A welcome center, an expansion of the Jayhawk Blueprint program for college credits, and “streamlining” to ensure the district’s pay for staff members is competitive are all in the works in Lawrence Public Schools, according to Superintendent Jeanice Swift.
Swift updated the school board Monday on a list of planned “enhancements” coming up. She said many of the changes will bring increased revenue to the district “because we are better aligning our work to the Kansas funding model.”
• A welcome center is in the plans for district offices, 110 McDonald Drive.
“This welcome center will serve as the front door to the district, going for a warm, welcoming district; access and connection; a place to come together to support families, schools and community,” Swift said.
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It will connect families to resources, support and a full range of district services, she said.
Monday’s report was part one of Swift’s enhancements update, she said. Part two — which will include more information about the welcome center plans — will come during the board’s next meeting, set for 6 p.m. Monday, March 23.
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• The district’s Jayhawk Blueprint program, which allows students to accrue KU college credits while they’re still in high school, will expand to include Lawrence Virtual School.
The expansion is not as simple as packaging the curriculum for LVS — it’s a “reauthored and redesigned curricula to fit the virtual student,” Swift said. That will launch with one class in spring of 2027 and continue to expand in the future, Swift said.
• In addition, the district is adding Advanced Placement, or AP, Capstone Program, at Free State and Lawrence high schools. The program is based on two yearlong courses, AP Seminar and AP Research.
“So rather than teaching subject specific content, these courses develop students skills in research, analysis, evidence based arguments and collaboration, writing and presenting,” Swift said. “So really, it’s a recognition of advanced academic research and college-level scholarship.”
• The district will refocus its Career and Technical Education pathways, Swift said. CTE has included 19 different programs, Swift said, and that number will be narrowed based on student interests and in order to move students forward toward actual jobs and careers.
“Importantly, it will also generate an increase in our annual CTE funding into the district,” Swift said. “In our continuous improvement work, it has become clear to us that the district was missing some opportunities for funding.”
• The district is working to streamline positions to secure competitive compensation for staff, Swift said.
“We will not directly impact classrooms or class sizes in this 2026 streamlining effort,” Swift said. “We will work to leverage attrition.”
She said the district will absorb positions vacated by folks who are retiring or moving on in order to retain staff members with better pay.
“We understand that we will be required to streamline — not just this spring, but every spring,” Swift said. “Every spring will give us the opportunity to refine and align our work.”
She said leaders of the Lawrence Education Association and Education Support Professionals have been involved in the conversations about these changes.
• Swift said the district has received 230 applications for 120 positions in preschool programs based at elementary schools around town.
Preschool programs serve students at New York Montessori School and Kennedy Early Childhood Center, and the district opened one preschool classroom each at Sunflower and Woodlawn elementary schools in August. In fall 2026, the district will add preschool classrooms at Prairie Park and Deerfield elementary schools.
Board member Kelly Jones asked what the district will do and how to determine who is admitted and who is not.
“I will bring the board a response on how we determine,” Swift said. “This year is giving us a great opportunity to reflect and refine that.”
The district will notify families of preschool placements by April 1, according to the district’s website.
In other business:
• Board members approved bids totaling about $4.16 million to prepare the former Centennial Elementary School building to serve as a new flexible high school option. Read more in this article.
• Monday’s board meeting was the sixth meeting in a row with no general public comment period. The board has not heard in-person public comment since Nov. 17.
Swift’s full report to the board can be viewed in the YouTube recording of the meeting at this link.
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Mackenzie Clark (she/her), reporter/founder of The Lawrence Times, can be reached at mclark@lawrencekstimes.com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
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