photo by: Lawrence Journal-World

The Lawrence school board will meet on Monday, August 26, 2024 at the Lawrence district offices, 110 McDonald Dr.

Lawrence school board members will hear more next week about efforts to expand a program that supports students in the “academic middle” and from underrepresented groups.

On Monday, the board will receive an update on the AVID program, which is currently in place at a handful of schools but which is expected to be offered districtwide by 2026.

AVID, which stands for “Advancement Via Individual Determination,” is designed to support students from underrepresented backgrounds and students who aren’t struggling but aren’t high achievers either.

The presentation to the school board, which is included in the district’s meeting agenda, will highlight a learning model that AVID uses called WICOR — short for Writing, Inquiry, Collaboration, Organization and Reading. It will show how this model is being used at Southwest Middle School and Sunflower Elementary School.

Southwest, the presentation says, has more than half of the staff fully trained on the model and is looking to add more collaborative study groups, strengthen the transition from eighth to ninth grade and hire a new AVID coordinator. Sunflower, meanwhile, hopes to create an onboarding program to introduce AVID to new staff members.

In other business, school board members will:

• Consider approving a three-year lease agreement with Apple Financial Services for 3,800 MacBook Air laptops to be used at the district’s high schools. The lease will cost $4,248,400 and will include support services from Apple.

As the Journal-World reported, the district previously outlined equipping the schools with iPads as a priority for the 2025-2026 school year. However, Superintendent Jeanice Swift said the laptop lease agreement was a direct response to student feedback and will replace iPads with a “more college aligned laptop.” Capital outlay funds will be used to cover the costs.

• Consider accepting bids for roofing projects across the district, totaling about $1 million.

• Consider approving the installation of an additional 150 beacons from the CENTEGIX crisis alert system at an estimated cost of $6,900.

The district installed the system at six schools in the 2023-2024 school year and later expanded it to the remaining 16 buildings. According to the meeting agenda, coverage gaps were identified in less populated or remote areas of buildings, and the district wants to install more beacons to ensure complete and reliable coverage across all buildings.

• Consider renewing a five-year subscription to the FastBridge Assessment System, which provides state-required K-12 dyslexia screening and monitors students who may be at risk of falling behind in math and reading. The program will cost a total of $243,696 over five years.

• Consider authorizing the disposal of old athletic equipment and sales of uniforms from Lawrence High School to members of the community. Proceeds from these sales will be deposited into the school’s athletic account and used for the purchase of new uniforms or other athletic equipment.

* Hold an executive session to discuss matters related to non-elected personnel, with no action expected 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.