photo by: Journal-World

The Lawrence school district offices, 110 McDonald Drive.

Lawrence school board members will soon receive an equity report outlining the district’s goals to improve student learning across various subjects, along with initiatives to improve attendance and reduce behavioral issues.

On Monday, board members will hear the fall report from leaders in the school district’s equity work, which focuses on ensuring educational policies and practices are inclusive and responsive to students of all backgrounds.

The report assesses the district’s progress on its equity goals of ensuring that all students achieve at high levels, are proficient in reading by third grade and math by eighth grade, and graduate on time ready for college and careers.

By the end of the 2025-2026 school year, the district aims for 75% of K-10 students to score as low-risk or on track on spring reading assessments. Additionally, it wants 75% of K-2 students to score as low-risk or on track on spring math assessments. The district also targets a 10% annual increase in the number of students in grades 3-8 and entry-level high school math courses scoring at college-ready levels on the state math assessment.

State assessments indicate that students are consistently achieving higher performance levels and demonstrating the skills necessary for college readiness in English language arts. In math, the percentage of students scoring at higher performance levels has risen by 2.5% over the past three years. Conversely, there has been a slight decline in the number of students achieving high scores in science.

According to a presentation in the agenda, school district leaders say that though this mirrors state performance, the district’s institutional work and urgency is focused on narrowing disparities.

The district also wants to focus on maintaining or increasing student attendance. The school leaders reported a 91.3% attendance rate last school year, which is a slight increase from 2022-2023. Additionally, “behavior events” decreased by 12.19% in the district, with 3,758 from 2022-2023 but 3,300 in 2023-2024.

The equity work aims to further develop trauma-responsive practices and behavioral intervention strategies. It also seeks to involve students, families and community members to improve these practices and create a comprehensive support system for everyone. Ultimately, all practices will align with equity goals, highlighting culturally responsive strategies that offer guidance and clarity, according to a presentation in the agenda.

In other business, school board members will:

• Consider approving up to $45,000 of general funds for a collaboration with RSP & Associates to conduct enrollment and boundary analysis and create accompanying data and maps to support the district’s Boundary Advisory Committee.

As the Journal-World reported, committee members were interested in collaborating with RSP & Associates for data analysis services, including the evaluation of the boundary proposals currently under review for Lawrence High and Free State High. The committee has proposed changes to address enrollment imbalances between the two high schools. Currently, the students who live north of 15th Street/Bob Billings Parkway attend Free State High. Those who live south of the street attend Lawrence High.

The committee is proposing two options to balance the enrollment numbers — one would shift the boundary line to the north in part of the district, and another would sort students into high schools based on which middle school they attended. There will be two public input sessions where the committee will share these proposed options with the community and seek feedback. They will be 6-7:30 p.m. Nov. 13 at LHS and 6-7:30 p.m. Nov. 14 at Free State.

• Hold an executive session for the purpose of “discussing personnel matters of non-elected personnel” with no action to follow.

The board will meet at 6 p.m. Monday at the district offices, 110 McDonald Drive. The meeting will also be available via the school district’s YouTube channel. Residents who want to share comments with the board may sign up in advance by emailing PublicComment@usd497.org by 6 p.m. Monday and may participate in person or via Webex video/phone conferencing.