After narrowing down the pool of applicants from eight to four, the Lawrence school board on Monday will choose one person to fill the board’s vacant seat for the remainder of the term.
The remaining six board members during their special meeting on Tuesday voted to advance Robert (Bob) A. Byers, Rachel I. Thomas, Rebekah Gaston and Paul L. Carttar.
As part of their meeting on Monday, board members will publicly interview each applicant and then make a ranked vote to select one. That person will fill the vacant seat left by Kay Emerson, who resigned on May 26, and serve on the board until Jan. 12, 2026.
According to the board’s process for filling a vacancy, each applicant will be interviewed for 10 minutes. The board will choose up to five questions to ask each person, and they will have two minutes to answer, with an opportunity for closing remarks at the end of the interview, if time permits. A discussion among the board members will lead to their final vote.
Learn more about the applicants in this article.
In other business:
As part of the consent agenda — a list of items that are generally considered routine and approved in one vote unless a board member or the superintendent asks to pull an item for discussion — the board will look to approve:
• MOU on school resource officers: Also part of the consent agenda, the board will consider approving a memorandum confirming the district’s partnership with the Lawrence Police Department.
The City of Lawrence and the Lawrence Police Department since 2001 have provided school resource officers (SROs) in school buildings at no cost to the district. SROs have been assigned to the district’s high schools and middle schools, and they provide support to elementary schools as time and resources permit.
The board will look to approve a memorandum of understanding between LPD and the Lawrence school district that be in effect Aug. 1, 2023 last through May 31, 2024. The MOU is also on the board’s consent agenda.
USD-497-LPD-SRO-MOU-2023• Draft facility rental guidelines: Community groups are permitted to use school grounds for meetings and events, but they must follow guidelines, according to the agenda. The use of any district property can’t interfere with the school’s daily routine or any school-sponsored activity, and anyone who wishes to use district property for non-school-related activities must pay a fee, as two examples.
“Guidelines have been developed to establish clarity and procedures for governing reservation requests,” according to the agenda item. “The facilities & operations department worked with both high school administration/ athletic directors, human resources department, safety coordinator, finance department and the facility planning committee for input on the guidelines.”
20230626-Facilites-Rental-GuidelinesReports:
• Building needs assessment: District administrators will present to the board about the district’s needs assessment, highlighting its academic goals and processes to maintain accreditation. Legislation approved by Gov. Laura Kelly in 2022 requires school boards to approve a needs assessment of each attendance building, a review of state assessment scores and some required documentations, according to the agenda item. This serves as part of their budget processes. Additionally, a needs assessment should be completed in Year 1 of the five-year Kansas Educational Systems Accreditation process.
Monday’s report will include an overview of the process developed to conduct the needs assessment and how staff will communicate its results and recommendations to the board, the agenda item said. The report will also include a review of the needs assessment tools being used at both building and system levels, and the district’s academic achievement goals heading into the next few years.
The agenda item states the board should “review data on student performance and then consider the curriculum, staffing, building, student, family, and community needs.” See the presentation for Monday attached to the agenda item.
• Fourth quarter equity update: District administrators will present to the board an equity update from the final quarter of the 2022-23 school year. The report will focus on Kansas state assessment scores broken down with sub-group data, showing disparities among students as well as improvements in some areas. It will also highlight data regarding attendance, behavior and restorative practices. See the presentation for Monday attached to the agenda item.
The school board meeting will begin at 6 p.m. Monday, June 26 at district offices, 110 McDonald Drive. Meetings are open to the public, livestreamed on the district’s YouTube channel and broadcast on Midco channel 26. Full meeting agendas are available at this link.
To give public comment during the board meeting, sign up before the meeting starts either in person or by emailing PublicComment@usd497.org. Commenters may request to participate by Webex video/phone conferencing.
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Maya Hodison (she/her), equity reporter, can be reached at mhodison (at) lawrencekstimes (dot) com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
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