photo by: Josie Heimsoth/Journal-World

Lawrence school board members met on Monday, March 24, 2025 at the school district offices, 110 McDonald Dr.

Lawrence school members on Monday reviewed the next steps for the school district, targeting opportunities for additional preschool seats, expanding science education, college coursework opportunities and more.

School board members received a presentation outlining “enhancements” or strategies to create additional opportunities for students and reducing disparity gaps during their meeting. Superintendent Jeanice Swift said March is the month where they begin to set the table for the work for the following school year.

Moving forward, the district wants to focus on enhancing and expanding preschool offerings into Lawrence neighborhood schools. According to a presentation in the agenda, the goal is to have a preschool seat for every child in Lawrence as well as enhance established quality preschool programming at Kennedy Early Childhood Center.

Swift said that the district has heard concerns from parents and families about a crisis around quality child care, not just in Lawrence, but across the country. In 2025-2026, the district will begin a process to open preschool classrooms at Sunflower and Woodlawn elementary schools.

“The schools were selected based on needs and demand for the programming in being able to enroll students,” Swift said. ” … It may take us a few years to get there, but we know the importance of that ramp of a quality preschool education.”

There are also plans to expand elementary science education. The presentation states that focused elementary science education fosters critical thinking, problem solving and creativity while also promoting hands-on learning. Swift said the district will be meeting with principals and teachers and have brainstorming sessions about what this kind of science learning will look like.

At the middle school level, the district also wants to focus on enhancing the STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) programming at Liberty Memorial Central Middle School. The school offers a “Lead the Way” curriculum, which is a national STEM education curriculum program with pathways in computer science, engineering, and biomedical science. Each year, LMCMS is planning to add an additional course.

There is also a plan to continue expanding the district’s Montessori programming at New York Elementary by transitioning toward a fully developed Upper Elementary Montessori model – where students can explore abstract concepts and develop strong social and emotional skills through hands-on and individualized learning environments.

The district would also like to strengthen Jayhawk Blueprint College Course offerings across high schools to encourage students to take college level coursework and create a pathway to college access.

Swift said the district will be reaching out to parents and families to share these updates, where they can express interests in the programs and staff can follow up with next steps.

In other business, school board members:

* Heard a presentation about federal and state funding that may be at risk for the Lawrence school district for spring 2025. The school district receives a majority of their funding from the state. As the Journal-World reported, for the 2024-2025 school year, the district may be required to return the Safe & Secure Schools grant in the amount of $144,644. “This money was spent to complete a Centegix crisis alert system in all schools and purchase (automated external defibrillators),” according to a presentation in the agenda.

Additionally, the school district reported a possible loss of state funding for professional development, which are costs to all certified personnel in K-12 schools and amounted to nearly $45,000 in 2024. There are also risks to stipends for mentor teachers – who mentor other teachers who are new to the profession.

While a majority of funding comes from the state, the federal government has provided the school district with funding for food service, special education, Native American Student Services, adult education, a variety of grants and more. The Trump administration froze $99,000 in funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure program, which was planned to be used for a bakery at Community Connections at Pinckney.

Additionally, The USDA has also canceled the Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program, which had provided $86,872 to the school district to purchase local beef from three nearby ranchers between May 2023 and December 2024.

* Received an update on the school district’s cellphone policy. On Dec. 9, school board members adopted a new policy prohibiting the student use of cellphones and personal electronic devices during class time, unless for a specific instructional purpose as directed by a teacher.

District staff noted a significant reduction in cellphone usage during instructional time since the policy was put in place. At Lawrence High, 39% of students had their cellphones visible in December, compared to just 3% in February. Similarly, at Free State, 25% of students had visible cellphones in December, with only 2% in February.

* Entered into a lease purchase agreement with Apple Inc. totaling $2,415,788 with 0% interest for the purchase of 2,300 MacBook Air laptop computers. On Feb. 24, school board members voted on an agenda item to approve a lease for the computers. The new lease amount has decreased by about $200,000 from the previously approved agreement.

* Authorized additional purchasing authority of up to $400,000 to the school district to expedite vehicle acquisitions when opportunities arise. The agenda states that there is an immediate demand for various vehicles in the district, including student transportation vans, staff vehicles, work trucks and delivery vehicles. The district will use governmental pricing authority and communicate purchases with the school board when they occur, according to the agenda.

* Approved a budget increase of $13,987 for Johnson Controls Inc. and P1 Group Inc. to complete the conversion of two HVAC building management systems, bringing the total project cost to $145,965.

* Proceeded with B.A. Green Construction Co. Inc. to perform exterior maintenance and improvements at New York Elementary School and Billy Mills Middle School with a total estimated cost of $395,211.

* Approved a bid from Byrne & Jones Construction in the amount of $345,121 to perform asphalt and concrete maintenance and improvements at Cordley, Kennedy, Sunflower and Sunset Hill elementary schools and Lawrence High School. The total project budget amounts to $417,721.

* Approved the exchange for 17 automated external defibrillators, backup batteries and pads for school district buildings. On Jan. 13, the school board approved the purchase of these devices at a total cost of $27,683, but after receiving them, the models “did not meet the standard of the current AEDs in use throughout the district,” according to the agenda.

The district will exchange the devices along with the necessary backup batteries and pads at an additional cost of $7,047 and bring the total purchase price to $34,910.

* Approved the annual boiler preventive maintenance service agreement to service 52 boilers in the district with P1 Service totaling $58,056.

* Held an executive session to “discuss matters which would be privileged in the attorney-client relationship” with no action to follow.