photo by: Journal-World

The Lawrence school district offices, 110 McDonald Drive.

The Lawrence school board will soon learn what community members had to say in feedback sessions last fall about the district’s priorities and biggest challenges.

At its meeting on Monday, the board will hear a report on the results of Interim Superintendent Jeanice Swift’s fall community conversations with students, staff, families and the public, as well as input from an online survey. The public engagement efforts aimed to gather insights regarding the district’s strengths and challenges.

During the sessions, attendees were asked to identify the things the district was doing well, things that could be improved and top priorities moving forward. The survey was available for individuals were unable to attend an in-person conversation, or for those who did attend in person but wanted to provide additional input.

After reviewing the results, administration staff intend to use the responses from the community to help guide the district’s future work.

The discussions began with five events in November, held at middle schools across each quadrant of the district and at the Lawrence Public Library. Swift also engaged with the Lawrence Interfaith Alliance, the Chamber’s Governmental and External Affairs Committee, the KU School of Education and groups from Lawrence High, Free State, and Lawrence Virtual School.

In other business, school board members will:

• Hear a report from the district’s Boundary Advisory Committee, recommending no boundary changes at this time. The committee reviewed two potential options: adjusting the dividing line between Lawrence High and Free State from 15th Street/Bob Billings Parkway to a point farther north, or creating a feeder school system.

According to a presentation in the agenda, since residential development has slowed down throughout the district, schools will experience smaller kindergarten classes that will not fully replace existing seniors, which will result in a lower student population districtwide.

As the Journal-World reported, the committee met Wednesday to review enrollment projections, which estimate Lawrence public schools will have 9,491 students in the 2025-2026 school year, down 137 from current numbers. Enrollment is expected to drop to around 9,400 by the 2029-2030 school year. Due to declining enrollment at the two high schools, neither is expected to reach capacity in the next five years and the committee determined that any boundary changes for the high schools could happen as early as the 2026-2027 school year.

• Consider entering into a contract with Cromwell Environmental Inc. DBA Cromwell Solar for $245,770.00 for the installation of a solar power system at Sunflower Elementary School. The agenda states that the solar system is expected to produce 150 KW of electricity.

According to the agenda, this project is funded through the fiscal year 2025 capital outlay budget. The district will collaborate with Cromwell Solar to explore available government incentives, tax credits and grants to help lower overall costs and improve the return on investment.

• Consider the purchase of two Kubota mowers for districtwide maintenance from McConnell Machinery Co. Inc. The mowers are available for a discounted price of $17,041.72 each, for a total of $34,083.44, to be funded from the Facilities and Operations capital outlay fund.

• Consider modifications to the existing procedures for streaming meetings and receiving public comments. The changes would be for the purpose of ensuring the district complies “with the streaming platform’s acceptable use policies” and to clarify the enforcement of anti-bullying policies during public comment at board meetings.

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.