisory council, which will in turn make recommendations to the school board in a future meeting, Hayden said.

In other business, the school board:

• Heard a proposal to name the Lawrence High School football field or stadium after former football and track coach Bill Freeman. Freeman died in December and his daughter, Jennifer Freeman Nauertc, presented the idea to the board. Doll said that because there are about five or six very successful former LHS coaches, any recognition would likely take the form of multiple plaques as opposed to naming the field. Board members said they would make that decision based on feedback from Lawrence High.

• Reviewed a report on changes in the district’s professional learning approach. The district has adopted a new approach that is more personalized. The report reviewed several new formats, including collaborative sessions and the ability for teachers to choose some of the content. About 93 percent of the teachers surveyed about the new format said it was effective.

• Reviewed a report on capital outlay budget and project planning. The average expenditure for the fund over the past five years was about $9.2 million, and total planned capital outlay expenditures for next school year is about $11.5 million.

The school board’s next meeting will be Feb. 22 at the district offices, 110 McDonald Drive.