WRITER: Rochelle Valverde

Board votes 4-3 to close Broken Arrow and Pinckney schools

Update: After hearing an hour and half of public comment, Lawrence school board leaders have voted to close Broken Arrow and Pinckney elementaries. As part of its meeting Monday, the school board voted 4-3, with Carole Cadue-Blackwood, Kay Emerson and Past President Erica Hill opposed, to approve a resolution to close Broken Arrow and Pinckney at the end of this school year. As parents and community ...

Parents, students speak out against closure of Broken Arrow Elementary School

Lawrence school district leaders heard comments from more than 30 people on Saturday as part of a public hearing for the closure of Broken Arrow Elementary, and many of the commenters called on the board to consider the impact on students and to look at other cuts. About 100 people attended the hearing, and many rallied outside against closing the school ahead of the meeting. The district’s as-yet untouched ...

Pinckney families, community members decry impact closure would have on disadvantaged students

As Lawrence school board members prepare to consider closing Pinckney Elementary, parents and community members called on them to consider the impact on the school’s students, many of whom come from low-income households. About 125 people attended the hearing on Saturday afternoon, and dozens rallied outside against closing the school ahead of the meeting. During the more-than-two-hour hearing, many ...

Plans for hundreds of new homes have advanced since school district received projections for declining enrollment and proposed to close schools

Though enrollment projections provided to the Lawrence school board in January predicted that the district would lose about 300 students over the next five years, a few new residential developments have moved forward since then that could affect those numbers. The district hired RSP & Associates to complete the enrollment projections, which along with increasing costs and a goal to identify funding for ...

Some members of Lawrence school district's equity council say proposed school closures would hurt disadvantaged students

Some members of a council that considers equity issues for the Lawrence school district say the council as a whole was not asked for input on the district’s proposal to close Broken Arrow and Pinckney elementary schools, and that they have serious concerns about how closures would affect disadvantaged students. Seven members of the Equity Advisory Council, whose 28 members include school board members, ...

Police have increased presence at Lawrence High School following weekend homicide that involved two former students

Updated at 6:57 p.m. Thursday, March 23, 2023 The Lawrence Police Department has increased its presence at Lawrence High School following a homicide over the weekend that involved two former LHS students. Derrick Del Reed, 17, is charged with one count of first-degree murder in the shooting death of Kamarjay Shaw, 14, on Saturday. Reportedly, multiple people were at the scene of the shooting, but the ...