Lawrence Board of Education data staff on Dec. 8 presented an audited enrollment and class-size report that the district said reflects confirmed head-count figures and shows stable averages across grade bands.

James Polk, director of data and assessment, told the board the report uses audited numbers and focuses on class size, entrances and exits, and mobility. "When you see the table before you... at kinder and first grade, our average class size is 20," Polk said, listing averages of 20 for kindergarten/first grade, 21 for second grade, 22 for grades three and four, and 23 at fifth grade. He added that 94% of elementary classrooms are enrolled at 27 students or fewer and that the report excludes New York Montessori's multigrade model.

At the middle-school level Polk said roughly 94% of ELA classrooms and similar shares in math, science and social studies have fewer than 30 students, with an overall middle-school core average of about 25 students. For high schools he described 'nested' sections — two course levels offered in the same room or hour to preserve offerings — and said high‑school core courses average between 24 and 26 students.

Polk reported 513 students enrolled who live outside district boundaries (about 5%): 392 attend Lawrence Virtual School (LVS) and 121 attend brick‑and‑mortar schools spread across 16 of 17 attendance centers. On mobility he said the district had 11,119 student entries and 1,079 exits over the last year and calculated a mobility rate of about 21%, meaning roughly one in five students moved in or out during the school year.

The presentation included cohort analysis: Polk said about 51% of the class of 2026 had been enrolled in the district since kindergarten, with higher retention figures in younger cohorts. Board members pressed for more detailed breakdowns: one asked for attrition rates by high school campus and another asked where students from the closed Broken Arrow Elementary were now enrolled. Polk and the superintendent agreed to provide follow-up detail and noted some relevant charts were included in the meeting packet.

The presentation concluded with the district describing a multi‑year strategy to protect elementary class sizes, align CTE pathways and sequencing so students can access courses over a four‑year program while gaining schedule efficiencies, and to convene teacher groups in January to further refine course sequencing and evaluation.