Superintendent Janice Kerr Swift told the Lawrence Public Schools Board of Education on Oct. 27 that elementary parent‑teacher conferences saw strong family participation this fall and that district recruitment efforts have yielded several hires.

Swift reported elementary family participation above 95 percent districtwide, with Deerfield at 96 percent; Langston Hughes logged 651 family conferences over two days (568 general education and 83 special education conferences). Woodlawn saw a 4 percent increase to 97 percent participation. Swift singled out Prairie Park and Quail Run for family engagement events and noted that New York (school name as stated by the presenter) had multiple classrooms at 100 percent participation.

On staffing, Swift described a recruitment event the district hosted that included onsite interviews and resulted in several job offers. “We were able to visit with 15 applicants who wanted to become more familiar with Lawrence Public Schools,” she said, and she credited the human resources team for the work. Swift said the district plans more recruitment events and has materials describing why staff should choose LPS.

Swift previewed plans to repurpose the Centennial campus adjacent to Lawrence High School into a “Centennial Choice” campus designed as a flexible learning environment for students who need alternatives to a traditional comprehensive high school. She also reported website analytics since Aug. 1 showing about 85,000 active users and more than 250,000 page views.

Swift announced that the district will reopen applications for an AI and Evolving Technologies Advisory Group between Oct. 28 and mid‑November, and that the advisory group will convene before the end of the calendar year. She also promoted an AVID financial literacy event featuring Kansas State Treasurer Steve Johnson set for Tuesday, Nov. 4, from 6 to 7 p.m. at West Middle School’s library; the event will include a $100 scholarship drawing for one middle‑school student from each participating school.

Swift said the district is coordinating with community partners to respond to families who may experience delayed or missed SNAP food assistance and paused federal paychecks resulting from federal government actions. She said there are 1,149 students the district has identified as participants in SNAP who “may have delayed or missed SNAP food assistance this month,” and that the district plans to meet with community partners, including the Lawrence Public Library and local high school student groups, to align a community response.

No board action was taken on these reports; trustees thanked staff for the work and asked for updates on community coordination and recruitment outcomes.