The Lawrence USD 497 Board of Education recessed to executive session multiple times during its Oct. 20 meeting to discuss personnel matters involving non‑elected staff. Each motion to enter executive session was approved by a roll call vote.

A motion “for the purpose of discussing personnel matters of non‑elected personnel in order to protect the privacy interest of the individuals to be discussed” — which named invited attendees including Dr. Janice Kerr Swift (superintendent), Larry Engelbrecht (deputy superintendent), Sammie Devon (acting assistant superintendent of human resources) and counsel David Cunningham — was moved and seconded and approved by the board on more than one occasion during the meeting. The motions specified return times and noted that possible action could follow the closed sessions.

Board President Gordon Ross and other members repeated the motion language on several occasions; recorded roll calls show the motions carried unanimously among members present (typical outcomes recorded as 5‑0) when the board recessed. When the board returned from one of the executive sessions, President Ross said, “We are back from executive session. … I have no action at this time,” and the meeting proceeded to the superintendent’s report.

The motions were procedural and focused on preserving privacy around personnel discussions; the board did not publicly disclose the content of the closed sessions. The meeting record lists invited district officials and counsel for those personnel discussions but records no formal personnel actions taken in open session at the times the board reconvened.