photo by: Journal-World

Lawrence Public Schools district offices pictured in April 2021.

Lawrence school board members took another crack Monday at approving disciplinary guidelines for the most severe student infractions, and with a vote of 6-0 passed a measure that paves that way for updating the 2023-24 student handbook.

A vote on July 10 narrowly failed, 4-3, with board members Paula Vann, Bob Byers, Carole Cadue-Blackwood and Kelly Jones objecting to language used to describe Tier 3 student infractions, many of which involve violence or threats and may warrant intervention from law enforcement, and how the guidelines fit with the with district’s “restorative justice” model, as the Journal-World previously reported.

On Monday, Byers, Cadue-Blackwood and Jones joined Shannon Kimble, Ronald “G.R.” Gordon-Ross and Erica Hill to approve the new guidelines after language was changed from “offense” to “incidents” in some portions of the guidelines. Vann did not attend the meeting.

Cynthia Johnson, who serves as the district’s executive director of inclusion, engagement, and belonging, explained to the board on Monday that the use of restorative justice practices is designed to be an alternative to exclusionary discipline.

“Our bottom line is that we want to keep students in school,” Johnson said, but that the word “offense” is still going to appear in the matrix when describing some disciplinary measures. She said that restorative practices cannot be applied in every instance of student discipline because there “are times when there is an infraction that is so severe that there has to be another type of consequence.”

“But we always try to make every attempt to have restorative (practices),” she said.

In response to a question from Kimball, Johnson said that her findings revealed that the use of the word “offense” when describing disciplinary measures is common among school districts, but that the state has been defining some of those transgressions as “incidents” since at least 2021.

After expressing surprise that the measure was rejected on July 10, Superintendent Anthony Lewis said he was pleased with Monday night’s outcome. At the end of the day, Lewis said his top priority was ensuring that students and staff are afforded a safe environment to learn and teach.

“I appreciate the board sharing their feedback with us so that we could go back and take another look and make those corrections,” he said. “Now we have those corrections made and can get this in the hands of our scholars and parents.”

Jones told the Journal-World that she was satisfied with the revision.

“The dialogue today was a starting point for the board and the community to engage in this next step of the matrix work,” which Jones called an ongoing process. “I want to get teacher and community input where we can — and we can provide avenues for that as the school year starts.”

Public forum commenter Jody Meyer expressed concern over the board’s dialogue and subsequent vote, saying that “we need more serious consequences for the (district’s) behavioral problems, rather than less.”

“An argument can be made that our current policies and procedures are not working,” Meyers said. “You cannot ‘restorative justice’ your way out of what is happening. Arguing semantics over the word ‘offense’ is not getting us anywhere. Teachers are frustrated with their inability to effectuate any real consequences for student behavior. Yet another reason why teachers don’t want to teach here.”

In other business, the board:

• Approved schedule of enrollment fees for the 2023-24 school year as part of its consent agenda. The district’s device fee was set at $15 for all grades. The new-price point represents a $10 decrease from the previous school year for high school students — as grades 9 through 12 had been utilizing pricier laptops since the 2016-17 school year. Upon approving the pivot from laptops during the board’s January meeting, it was noted that iPads issued to high school students for the 2023-24 school year come equipped with a touchpad keyboard case, stand, and a digital pencil. Classrooms requiring specialized curriculums will be outfitted with hardware necessary to support its instruction. For example, the purchase of 50 Windows laptops in order to support special classroom needs.

For the majority of enrollment fees, waivers are available for students that qualify for free- or reduced-price school meals — as well as students who have received hardship waivers for special circumstances.

“We encourage all families who think they may be eligible to submit the free- and reduced-price meal application online,” said district Spokesperson Julie Boyle.

• Heard a report on the district’s professional development plan for the upcoming school year. The report centered on the district’s goals for improvement in the areas of reading, math, and post-secondary success — and was presented by Leah Wisdom, the district’s director of equity, instruction and student services.

A timeline for the implementation of professional learning activities for the 2023-24 school year was also provided.