Lawrence school board members on Monday night rejected a plan for the fall to move ninth-graders into the city’s two public high schools from junior high.

“It would be rushing something with too many chances of failure, and failure in this case means kids,” said Scott Morgan, the school board president.

Board members Bob Byers and Mark Bradford were the only ones to support the move, saying it was feasible and would save the district money.

“I think it’s been demonstrated to us, by staff, significant reasons why we should do it,” Bradford said. “And I think there are significant reasons why now is the time to do it in relationship to the budget.”

The board is looking to cut $4 million to $5 million because of a decrease in state aid and higher insurance costs.

But the five other board members didn’t want to expedite the original plan to take this year to map out the transition as part of a school reconfiguration.

“I’m pretty averse to the idea of doing that kind of crisis planning on something this important,” board member Rich Minder said.

Board members in coming weeks will hear more from administrators on their plans to initiate the process — just not for next school year. It could come in pieces, including a plan to move ninth-graders into high school sports programs.

Budget cuts

Board members ranked a list of about $3 million in program and administrative cuts they updated after introducing last week. They also ranked the cuts in tiers.

The first tier totaled $640,081, and it included:

• $223,970 to stop absorbing administrative costs while assisting the Lawrence Virtual School.

• $250,000 for a 5.6 percent cut to district administration and support services.

• $145,077 in cuts to special education services, including delaying purchasing a replacement vehicle plus reducing most paraprofessional positions to 7.5 hours per day from 8 hours.

• $21,034 by reducing library media assistants’ work days from 194 days to 175 days, when students are in school.

“We’re trying to keep this level as far away from direct contact with kids as possible,” said Kim Bodensteiner, chief academic officer.

Second-tier cuts totaled $913,845 in savings, and included $40,000 for restructuring assistant principals at secondary schools and $150,000 by moving ninth-grade athletics to the high schools.

The third- and fourth-tier cuts would save more than $700,000 each. They include reducing five full-time positions for school nurses and reducing the number of elementary guidance counselors.

Doll said that at each tier the cuts would get more painful.

At the beginning of the meeting, more than 30 people, including parents representing nearly every elementary school, spoke to board members for more than two hours urging them not to close any schools.

The board took no action on that issue Monday.