The Lawrence school board on Monday approved its 2026-27 budget, which will increase property taxes.
At the beginning of Monday’s meeting the board held two open hearings in which members of the public were welcomed to provide comments on the plan to exceed the revenue neutral rate and the district’s budget.
Three community members, who opposed exceeding the revenue neutral rate, participated in the public budget hearings on Monday.
In response to the concerns raised by community members, board member Shannon Kimball said Monday’s budget vote was ensuring the district would bring in the revenue needed to support staff contracts the board already approved in May. She said about 85% of the district’s spending is on people, salaries and benefits.
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Commenters ChrisTopher Niles Enneking and Sofiana Olivera told the board that the Lawrence community was already getting squeezed when it comes to their finances, and with the board exceeding revenue neutral, it places the burden on the residents.
Board members also said the state does not fully fund special education programs, and the district has to make up the difference.
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“Essentially what the state has done is not fulfilled their legal responsibility to fully fund public schools, and therefore it’s passed on to the local property owner, and in this case, as our speakers eloquently pointed out, that means homeowners, and it means that in most Kansas communities,” board member Kelly Jones said.
“So it is to me one of the great shames of our state legislatures that they have not figured out how to fund special education, but still require, as they should, that we’re doing it,” Jones continued, “and so it’s really a frustrating circumstance we find ourselves in that’s become morally deficit of our Topeka policymakers.”
Also, because Lawrence is a more affluent district, Kimball said, the district no longer qualifies for property tax relief from the state that would help cover some of the funding needed to fully fund the programs in the district.
Later in the meeting, the board approved the budget with a 6-0 vote for the 2026-27 school year. During the previous board meeting on Aug. 24, Executive Director of Finance Cynde Frick gave a presentation before the board voted to approve the district’s maximum budget for publication.
The approved budget includes a new mill levy of 52.345 mills, which is a 0.141 mill decrease from last year’s approved rate.
The decrease is small, and most property owners in Lawrence and Douglas County saw their assessed valuations increased by 5% on average. To keep property taxes flat, the school board would have had to lower the mill levy by about 2.6 mills.
The median sale price of a home in Lawrence over the past two years was $325,000, according to a recently completed housing study. The owner of a home valued at $325,000 would owe the school district about $1,779 in property taxes under the proposed budget.
Property owners also pay taxes to the county, city and state. In Lawrence, property taxes break down to about 41% to Lawrence Public Schools, 32% to the county, 26% to the city and 1% to the state.
Public comment to return
In addition to the approvals of the budget Monday evening, board President Bob Byers said he hopes to have public comment return by the next board meeting, set for Sept. 28.
Monday’s meeting marked the 18th meeting without public comment.
Byers suggested that the board reinstate previous practices following board policy BCBI. The public will be invited to provide general public comment following the end of the board meeting, and each commenter will be allotted three minutes.
If members of the public would like to comment on a consent agenda item, they will be allowed to do so prior to the vote.
Commenters will be asked to submit comment requests to the board prior to the meeting.
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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].
Read her complete bio here. Read her work for the Times at this link, and see her photography for the Times at this link.
