photo by: Dylan Lysen/Lawrence Journal-World

Lawrence Public Schools district offices pictured in April 2021.

The Lawrence school board at Monday’s meeting approved partnership agreements with outside agencies that are meant to bolster support for issues related to truancy and other student conduct.

For the district’s truancy prevention services, the board approved by a 6-0 vote, a partnership agreement with agencies that include the Douglas County District Attorney’s Office, the Kansas Department for Children and Families, Douglas County Criminal Justice Services — Youth Programs, Center for Supportive Communities and the O’Connell Children’s Shelter. The agreement allows the entities to share truancy-related data as a way to assist with combating attendance issues. School board member Paula Vann was absent.

The board previously paused any action on the agreement after board member Erica Hill expressed concerns related to a truancy prevention flyer that she said did not align with the district’s equity policy. Douglas County Youth Services Director Pam Weigand displayed the flyer at the board’s Aug. 28 meeting — with one of the stock photos showing a Black male mentoring an elementary-aged white female — while another image portrayed an elementary-aged Black female as a truancy program participant.

Weigand’s presentation was part of a broader discussion about local entities that partner with the school district on its truancy prevention program. The flyer itself was produced by the Center for Supportive Communities — a local nonprofit that operates a truancy prevention and diversion program known as SupportED, for students in kindergarten through eighth grade.

Weigand said the flyer was packaged with a “warning letter” to parents of students who are deemed to be truant by the district, and that the intent is to “encourage families to get engaged with us prior to a formal process.”

Hill expressed displeasure with the optics of the flyer, telling Weigand that “when you look at our student data, it’s hard as a Black person (because) we don’t see ourselves represented often.”

She added, “but then on this flyer, talking about truancy, support, mentoring (and) things like that — there are two Black people on here (and) it feels a little different — a little odd.”

After the board’s vote to approve the agreement Monday night, Hill addressed her previous concerns, pointing to the addition of language that addressed her equity concerns.

The new language stated that “educational outcomes cannot be predicted by race, socioeconomic status, and/or other historically marginalized identities. To ensure this becomes a reality, educational equity will be woven into every single department and partnership.” Hill said she voted in favor of the measure because she didn’t have any concerns about the “technical execution of the truancy program.”

“Words on a page (don’t) always result in positive outcomes,” Hill said, “but it’s a step in the right direction.” Hill added that her prior concerns remain, but that she does “see the bigger picture of getting this program up and going.”

After the meeting, Superintendent Anthony Lewis told the Journal-World that he was pleased that the board moved forward with the partnership agreement. He said that attendance issues at the elementary-level are typically a “parental issue” because “they’re the ones that get the kids to school.”

“I don’t believe that there is any parent that is just keeping their kid at home and saying ‘you’re not going to school,'” Lewis said. “There are some underlying factors and some variables that they need support with, so this just allows that support to continue to those families to get those kids to school.”

By a 6-0 vote, the board also approved a partnership agreement with Building Peace Inc., an agency that provides mediation and conflict resolution opportunities using restorative practices. Because the approval was part of the consent agenda, there was no board discussion on the topic.

Lewis, using a hypothetical scenario, told the Journal-World that if two students were involved in an altercation and one of the parents filed a criminal complaint, Building Peace Inc. would have the ability to potentially intervene “to keep a student from being a part of the criminal system by trying to do some restorative circles,” which would focus on resolving conflicts productively and repairing relationships rather than simply punishing students for misbehavior.

In other business, the board:

• Heard a work session presentation that provided an overview of Lawrence Virtual School and the current landscape of virtual schools in Kansas.

• Held a public hearing and first-read of a policy that would bring the district into compliance with a new state law that regulates the ​​transfer of nonresident students into the Lawrence district. Board president Kelly Jones told the Journal-World after a recent policy committee meeting that there was a possibility the vote could take place Monday night because of how the policy was written. She told the Journal-World after Monday’s meeting she received clarification from district leaders, and that the second reading and potential vote would not take place until the board’s Nov. 6 meeting.

• Approved, in the consent agenda, repairs and renovations for the Free State High School athletic field press box, in an amount up to $57,700.