photo by: USD 497 screen shot

The Lawrence school board convenes for its meeting on April 10, 2023. Vice President Paula Vann and Carole Cadue-Blackwood participated virtually.

On the heels of the school board approving two elementary school closures, Board President Shannon Kimball brought up the possibility of expanding some of the remaining elementary schools as those buildings approach their capacities in the coming years.

The Lawrence school board began its consideration of the boundary shifts recommended by the Boundary Advisory Committee to accommodate the closures of Broken Arrow and Pinckney as part of its meeting Monday. After a couple board members echoed some public concerns about receiving schools approaching capacity with the incoming students, Kimball said rather than shift kids to schools that were less full, the board should keep in mind the possibility of expanding those schools in the coming years.

“I think that is one way to allay some of the community’s concerns when they see these out years and some of these projections where you’ve got buildings that are upwards of 90% (capacity), like Cordley and Schwegler for instance, and then Langston Hughes,” Kimball said. “Perhaps we are going to have to do some targeted additions to buildings to grow them. And I think that needs to be at least in the back of the minds of our boundary committee as they are putting all of these moving pieces together.”

Kimball said because the district knows it needs to have buildings serve more students to be more financially efficient, she suggested the board and the committee not “shy away from” filling up a building and instead plan for the future building expansions. Kimball referenced enrollment projections completed by a district-hired consultant that predicted that the district would lose about 300 students over the next five years and not start seeing enrollment growth related to the Panasonic plant in nearby De Soto until between six and 10 years. Rather than doing a bond issue, Kimball said out past that five-year mark, once the district does start to grow again, it could potentially earmark capital outlay funds for building expansions, such as from the pending sale of the former alternative high school building near Holcom Park.

In addition to Kimball’s comments, board members suggested making changes to provide parents from the closed schools more choice regarding where their children attend and not going forward with the committee’s recommendation to change the boundaries of Deerfield school so that some students attend Woodlawn. Some of the board’s comments regarding the recommended boundary changes are summarized below.

GR Gordon-Ross: Gordon-Ross said he thought the area currently within Deerfield’s boundary that is proposed to attend Woodlawn should stay in the Deerfield boundary. He also said that an area south of Kansas Highway 10 and west of U.S. 59, instead of being split between Langston Hughes and Sunflower, should go to one school.

Kelly Jones: Jones said she also supported not moving current Deerfield students to Woodlawn. Jones suggested the committee reconsider a plan to move the majority of Pinckney students to Deerfield, as that pushed the school’s capacity to 90%. She suggested more Pinckney students be moved to Hillcrest instead. She also said that to the extent possible, she would like to see the families of closed schools maintain a choice in where their child attends, so she asked for liberal policies in that regard. She said that might include opening up transfers to Woodlawn, which she said as a smaller school might provide a similar school environment. She also said that consideration should be given to expanding the boundaries of New York school, which is in the process of transitioning to a public Montessori school but is still mostly using the traditional school format.

Kay Emerson: Emerson expressed support for Jones’ suggestion of giving families more choice in their selection of school. She also thought that a district recommendation to allow older students to remain in their current school despite boundary shifts should be extended to more students. Regarding walking routes, Emerson suggested the district consider adding another bus route for some incoming Deerfield students that will be crossing larger streets to get to their new school.

Carole Cadue-Blackwood: Cadue-Blackwood also said she would like to focus on giving parents a greater choice on where their students attend schools. She also said it saddened her that the changes split up Broken Arrow students into five schools.

Vice President Paula Vann: Vann said she supported Gordon-Ross’ suggestions.

Past President Erica Hill: Hill also spoke to the area south of Kansas Highway 10 and west of U.S. 59 and asked that consideration be given to how the recommended elementary school boundaries and the existing middle school boundaries could mean families could have kids attending schools on opposite sides of town.

The Boundary Advisory Committee’s recommendation for boundary changes sought to evaluate safety, transportation, utilization of buildings, and the socio-economic and racial/ethnic balance among affected schools. The committee will use the board’s input from Monday to make changes to the recommended boundary adjustments for the upcoming school year, which will return to the board for a vote in late April or early May.

Further Boundary Advisory Committee meetings are tentatively scheduled for April 12 and 19 to review and make recommendations based on the board’s input from Monday. Larry Englebrick, executive director of facilities and operations, said that he would begin working with the district-hired consultant, RSP & Associates, to incorporate the board’s input into the boundary changes beginning Tuesday.

Overall, the recommended boundary changes will impact about 485 students and 10 schools. According to current recommendations, Broken Arrow’s approximately 225 students will be divided among five schools: Cordley, Langston Hughes, Prairie Park, Schwegler and Sunflower; Pinckney’s approximately 170 students will be divided between Deerfield and Hillcrest. About 93 additional students from three schools will be transferred among four schools to make room for the incoming Broken Arrow and Pinckney students: 13 Cordley students to Hillcrest, 20 Deerfield students to Sunset Hill, 30 Deerfield students to Woodlawn, and 30 Hillcrest students to Quail Run. All numbers are based on enrollment for the current school and may change.

Older students students from the three schools recommended to be transferred to new schools, as well as their younger siblings, may have the option to stay at their current school. Specifically, district administration recommends “grandfathering” current third and fourth graders and their younger siblings currently attending the same school. Those students may choose to stay at their current school or attend their new school. “Grandfathered” students choosing to stay at their current school should complete a transfer request form available after boundaries are finalized. The district’s current transfer request process is available to all other families on a space-available basis.