Dramatic shortage of substitute teachers in Kansas public schools due to the COVID-19 pandemic is prompting the Kansas State Department of Education to consider temporarily modifying license requirements for people seeking part-time work in classrooms, officials said Tuesday.
Recent incidents and their aftermath at Billy Mills Middle School have some families on edge with concerns about student safety. On top of that, students at two other middle schools allegedly made false reports of a shooting and a threat on Monday, and police were investigating a threat to a Lawrence elementary school Monday night.
Tricia Masenthin / The Lawrence Times
Eight months after the Lawrence school board voted to close Kennedy Elementary’s K-5 classrooms, students and staff are grappling with changes and uneven class sizes.
Acknowledging that the decision was difficult and no matter what they did, some community members would be upset, the Lawrence school board voted to give students, teachers and staff a full week off for fall break.
Mac Moore / The Lawrence Times
District leaders continue to grapple with midyear teaching resignations and the challenges of filling positions, including 65 paraeducator and 17 teacher openings, in Lawrence Public Schools — and workers are pushing hard for change.
Tricia Masenthin/The Lawrence Times
A rough start to the year has left many in the Liberty Memorial Central Middle School community reeling and parents worrying. Three teachers resigned in October, and in early September, a staff member was knocked down and hit their head on the floor during a fight at the school.
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The Lawrence school board on Monday heard from several administrators with updates on student behavioral and mental health, restorative practice and more. It also approved the district’s first contract with PAL-CWA.
August Rudisell/The Lawrence Times
The Lawrence school board on Monday will hear a report on recruitment and retention of BIPOC staff, consider reducing elective requirements for seniors this year and more.
Tricia Masenthin
No matter how students trek to school this year, some are trudging a rough path amid a bus driver shortage, heavy traffic, and changes to crossing guard locations.
Lawrence Times graphic
The Lawrence school board on Monday will consider a contract with the teachers union. A union rep said that teachers “have every right to be angry” about the budget situation and the unpopular master agreement.
