photo by: Lawrence Journal-World

Lawrence school district offices, pictured in April 2021.

A team working on the STEAM transition for Liberty Memorial Central Middle School has backed away from a proposal to start the school day later on Wednesdays.

At the last meeting of the Lawrence school board, the team had proposed starting at 9:45 a.m. on Wednesdays, which concerned several members of the board, who were worried about families being able to accommodate that schedule and about potentially higher costs for bus transportation.

In its revised plan, presented to the board Wednesday, the team instead proposed a Wednesday schedule of 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. and a schedule for other school days of 8 a.m. to 3:15 p.m.

The team also suggested an increase in staffing of one or two full-time-equivalent positions to accommodate scheduling options and to maintain class sizes.

The projected enrollment for the middle school for next school year is 400, the team said.

Board members unanimously expressed enthusiasm for the developing STEAM transition.

The next area of focus for the transition is professional development, the team said, so that teachers feel prepared for the curriculum switch.

Two additional informational meetings are scheduled in coming weeks regarding the STEAM transition: one on April 16 and one on May 15. More information is available on the school district’s website.

In other business, the board heard the quarterly Safe and Supportive Schools Equity Update.