photo by: Matt Resnick/Journal-World

Cyndie Courtney, second from right, provides feedback during Lawrence school district's "Portrait of a Graduate" public input session on Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023, at Lawrence High School.

When students graduate from the Lawrence school district, they shouldn’t just be proficient in academics — they should also be able to resolve conflicts with other people, speak civilly with those who don’t share their views, and have a host of other soft skills that will help them in their future careers.

That’s what several community members said at a public input session on Thursday night at Lawrence High School, where the district and the University of Kansas’ Achievement & Assessment Institute were asking community members what an ideal graduate of the district should look like. Brad Neuenswander, of the KU institute, told the half-dozen attendees that for nearly 90% of all first-time hires who lose their jobs, it’s because of a lack of skills in areas such as problem-solving, leadership, teamwork and communication.

For Cyndie Courtney, the parent of a student in the district, conflict resolution belonged on that list of skills that graduates need to be employable. She said teachers should be mediating conflict resolution within the classroom — “if it’s appropriate, right there in front of the students.”

“So they can see a role model example of what resolving a conflict looks like,” Courtney said. “How do we teach them that if we don’t role-model those types of decisions for them?”

Anne Costello, who won a seat on the Lawrence school board in this week’s elections, added that civil discourse was important — “the ability to have a conversation with people who disagree with you.”

Not all of the skills the attendees discussed were interpersonal skills. Andrea Kelley, who has a high school student in the district, said financial literacy was important for students to learn — whether it’s balancing a budget, creating a “financial plan” or “starting a side-business” with friends.

Neuenswander, who was once a deputy commissioner with the Kansas State Department of Education, also emphasized that students need experience with civic engagement skills such as public speaking, as well as learning experiences that connect their curriculum with the real world — things like volunteer work, peer mentoring or apprenticeships.

There were some questions on Thursday about how schools would cultivate these skills. Courtney wondered whether the district would have the necessary “bandwidth.”

“When I talk with teachers or principals, it’s like everyone is blaming each other for not giving students the things they need to build these skills,” she said. “I’m glad that we’re here talking about expectations, but I think it’s also irresponsible to not also talk about how are we going to get the resources to make this happen, both within our community and beyond, at the state level as well.”

Six community members attended Thursday’s session, and another public feedback session was held at Free State High School on Tuesday. There were also two sessions this week just for high school students in the district and two more just for district faculty and staff. Patrick Kelly, the district’s chief academic officer, said he had hoped for a much bigger turnout at Thursday’s event, but that he was pleased with the way the conversation went.

Next, Neuenswander plans to compile a report from the sessions that will be presented during an upcoming Lawrence school board meeting.