Incumbents Kelly Jones and Shannon Kimball are keeping their seats on the Lawrence school board, meanwhile newcomer Matt Lancaster narrowly won the third seat.

Kimball and Jones each secured about 20% of the vote in the Lawrence school board race, according to the unofficial count, while the competition for the third and final seat remained extremely close throughout Tuesday night. Kimball received 8,139 votes, and Jones followed with 7,660. Lancaster ultimately captured the third seat by 33 votes, earning 5,543 votes compared to former board member Bob Byers’ 5,510.

The other candidates in the race – Pam Shaw, Molly Starr and ChrisTopher Niles Enneking – each received 3,819, 3,784 and 3,319 votes respectively.

Lancaster told the Journal-World on Tuesday that the experience left him feeling grateful for the support he received and encouraged by how his pro-educator message connected with voters.

“I’m really humbled,” Lancaster said. “I would say first and foremost, for everything from the (Lawrence Education Association) endorsement to being a non-incumbent and it being this close. It’s just kind of surreal to have the message that I was trying to share being pro-educator and that being my whole world, resonating with folks.”

Lancaster said he’s most looking forward to learning from the wisdom and experience the existing board members have and bringing his own unique experience and skill set to the table.

“I think there’s a lot of challenges facing the school district, and I also see a lot of really good things going on, and I’m just excited to be involved and celebrate all of those things and lend my help where I can,” Lancaster said.

He added that he’s looking forward to working on transparency and representing people that have been frustrated because they feel like they’re not being represented.

“I’m really looking forward to improving our communication with the community and representation within the community, and also being a strong voice for educators,” Lancaster said. “I was a union member while I was an educator, and those are my people. So I look forward to building a relationship with them.”

Lancaster is currently a program director at the KU School of Business, where he runs a required undergraduate professional development program for all of the school’s roughly 3,000 students. He earned a bachelor’s in secondary education and a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from KU. He also earned a master’s degree in educational leadership from Kansas State University.

photo by: Contributed

Shannon Kimball

Kimball told the Journal-World that she is really excited to continue the progress that the district has already started under Superintendent Jeanice Swift’s leadership in a number of areas. Kimball said she’s been enthusiastic about improving communication, strategy and student achievement in the district.

Kimball said the district has a committed and caring staff that prioritize the success of its students, and that is the most important thing. “I think we have to really focus on how we support that and develop that to continue to grow,” Kimball said.

“You know that our board continues to put what is best for students first when we’re making decisions, and I think that fulfilling that promise to every one of our students and families starts there,” Kimball said. “And we move forward from that.”

Kimball, a 14-year school board member, has spent her career working in law and education policy. She currently works as a governmental relations specialist at the Kansas Association of School Boards, where she advocates for all Kansas public schools and helps train current and future school board leaders. Kimball earned her bachelor’s degrees in political science and Spanish from KU and a law degree from the University of Michigan Law School.

photo by: Contributed

Kelly Jones

Jones told the Journal-World that she appreciates the opportunity to keep serving and continuing to work on improving Lawrence Public School for students and teachers.

“I’m most interested in work that focuses on teaching and learning, and of course, increasing our wages, particularly ensuring that we have competitive wages for our teachers and other certified staff overall,” Jones said.

Jones said she thinks Swift is bringing leadership to the district that will allow them to keep moving in a direction that’s good for the community and good for the schools.

“I continue to be impressed with the way she’s administering,” Jones said. “And I hope to support her in the upcoming years. I would also say that our strengths really lie in our staff and students in general, and that the more that we do to support our educators so that they can teach our students, the better it is for everyone.”

She added that some things the district could approve of in the years ahead are continuing to increase the opportunities for early childhood education, growing wages for staff and improving school facilities.

Jones is finishing her second four-year term on the school board, having served three times as president and once as vice president. Jones’ career has included work in domestic and sexual violence response, dementia care, alternative education, AmeriCorps programs and disability services. She currently works as an associate professor of practice and director of practicum education at KU’s School of Social Welfare. She has a bachelor’s degree in sociology and criminal justice from the University of Wisconsin and a master’s in social work from KU.