Superintendent Jeanice Swift announced new appointments and changes coming to several district positions Monday evening during the school board’s meeting.

Swift said the changes are part of efforts to “streamline” district operations, and they come without creating any additional administrative positions.

• Zach Harwood, principal of Lawrence Virtual School, will also serve as principal of Centennial Choice Campus.

Choice Campus at Centennial, 2145 Louisiana St., will open in August with one main goal: getting Lawrence high schoolers to graduate, one way or another, Swift has said. The program will be available to students looking for an adaptable learning environment. (Read more in this article from January.)

Swift said Monday that Harwood’s “superpower” is bringing innovation to ensure opportunities for students for whom traditional school is not the best match. She said Harwood will develop the program for the choice campus.

Renovations have begun at the building, Swift said. The board earlier this month voted to approve bids totaling about $4.16 million to prepare the building for the high school program.

• Denise Johnson, interim principal at Prairie Park Elementary School, will take on the position permanently.

“I get emotional when I think about the experience and the commitment and the drive that Principal Johnson brings to the Prairie Park community,” Swift said. “In naming a principal for Prairie Park early, prior to the beginning of April, as well as the addition of a preschool, we feel that our wonderful Prairie Park school community will have the wind at its back, so to speak, in building on the foundation that they’ve started this year in their turning to their next chapter.”

• Mark Preut, current principal of the Lawrence College and Career Center and Academy, Adult Education Services and Alternative Programs and longtime former Lawrence High School associate principal, will serve as lead principal of student support pathways.

Preut will have direct leadership over the Academy program at the College and Career campus, adult education, diploma completion, incarcerated students, credit recovery and attendance, truancy and intervention programs, Swift said.

• Kristen Ryan, assistant superintendent of HR and employee relations, will move into student support services, following the retirement of Kevin Harrell. Samrie Devin will fill the HR position.

• Jamie Manhart, currently with Greenbush, will serve as coordinator of career and technical education.

All the position changes will take effect July 1, Swift said.

$1.73M approved for high school tracks

In other business, the board approved a bid for $1.73 million to replace running tracks at Lawrence and Free State high schools.

The 400-meter running tracks at both high schools have reached the end of their useful lives and need to be replaced, according to the agenda item.

Access to the track areas will need to be restricted over the summer until construction is complete “to ensure long-term durability and protect the district’s investment,” according to the meeting agenda.

“The district appreciates the community’s support in helping protect the new track surfaces during the construction and curing process,” the agenda item states.

Mackenzie Clark (she/her), reporter/founder of The Lawrence Times, can be reached at mclark@lawrencekstimes.com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.

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