Superintendent Jeanice Swift presented feedback Monday from community conversations that showed broad approval of teachers and school climate, but board members questioned how representative the data was and pressed for clearer answers about what comes next.
Swift said the community conversation provides a baseline look at how students, families and staff feel about Lawrence Public Schools, with most responses pointing to strengths in teacher quality and belonging but also recurring concerns about academic challenge, consistent behavior enforcement, technology use, and staffing.
The feedback will funnel directly into the district’s July strategic planning work, though many of the promised changes remain in development.
The survey and listening session drew almost 1,400 responses through surveys, in-person meetings and open-ended written responses: 546 from families, 454 from staff and 299 from students, according to Swift’s report.
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“No one knows better our strengths and our celebrations, our challenges and our areas for improvement than students, our families, our staff,” Swift said.
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Overall, 76.7% of respondents said they were satisfied or very satisfied with their school. The survey also showed strong marks for teacher support and care, at 78%, and for teacher dignity and kindness toward students at 72%.
But the results were less strong in other areas: 60% of respondents said students had the support and resources they need to meet individual learning needs, and 59% said the school provides enough help for students’ social, emotional and mental health needs as well as behavioral policy enforcement. Academic challenge also landed at 56%, a number several board members said should be a focus going forward.
“K-12 students want to be treated as being capable of more,” Swift said. “They want less repetitive work, more hands-on in real-world learning, and more advanced course options.”
Board member Carole Cadue-Blackwood wanted more detail about who actually responded to the survey, and if any students or families of color were asking for more academic rigor. Swift said she’d make a note of the question, and that she’d already asked a couple of administrators to come share more insights about the conversations on another day.
Member Kelly Jones asked whether the EPIC survey, which the district has used for the past few years to measure staff engagement and job satisfaction, was still underway; Swift confirmed that it is.
Board Vice President Bob Byers also questioned the size of the survey response pool.
“It’s kind of shocking when we do a survey such as this, we don’t get much larger turnout of responses,” Byers said. “In this community, everyone screams ‘We want to have input,’ and this is the perfect opportunity to have that input.”
Byers also asked what the district plans to do with the information.
Swift said the results will help shape a draft strategic plan in July and additional engagement efforts next year, including neighborhood community days and pulse surveys. But the response was more incremental than dramatic, underscoring the gap between collecting feedback and turning it into visible action.
Swift framed the district’s process as a promise: “We asked, we heard, we are doing.”
She said the district will use the survey as a starting point rather than the final scorecard, with the goal of increasing participation next year and connecting future feedback more directly to district decisions.
Looking ahead, Lawrence Public Schools will open enrollment on July 8, and the Lawrence Schools Foundation will host its third annual Kids Expo on Aug. 8 at district offices, 110 McDonald Drive.
The free back-to-school event will include health screenings, school supplies, haircuts, food, entertainment and other services, and the district will also debut its new Family Engagement Center that day.
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Courtney Lane (she/her), staff reporter, has worked with The Lawrence Times since April 2026. She can be reached at [email protected].
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