Lawrence USD 497 school board

The Lawrence school board on Monday will hear an update on the district’s equity efforts, including changes to anti-discrimination policies and the long-awaited launch of a new advisory group.

The District Equity Leadership Team Advisory, a committee meant to address the needs of students of color and their families, will meet for the first time April 18 after months of discussion and recruiting efforts. The group will comprise approximately 20 parents of color, Superintendent Kyle Hayden and staff from the already existing District Equity Leadership Team, said Anna Stubblefield, assistant superintendent of educational support and equity.

Also meeting this month is the district’s Equity Advisory Council, which Stubblefield said has been around since 1986 but “was in the process of being revamped during the 2015-2016 school year,” she said.

“We are being more intentional to include all marginalized groups, but I believe it was created with the purpose to address inequities across the system,” Stubblefield said in an email. The re-launched Equity Advisory Council, in addition to district leaders like Stubblefield and building principals, will also include school board members and representatives from advocacy groups such as Justice Matters, the NAACP, the district’s Special Education Advisory Group, and the Latino Youth Career Council of Lawrence.

Also included in Monday’s report, co-authored by Stubblefield and executive director of human resources and legal counsel David Cunningham, is the recommendation that school board members consider refiguring some existing policies surrounding discrimination and harassment.

Stubblefield and Cunningham are proposing a “much more streamlined and simple complaint procedure” for reporting incidents of discrimination, harassment and bullying, according to the report. The existing procedure, called the KNA, is difficult to follow, district leaders acknowledge, especially in regard to the process for appealing decisions “with which a complainant disagrees.”

“The current KNA is difficult because it allows a complainant to file with different people. It is good to have both informal and formal procedures, but the filing should be simplified,” Stubblefield said in an email. “Also, the appeals structure can be confusing. The recommended KNA simplifies both the filing and the appeals procedures.”

“We believe having a simplified process will help people resolve issues; however, if the matter is not resolved at the building level, it is easy to appeal to the district level,” she added.

In other business, the board will:

• Officially welcome its newest member, Melissa Johnson. The teacher and mother of three was appointed to fill Kristie Adair’s vacated seat last month, and will be sworn in during Monday’s school board meeting.

• Hear an update on the district’s Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) college-readiness program. The report is co-authored by Kevin Harrell, the district’s executive director of student services, and Leah Wisdom, assistant director of student services.

• Hear an update on the district’s Native American Student Services, including a comparison of local graduation and dropout data with national averages. Jennifer Attocknie, coordinator of Native American Student Services, will deliver the report.

• Hear an update on the ongoing staff and community engagement surrounding the district’s May 2 mail-in bond election. If passed by district voters, the $87 million bond issue would focus on modernizing Lawrence’s secondary schools. Julie Boyle, the district’s director of communications, will present the report.

The school board will meet at 7 p.m. Monday at district offices, 110 McDonald Drive.