photo by: Josie Heimsoth/Journal-World

The Lawrence school district offices building, located at 110 McDonald Dr., is pictured in May 2025.

Lawrence school board members will consider approving four architecture and engineering service contracts for the expansion of Langston Hughes Elementary School.

All four contracts are listed under Monday meeting’s consent agenda, meaning they will be approved together in a single motion. The combined total for the contracts is $574,998, which will be funded through the district’s facilities and operations department capital outlay budget. The contracts board members will consider include:

• Architectural services from ACI Boland Architects in the amount of $299,840 to provide services through the conclusion of the “Construction Documents Phase” of the project.

The scope of work includes designing and constructing seven new classrooms, associated support spaces, a dining commons expansion, and a limited reconfiguration of drives and parking areas on the east side of Langston Hughes.

According to the agenda, a second proposal for completing the Langston Hughes project will be presented at a later date. This proposal may involve additional architectural firms to provide support services and further advance the Langston Hughes Elementary School renovation, which is being developed as a prototype for potential future projects at other school facilities.

• Engineering and mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection services from Lankford | Fendler and Associates Consulting Engineers, Inc. in the amount of $157,158.

The scope of work includes providing engineering and design services for mechanical, plumbing, fire protection, and electrical systems. The mechanical scope covers HVAC design, while the plumbing scope includes sanitary waste, storm, vent, gas, and domestic hot water systems. Fire protection design services are also included. The electrical scope encompasses interior, exterior, emergency, and egress lighting; fire alarm systems; and telephone/data boxes with associated cabling infrastructure.

• Structural engineering and construction administration services from Norton and Schmidt Consulting Engineers LLC in the amount of $60,000.

The scope of work includes preparing construction documents, structural drawings, and code-compliant calculations; editing material specifications; reviewing shop drawings for compliance; and conducting site visits and meetings to observe the installation and quality of structural components.

• Civil engineering and planning services from Landplan Engineering in the amount of $58,000 to provide site plans with construction documents and public improvement plans.

The scope of work includes a pre-application meeting with the City of Lawrence, a limited topographic survey, planning services, and preparation of stormwater drainage, traffic impact, and sanitary sewer capacity studies.

As the Journal-World reported, during the board’s Oct. 20 meeting, Superintendent Jeanice Swift announced the project’s timeline would be extended beyond the original anticipated completion of August 2026, saying it was to consider “the larger picture of what is needed for thoughtful completion of the project.” The expansion is now slated to be complete in summer 2027.

In other business, school board members will:

• Receive an annual update on the district’s Jayhawk Blueprint concurrent enrollment program, which gives students opportunities to earn early college credit. The presentation will review the program’s success since 2020, and it will highlight the benefits and supports available to students. No additional information was included in the agenda as of Friday.

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