The Lawrence school board on Monday will consider appointing the fourth-place candidate who marginally loses the Nov. 7 election to a vacant board seat.
Coming in third place behind incumbents Shannon Kimball and Kelly Jones, newcomer Matt Lancaster had 78 more votes than incumbent Bob Byers (6,096 and 6,018 votes, respectively) as of a Friday update from the Douglas County elections office.
With most ballots counted Tuesday night, Lancaster led Byers by just 33 votes, and the race was too close to call.
Barring extremely unusual circumstances during the final canvass of the election results, set for Monday, Nov. 17, Lancaster will most likely be the third candidate elected to the board.
But former board member Anne Costello resigned Oct. 27, leaving another seat to fill.
The board chooses who to appoint to fill its vacancies. The appointee will fill Costello’s four-year term, which was set to expire in January 2028.
Byers — who had previously served on the school board from 2009-2013, then again by appointment from 2014 to 2015 — applied to serve on the board again in June 2023 after former board member Kay Emerson stepped down. His current appointed term runs through Jan. 12, 2026.
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Byers on Friday said he hadn’t thought about whether he’d accept what would be his third appointed term because he’s waiting for the final canvass.
“I think either of us would, I hope, definitely consider it,” Byers said, referring to himself and Lancaster. “It would be an opportunity, of course, to continue working on the board. But right now, what’s more important to me is contemplating, or hoping, that I will catch up and move ahead.”
Lancaster said he’s also not claiming victory until the final results are in. It’s tricky navigating the close proximity of election results and a direct appointment, and the optics are important, he said.
He added that it warrants transparency and careful consideration.
“I’m encouraged by how many folks my message seemed to resonate with,” Lancaster said. “I think Bob’s a great guy. I think we have two great incumbents that were reelected. I’m really looking forward to the chance to get to work with them. And it’ll be an interesting next week and a half to see how things actually shake out.”
When there was another vacant seat in 2022, the board ultimately appointed GR Gordon-Ross, who had come in fourth place out of a field of six candidates and did not win reelection in November 2021. However, the board at the time went through an application process and called in multiple candidates to be interviewed rather than select Gordon-Ross by default because of where he’d placed in the recent election. Gordon-Ross was elected again in 2023 and is now board president.
According to the agenda for the board’s Monday meeting, “the board president and past president reviewed the Board Governance and Operating Manual section addressing board vacancies, as well as the application materials and procedures used during the most recent vacancy process in 2022. They also consulted recommendations from the Kansas Association of School Boards (KASB) regarding statutory requirements and best practices for filling a vacant board seat.”
Gordon-Ross is recommending that the board appoint the fourth-place finisher based on that review, according to the agenda. It does not name who the appointee would be. The appointee would be sworn in on Jan. 12, 2026.
Board members will meet at 6 p.m. Monday, Nov. 10 at district offices, 110 McDonald Drive.
Meetings are open to the public, livestreamed on the district’s YouTube channel, youtube.com/@USD497, and broadcast on Midco channel 26. Full meeting agendas are available on BoardDocs, via go.boarddocs.com.
To give public comment, sign up by noon the day of the meeting 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@lawrencekstimes.com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
— Reporter Mackenzie Clark contributed to this article.
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