Still awaiting data from a consultant, the school district’s Boundary Advisory Committee decided Wednesday that two community meetings about high school boundaries that were set for next week should be postponed, likely into the new year.

During their meeting Wednesday, members voted to postpone the public input sessions meant for community members to ask questions and offer feedback on the BAC’s ideas until after they’ve received the additional data from a consultant, RSP & Associates.

Voting members, which exclude the school board members serving on the committee, decided unanimously. 

The Lawrence school board last month approved a contract of up to $45,000 for RSP to assist with data to help BAC members make informed decisions as they look to change the existing high school boundaries.

Matt Renk, BAC member and Free State High School assistant principal and activities director, questioned whether the committee feels ready to present their ideas to the community. Several other members posed timeline concerns and options to best engage with the community, but everyone agreed they don’t want to rush the process.

The district hasn’t touched high school boundary lines in more than 20 years. The BAC this fall has been charged with making a recommendation to the school board with the goal of balancing enrollment more evenly between the two high schools.

Two map options for potential new boundaries include an L-shaped map and a feeder schools map. A previous third option, a grade-level map, is no longer being considered, but the committee is curious about potentially shifting the 13th to 15th street boundary lines in addition to other modifications.

After the committee decided it needed more data from RSP to develop their two options and consider others, the school board on Oct. 28 voted to hire RSP for further enrollment projections and analyses. Deputy Superintendent Larry Englebrick said Wednesday that he expects RSP will have five-year enrollment projections and high resolution maps for both options ready for the district on Friday.

Previously, there was concern that Lawrence High School could be reclassified from a 6A to 5A, which could negatively impact the school’s funding, athletics and other areas. But according to preliminary information from RSP, shared during the BAC meeting Wednesday, there’s little chance of that happening “in the near future.”

No new numerical data from RSP was shared Wednesday, and consultants from the company were not present.

Committee members participated in an exercise to brainstorm additional data points they’d like to request from RSP. Members said they’d like to know how each option could affect special programming — such as English as a Second Language and special education — and teacher staffing among other inquiries.

Ultimately, the committee agreed RSP would not be able to produce those items by next week, but that they would be important to the process.

For now, the next BAC meeting is still set for 6 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 20. The date is subject to being postponed, as committee members said they’d like to have all results from RSP before meeting together again. BAC meetings are open to the public, but the committee does not hear public comment.

Originally, the BAC’s final boundary recommendation was tentatively going to be presented to the board in December, but the committee discussed that it’s likely the final recommendation will be ready for the board in January.

Englebrick said with November already in motion and December being full of holiday engagements, early January may be the soonest to reschedule public input meetings.

Maya Hodison (she/her), equity reporter, can be reached at mhodison@lawrencekstimes.com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.

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