Lawrence USD 497 school board

During a goal-setting work session for the coming school year, the Lawrence school board committed the district to greater transparency, equity and community engagement, among other goals.

The jumping off point for Monday’s discussion was a staff survey that interim Superintendent Anna Stubblefield conducted and supplemented with input from community groups. The survey was the basis for a draft of the 2017-2018 goals provided to the board. The draft’s four main goals were:

• Develop and align district expectations for curriculum, instruction and assessment to raise achievement of all students.

• Expand communication and community connections through increased engagement.

• Enhance programming and supports to meet the varied academic, social, emotional and behavioral needs of all students

• Allocate capital and human resources to deliver quality education programs and services in adaptable, high-performance facilities.

At the suggestion of board member Vanessa Sanburn, language supporting the second goal of communication was changed from “sharing information proactively” to “creating a culture of transparency.”

“I like the idea of having ‘yes’ be our answer unless there is a legal reason for it not to be, as opposed to kind of evolving into a closed system,” she said in regard to sharing information with the public. “I do believe we would benefit more from creating a culture of transparency in which we share data and information. Honestly, I’ve been on the board for eight years. We don’t have anything to hide.”

In seconding the suggestion, board member Rick Ingram said he supported greater transparency. Even as a board member, he said, there were things he didn’t know.

“I agree we don’t have anything to hide, but that’s clearly not the perception of some in the community,” he said.

Board members also agreed that a 2017-2018 goal would be the completion of a special education improvement plan. Concerns to be addressed: getting more students of color into advanced placement programs and expanded use of individual improvement plans for students.

Another agreed-upon goal was for the board to have joint meetings with the Lawrence City Commission and Douglas County Commission — an unrealized objective from last year.

One topic for such a meeting should be coordination with the city on the transportation needs of students, Ingram said. He pointed out that students living within two miles of the schools they attend don’t qualify for free rides to and from school.

“I would like to suggest we have a conversation with the city about buses,” he said. “We run buses, and they run buses. If you have kids who are a mile away or a mile and half away (from their schools), is there a way to coordinate so that maybe we could help some of those kids?”

Ingram also proposed that later start times for high school students be considered, but the majority of the board agreed that the topic of start times should be reserved, along with several topics, as part of a strategic plan to be developed after the district’s new superintendent is in place early next year.

Sanburn suggested that expanded food service should also be considered during the strategic planning process. She proposed that the district explore an after-school meal program and a second breakfast option, such as the one in place in the Tonganoxie school district. That program makes meals available to students after the first hour in the morning, she said. Many students don’t arrive at their schools in time to eat the breakfasts now offered, she said.

The board will look to complete its goal setting for the coming school year in August at a work session before a public hearing on the district’s 2017-2018 budget. The date of that public hearing won’t be established until the Kansas Supreme Court rules sometime in the next month on the new K-12 school finance law that the Kansas Legislature passed this spring.