The Lawrence school board on Monday heard a presentation about the new Family Engagement Center to be located at the current school district offices, as well as some legislative updates.

Superintendent Jeanice Swift and the student services team of district staff presented to the board about a new parent engagement model, emphasizing family engagement over family involvement. The model is based on a dual-capacity framework model. 

The new Family Engagement Center will be located at the district offices, 110 McDonald Drive, starting in the fall. 

Assistant Superintendent of HR and Employee Relations Kristen Ryan, who will move into student support services in July, said the center will provide opportunities for the district to engage with families, including potential parent and caregiver classes, cultural affinity spaces and other services for families. 

Kiley Luckett, director of mental health for the district, said that family engagement has often been inconsistent and at times inequitable.

“We build skills on both sides. That’s where we have the ‘dual’ in dual capacity,” Luckett said. “It’s not just working with our educators or just working with our families, it is working with both and how they work together to learn, support and advocate.”

Board member Carole Cadue-Blackwood proposed the idea of possibly offering child care services during school board meetings. Board member Bob Byers said the family engagement initiatives could prevent incidents with parents long-term by forming relationships sooner rather than later.

Statehouse updates

Board member Shannon Kimball gave a state education and legislation update, including laws passed by the Legislature for a shortfall in special education, the Student Safe at School Act, fentanyl abuse prevention education, increased recess time and more.

Kimball said there was a “tsunami of mandates” passed by the Legislature.

Kimball also talked about new legislation aimed at preventing student walkouts during school hours. School days with walkouts would not count as an instructional day and districts would be fined the same amount as the superintendent’s salary.

“My editorial opinion is it’s unconstitutional,” Kimball said. “We have fantastic, committed, civically engaged students who now, if they walk out of school in protest during the day, the policy is going to require that the district cannot count that day as an instructional day. We’ll see how long this one stays in place.”

Kimball recommended Kansas Parent Teacher Association, Game on for Kansas Schools and Six Degrees of Activism for parents wanting to get involved with state education legislation. She also encouraged parents to reach out to their senators and representatives both during and outside of the legislative session. 

Contract negotiations underway

Lawrence Education Association classified staff members attended the meeting, with bargaining sessions scheduled for later this week. Staff members in attendance said they are negotiating for a living wage. 

District staff told classified staff members during a bargaining session last week that wages would be discussed during executive session Monday. The session was extended to last almost an hour. 

Board member Kelly Jones said during Monday’s meeting that bargaining so far had been productive. 

In other business:

• Swift said renovations at Choice Campus at Centennial have begun and the demolition phase is almost complete, with roof renovations to begin later this month. 

• The board passed annual renewals under the consent agenda for two learning platforms, Xello College and Career Readiness Platform for $25,610 and the Imagine Learning online curriculum for $55,000. 

• The board approved a $26,750 contract with Lankford | Fendler and Associates Consulting Engineers Inc. for work related to boiler replacements at Lawrence High School. 

• This was the first meeting after the board switched meeting agenda platforms to Diligent Community from BoardDocs. The new platform can be found here. 

• The meeting marked the eighth meeting in a row without general public comment on the agenda. The board hasn’t heard public comment since Nov. 17. 

Maya Smith (she/her), reporting correspondent, has been with The Lawrence Times since February 2026. She was born and raised in Lawrence and is a journalism student at the University of Kansas. She works at the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications as a communications assistant and has been a freelance reporter for the Kansas Reflector since 2024. Read her work for the Times at this link.

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