Lawrence school board members on Monday will hear a report on the district’s special education services, and they’ll consider contracting with a familiar firm for an enrollment analysis.
Lori Stithem, executive director special education, will give the board an overview of SPED services, student demographics and key performance data, according to the meeting agenda.
“The presentation will highlight areas of success, ongoing challenges, and the district’s efforts to strengthen instructional practices, promote meaningful student progress, and support access and independence,” according to the agenda.
In other business, as part of the consent agenda — a list of items that are generally considered routine and adopted with one motion unless a board member or the superintendent pulls an item for discussion — the board will consider hiring outside legal counsel to provide representation in special education.
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The board will consider designating Josh Douglass with Mickes O’Toole LLC as legal counsel “to extend capacity in this specific area of legal practice to ensure the District’s interests are well represented” for $310 per hour, according to the agenda.
RSP & Associates enrollment analysis
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Also as part of the consent agenda, the board will consider contracting with RSP & Associates for an analysis projecting enrollment at each district facility over the next five to 10 years, according to the agenda.
The firm has done numerous analyses for the district going back to 2011, according to the company’s reports.
The contract in the meeting agenda is for $27,000 — $24,500 for the enrollment analysis, plus an additional $2,500 upon completion of maintenance of an online address locator the company built as part of its last contract.
Meeting info
The school board will meet at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 26 at district offices, 110 McDonald Drive. Ahead of the meeting, at 6 p.m., board members will attend a ribbon cutting to celebrate the opening of the district’s Family Engagement Center.
People can email [email protected] by noon the day of the meeting to sign up to give general public comment. Only in-person public comment will be allowed.
Meetings are open to the public, livestreamed on the district’s YouTube channel, youtube.com/@USD497, and broadcast on Midco channel 26.
See the full meeting agenda at this link. See more ways to contact the school board at lawrencekstimes.com/contact-usd497bd.
Note: The start time of the school board meeting has been corrected.
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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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