photo by: USD 497

The Lawrence school board discusses the district's graduation rates as part of its meeting on Feb. 13, 2023, at district offices, 110 McDonald Dr.

Lawrence school district leaders touted the results of the annual state accreditation review that shows rising graduation rates in the district.

As part of its meeting Monday, the Lawrence school board received the district’s Kansas Education System Accreditation (KESA) report, which reviews social-emotional factors, kindergarten readiness, individual plans of study, high school graduation and postsecondary success. Superintendent Anthony Lewis said that he thought that the 2022 rate was the highest the district has had in 16 years.

“This is a huge accomplishment,” Lewis said.

Chief Academic Officer Patrick Kelly told the board that after hovering around 82% for a number of years, the rate for 2022 was about 89%. Kelly said the rate was the result of the board pushing the district to increase its graduations and interventions with students.

At the opening of the meeting, Lewis said considering the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and the district’s budget challenges, that improvements noted in the report were incredible.

The KESA report compared the district’s graduation rate — which includes the rate for its statewide virtual school — to the state’s graduation rate for the period between 2016 and 2021. During that period, the report states while still below the state average in 2021, the district’s growth rate exceeded the state’s growth level during the five-year period. Specifically, the state grew 2 percentage points during that period, from 86.1% in 2016 to 88.1% in 2021. Meanwhile, the Lawrence district grew 3.5 percentage points, from 80.7% in 2016 to 84.2% in 2021.

The district’s rate ultimately pulled ahead of the state rate the following year, with the rate increasing to 89.2% for 2022, according to a district presentation. The district also notes that the percentage of students graduating in all subgroups — white, multiracial, Hispanic, Asian, American Indian/Alaska Native and African American — has increased or held steady between 2018 and 2022.

“We’ve been really working hard,” Kelly said, in reference to the subgroup data. “Our buildings, our teachers, and most importantly our students, on getting those graduation rates up, so lots to celebrate there.”

School Board President Shannon Kimball said she was really impressed with the district’s work. School Board Vice President Paula Vann said she also appreciated the increase in graduation rates, but that she also wanted to make the comment that academic assessments continue to show disparities between many students of color and white and Asian students. Vann said while she did not expect an answer that evening, she would like to know what that means for students who may graduate but not necessarily be adequately prepared.

“So my concern is that when we are pushing students out the door that they are not necessarily where they need to be,” Vann said. “Again I just want to be mindful of that, that when we’re highlighting (graduation rates), just to talk a little about those student achievements and where students are, just as a reminder.”

Kelly said the report also identified four areas for improvement. Those included a need for the district to focus some of its strategic priorities to determine its next goals; identifying course materials for social emotional learning; improving kindergarten readiness; and refining the implementation of its individual plans of study.

The district also notes in the report that its graduation rate includes the students in its virtual school, “whose graduation rate has been increasing, yet it is much lower than the district finds acceptable.” The report does not break out graduation rates from the district’s brick-and-mortar high schools and the virtual school, though the district does report that data to the state as part of other reports. Data available on the Kansas State Department of Education website indicates that the four-year graduation rate for the 2021-2022 school year was 89.7% for Lawrence High School; 90.9% for Free State High School; and 83.8% for the Lawrence Virtual School.

In other business, the board voted 4-3, with board members Kelly Jones, Carole Cadue-Blackwood and Kay Emerson opposed, to approve the district’s Capital Improvement Plan, which provides an overview of school facility maintenance and renovation along with the purchase of equipment and furniture, according to a district staff memo to the board. The CIP covers the 2022-23 to 2025-26 school years and totals approximately $54 million over the four-year period. The CIP includes allocations for musical instruments, computer and tablet leases, and various building improvements, among other projects. Any project bids over $20,000 must return to the board for approval. Jones said she was voting against the CIP because she continued to have concerns about the board’s recent decision to replace the laptops that the district has issued to all high school students with tablets instead. Cadue-Blackwood and Emerson did not specify particular projects of concern.