In April 2021, the Lawrence school board voted to close Kennedy Elementary School to grades K-5 and use it as an early childhood development center.
In January 2022, Lawrence school district staff proposed scenarios that would involve closures and/or consolidations of multiple elementary schools and middle schools. On Feb. 14, 2022, the school board decided to take closures off the table for the coming school year, but said difficult budget conversations would continue.
In February 2023, the superintendent recommended closing three middle schools and repurposing an elementary school. Our latest coverage of school closure issues will appear on this page.
LATEST COVERAGE
Maya Hodison/Lawrence Times
Lawrence school board votes to close Broken Arrow and Pinckney elementary schools
The Lawrence school board has voted to close Broken Arrow and Pinckney elementary schools.
Maya Hodison/Lawrence Times
Lawrence school board votes to close Broken Arrow and Pinckney elementary schools
The Lawrence school board has voted to close Broken Arrow and Pinckney elementary schools.
Don’t miss a beat … Click here to sign up for our email newsletters
Cuyler Dunn/Lawrence Times
District committee considers schools that Broken Arrow, Pinckney students could attend if those schools close
The Lawrence school district’s Boundary Advisory Committee on Wednesday began discussions of possible boundary changes following the school board’s vote to advance hearings over the possible closures of Pinckney and Broken Arrow elementary schools.
Chloe Anderson/Lawrence Times
Union reps, community members voice concerns about staff cuts and school closures ahead of Lawrence school board vote
Lawrence community members showed up in big numbers to the school board meeting Monday evening, most opposing a budget recommendation to close neighborhood schools. The board heard almost two hours of public comment.
Chloe Anderson/Lawrence Times
Lawrence school board votes to hold hearings on closing 2 schools and to cut staff
Lawrence school board members, more than six hours into their meeting Monday, voted to hold public hearings to consider closing Broken Arrow and Pinckney elementary schools, but not Woodlawn.
Mackenzie Clark / Lawrence Times graphic
Lawrence superintendent’s recommendation: Close 3 elementary schools, repurpose middle school
Lawrence Public Schools Superintendent Anthony Lewis is recommending that three elementary schools be closed and a middle school be repurposed into a magnet school.
Lawrence school board members ask for clarity on proposed budget cuts, process used to reach them
As the Lawrence school board prepares to soon approve final budget cuts for next year, board members asked district administrators for more concrete details about plans for school closures and more.
Maya Hodison/Lawrence Times
Save Our Schools 497 group rallies ahead of Lawrence school board special meeting
Supporters of keeping neighborhood schools open rallied outside of Lawrence school district offices Tuesday evening ahead of a special school board meeting.
Maya Hodison/Lawrence Times
As Lawrence school closure talks loom, report identifies lowest-scoring district buildings
The Lawrence school district’s budget committee’s recommendation for the 2023-24 year remained unspecified at the end of the group’s final meeting Wednesday, but the committee did learn how elementary and middle schools scored on an assessment of district facilities.
Maya Hodison/Lawrence Times
Community invited to public input sessions with Lawrence school district’s budget planning committee
Lawrence community members are invited to participate in two public input sessions this week to discuss a tentative school district budget proposal that includes four-day school weeks and closures of three schools.
Maya Hodison/Lawrence Times
Lawrence school district’s Futures Planning Committee favors 4-day weeks, closing 3 buildings
The Lawrence school district’s Futures Planning Committee on Wednesday in a preliminary vote advanced a budget scenario suggesting a four-day school week, closing two elementary schools and a middle school, and cutting a district administration position.
Lawrence school board to hear enrollment projections from consulting firm, update on Futures Planning Committee
The consulting firm hired by the Lawrence school district will report its progress to the school board on Monday, including projections of declining enrollment and a possible budget scenario that would close three schools next year.
Click here to open the map in a new window.
COMMUNITY VOICES
Melody Alexander: School closures are not an equitable answer (Column)
”Equity resides in the community we’ve built for these children. And that equity was a priority because of these schools’ walls, where they feel the safety and security they deserve,” Melody Alexander writes in this column.
Letter to the Times: Closing Broken Arrow would compound systemic issues
”(The Lawrence school board’s) vote to hold a hearing on closing Broken Arrow Elementary School is a great disappointment and a clear testament that the winds of prejudice are still blowing across the land,” a group of community members write in this letter to the Times.
SOS497
Save Our Schools 497: Lawrence school district should move forward with a comprehensive plan (Column)
“Prior to any further discussion about school closures, we call on the school board to create a procedure for best practices when considering school closures and to adopt this procedure moving forward,” Save Our Schools 497 writes in this column.
Other resources
• Contact Lawrence school board members
• Facebook group: Save Lawrence Neighborhood Schools
• Facebook page: Lawrence Education Justice Collective
• Website: Save Our Schools
• Lawrence Public Schools Boundary Advisory Committee page (BAC)
• Lawrence Public Schools Budget and Program Evaluation Committee page (BPEC)
• Facebook group: Save Woodlawn Elementary!
• Website: Save Our School – Woodlawn Elementary
