The Lawrence school board’s commitment to transparency is key to overcoming perceptions that the board and, by extension, the school district aren’t always as open as they should be when it comes to school district issues.

This week, the board adopted preliminary goals for the coming year. Among the four goals, which will be finalized in August, was expanding “communication and community connections through increased engagement.”

Board member Vanessa Sanburn requested that the communication goal include language committing to “creating a culture of transparency.” Sanburn rightfully noted that the board’s default position should be openness.

“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,” Sanburn said. “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.”

Board member Rick Ingram supported Sanburn’s suggestion, noting that the board has work to do in order to win back public trust. “I agree we don’t have anything to hide,” Ingram said, “but that’s clearly not the perception of some in the community.”

It has been a difficult year for the school district from a transparency perspective. The board stumbled in how it communicated with the public in several incidents, including the resignation last fall of a middle school teacher amid allegations of racist remarks in class, a poorly communicated board decision to make condoms available in Lawrence high schools and the recent transition of Kyle Hayden from superintendent into the newly created role of chief operations officer.

One suggestion for the board is to ask staff to be as clear and forthcoming as possible in setting school board agendas. Providing the public with as much detail as possible, including background reports as appropriate, on the work of the board is an easy fix and would help reinforce the notion that the board and the district have nothing to hide.

Setting a goal of increased transparency is a welcome step in the right direction for the school board. Hopefully, the board follows up goal setting with meaningful action on transparency.