Lawrence USD 497 school board

The Lawrence school board has set a date for a community conversation around racial equity for Monday, Jan. 30, at Lawrence High School, 1901 Louisiana St.

Slated for 6 to 8 p.m. in the school’s cafeteria, the public talks are an extension of the board’s equity goals for the 2016-2017 school year, which include “engaging communities of color in authentic, meaningful, and purposeful ways,” district spokeswoman Julie Boyle told the Journal-World.

They also follow the controversial investigation of racist remarks allegedly made by a South Middle School teacher in the fall that continued to draw criticism from some in the community over a perceived lack of transparency in the case at the hands of district officials.

Tensions finally boiled over during the school board’s Dec. 12 meeting, which was abruptly adjourned after outbursts from protestors made it difficult for business to continue. The meeting occurred just days after the disclosure of a settlement agreement between the district and the accused teacher — who has denied any wrongdoing — in which the district agreed to withhold information from the investigation in exchange for the promise that it would not be sued over the matter.

Part of the school board’s efforts to put that incident behind them, board president Marcel Harmon announced following an executive session Dec. 15, is the formation of a community advisory council devoted to racial equity issues. Jan. 30’s conversation may help shape that committee, which is still in very early, “very high-level” discussions at this point, Harmon said.

“We started putting together the community equity team, so I think this will feed into that in terms of there being people and groups that we may discover need to be part of that district-level equity group,” he said. “So, one of the outcomes could be to finalize the membership of that group, as well as potential issues that that group can help work on moving forward.”

Boyle, the district’s director of communications, said that several individuals and groups concerned with equity issues have been invited to attend Jan. 30’s meeting, which will also involve the participation of school board members and the district’s Equity Leadership Team. As of now, that list includes the local chapter of the NAACP, Justice Matters, Centro Hispano, the Lawrence-Douglas County Housing Authority and others, including the University of Kansas and Haskell Indian Nations University.

District principals are also extending invitations to those in their school communities, Boyle added, though anyone interested is encouraged to attend.

Although the structure of the meeting has yet to be determined, district officials have reached out to a third party, the Kansas Leadership Center, to help facilitate the talks. Adrion Roberson, pastor at Kansas City’s DESTINY! Bible Fellowship Community Church, will serve as facilitator, Boyle said.

Harmon also said that Pacific Education Group, the organization that facilitates Beyond Diversity training for Lawrence and other school districts across the country, has also been asked for input on the upcoming conversation and what, exactly, it might look like.

What’s key, Harmon said, is the opportunity afforded by this kind of meeting — “everybody getting the chance for different groups to listen to each other and see each other’s perspectives,” he said, adding, “I don’t know if that’s been done as well as it needs to be done up to this point.

“The other thing is, how do we talk about race equity in the community? And how does that play out, not just in the school district but in other parts of the community? How do we work toward improving that?” Harmon said. “And certainly the schools are a critical part of that … but we don’t operate in a vacuum. If we really want to make improvements moving forward, this needs to be a community effort.”

Although it’s possible that a few potential action items may emerge from the meeting, Harmon doesn’t expect any simple solutions. What he does expect is lots of conversation — some of it “uncomfortable,” but all of it, ideally, meaningful.

“This is an initial effort at a conversation on equity at the community level,” Harmon said. “There’s not going to be any resolution, but it’s a start.”