Ten major projects in Lawrence school district buildings over the summer represented $8.5 million in capital investments, according to a presentation school board members heard Monday.
Larry Englebrick, deputy superintendent, highlighted the renovation of the Centennial building, renovation of preschool classrooms, installation of a solar energy system at Woodlawn Elementary School, upgrades to middle school auditoriums, high school track renovations, football stadium lighting improvements and more.
For Centennial Choice Campus, housed in the former Centennial Elementary School building at 2145 Louisiana St., Englebrick said many of the upgrades were things folks can’t see — sewer waste lines, IT upgrades, phone networks and more. It also now has a new roof, a fire alarm upgrade, a service entry, plumbing upgrades and more.
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The front entry to Centennial was “lackluster,” Englebrick said, and it’s now been redesigned and rethought with a new canopy, enlarged walkway and new entry vestibule that he hopes will be more inviting.
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Englebrick said the solar array at Woodlawn — the third such installation across district buildings — has produced energy in the past month equivalent to powering approximately 100 homes in the community for a day.
Sone other big projects included replacing two chillers at Lawrence High School, the press box at Free State High School, asphalt and concrete, and roofing and HVAC replacements.
Even with that work completed, millions of dollars of work remain. Estimates from 2025 facilities studies showed about $73.9 million in infrastructure needs, leaving at least $65.4 million to be done after the upgrades that were completed over the summer.
“This is just to maintain what we have. This isn’t to innovate,” board member Kelly Jones said. “This isn’t to respond to a warming environment. This isn’t to respond to new technology that we have to deal with and address and incorporate in education. This is just to keep everything status quo.”
Superintendent Jeanice Swift concurred, saying the cost was just to catch up. Englebrick said the district needs to do more than catch up, and that every opportunity they have, they’ll put in better, more efficient systems to provide an adequate environment in buildings.
“The longer you delay repairing, the more costly it will be down the road,” board President Bob Byers said. “So the situation we’re actually in is we can’t catch up, which basically means we’re always waiting til something breaks to deal with it, and being a homeowner, that is not a position that I would want to be in.”
He said the community needs to look at some changes and updates to move forward and bring facilities up to date.
Preschool update
The district also opened seven new preschool classrooms in elementary schools this fall.
A sudden influx of families are seeking preschool and early childhood education spots since the announcement of the closure of Hilltop Child Development Center at KU.
But Swift said all preschool spots in the district are full, and she said she recognized that the demand outpaces the district’s ability to supply seats.
“We invite all who are interested in a preschool seat in the future to apply at our online location to receive additional information to remain in contact about preschool and to be placed on the waitlist for preschool openings,” Swift said. “I promise that we will continue to work our very best to meet the moment and the opportunity to enhance and expand quality preschool programming, to grow our programming to meet the demand, and to realize a vision of a preschool seat for every child in Lawrence.”
The district has an application and more information about preschool available at this link.
The meeting also saw the return of general public comment.
District teacher and parent Sarah Rossillon and Lawrence community member Timothy Hamilton both spoke to the board.
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Mackenzie Clark (she/her), reporter/founder of The Lawrence Times, can be reached at [email protected]. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
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