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 next week will hold a final public hearing before adopting the budget for the 2025-2026 school year, which comes with a property tax rate slightly higher than last year.

On Monday, board members will conduct public hearings on the proposed budget as part of their weekly meeting before making the final decision on the 2025-2026 budget. If approved, the mill levy will be at 52.333 mills. One mill is equal to one dollar of property taxes for every $1,000 of a property’s assessed value.

The mill levy scheduled for approval on Monday is the maximum mill levy board members approved in August. Once the school board sets its maximum mill levy, it is still able to lower the rate, but it can no longer increase it.

Jeanice Swift, superintendent of the Lawrence school district, previously told the Journal-World that among the challenges for the 2025-2026 school year is the continued need to ensure adequate funding for public education, particularly around full funding for special education, a concerning gap that all districts face.

She added that it’s also about the work to achieve and sustain more competitive compensation for educators and other employees and also addressing the increasing costs of health insurance.

If the proposed mill levy is approved, this would be a 0.06 mill increase over the current rate of 52.273 mills. For a homeowner with a $300,000 property, the mill levy would increase property taxes by $2.

There will be two public hearings conducted at the start of the meeting on Monday. The first is for exceeding the revenue neutral rate – which is the property tax rate that would be required to raise the same amount of property tax revenue as the previous year. That value for the school district would be 49.174 mills. The second would be for the 2025-2026 budget itself, and it will immediately follow.

As the Journal-World reported, the district is seeing an increase in its Base Aid for Student Excellence state funding, which is allocated to support each individual student. For the 2025-2026 school year, the district will receive $5,615 per student, up from $5,378 in the previous year. However, this increase doesn’t necessarily translate into more overall funding for the district.

Cynde Frick, the district’s executive director of finance, previously said Local Option Budget state aid is decreasing due to a rise in assessed property valuation per student. This figure is calculated by dividing the district’s total assessed property value by the number of full-time equivalent students. As a result, while the district received $2.8 million in LOB aid for the 2024-2025 school year, it’s projected to receive only about $729,000 in 2025-2026.

In other business, school board members will:

• Consider allowing the district to participate in the Kansas State High School Activities Association esports league and give each middle school and high school the opportunity to establish their own esports team. School board members delayed the vote at their last meeting after several board members inquired about the financial commitment of the district if approved.

According to the memo in the agenda, to get esports started up this year, the district estimates they will spend between $7,994 to $10,394 on new Nintendo Switch Consoles, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, team uniforms, the KSHSAA annual fee and the Nintendo Online + Expansion. The range exists because teams may utilize existing monitors in the district. The district plans to spend around $314 for the second year of operation and $314 for the third year to cover the KSHSAA annual fee and the Nintendo Online + Expansion.

• Consider approving the school district’s participation in a 95% Neighborhood Revitalization Act property tax abatement over 15 years based on the valuation increase resulting from the 9 Dell II apartment project. The 9 Dell II apartment project plans to build on a vacant lot at East 9th and Delaware Street in Lawrence.

The developers are asking the City of Lawrence, Douglas County, and the Lawrence school district to approve the property tax rebate on the property, and the city and county have already approved their involvement in the plan.

• Consider purchasing Dell desktop towers and laptops in an amount not to exceed $235,000, including an amount for additional equipment, if necessary, according to the agenda. The district’s computer classroom labs need updated devices since most of the existing equipment was purchased in 2019 and is nearing end-of-life.

• Hold two executive sessions. Both sessions are for the “purpose of discussing personnel matters pursuant to the non-elected personnel exception” with action expected to follow.

The board will meet at 6 p.m. on 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 noon Monday and may participate in person or via Webex video/phone conferencing.