Thoughts on the Liberty Memorial Central Middle School Redesign

This post was written by Ariel Miner, USD 497 School Board Candidate for the two-year seat and member of KUPS

The redesign process is so important to our community as the fate of Liberty Memorial Central Middle School will be voted on before new board members are elected.

Recently, a survey was sent to school families to gather input on repurposing Liberty Memorial Central Middle School into a magnet school. The survey went to 4th-7th grade families only. A magnet school will impact our entire school district, and I believe ALL school families should have the opportunity to give input during this process.

What is a magnet school?

In a nutshell, magnet schools are specialized schools within a public school district that adhere to public school laws and follow school board policies. A key difference is magnet schools are not included in district boundary zones and can have a variety of different processes and requirements for student acceptance. Originally, magnet schools were intended to desegregate schools.

What do critics say about magnet schools?

Critics say magnet schools “...often promote the very inequities they were designed to eliminate. While they may have a more diverse student population, they usually don’t have the same socioeconomic status (SES) mix. Magnet school students tend to come from higher-income, two-parent families. Their parents are more likely to be employed and hold higher-education degrees. That said, studies indicate that students with low SES that attend magnet schools do better academically than their traditional school counterparts.

Other critics worry that by drawing the best and brightest students away from traditional public schools, those schools will suffer in consequence. They worry that magnet schools with rigorous application processes may be missing out on the chance to serve students who really need them. Magnet schools usually have fewer English as a second language students, and those with a focus on grades may reject low-achieving applicants who could be better motivated in a different environment.” - Source

Concerns and considerations:

The reality is that repurposing Liberty Memorial Central Middle School into a magnet school is closing another neighborhood school in Lawrence on the East side. The conversation has to include how this will truly benefit students, staff, and school families most impacted by the proposal. Special education students, non-native English speaking students, and low socioeconomic status students are underrepresented in magnet schools. I worry this will breed unhealthy competition for education in our community. No child should have to compete for a high quality education. This will encourage high stakes environments where students have to deal with unfair rejection when they deserve fair and equitable public schools. Students may live right next door to LMCMS and be unable to attend what was once their neighborhood school. How is this solving our problems in the district and serving our most vulnerable students?

Special education is still underfunded and families leave our district because they are not receiving services required by law. I question how much energy is going into a magnet school project that could be better spent on very real issues we already face in USD 497.

Why is this a solution we should get behind as a community? If LMCMS has been under-resourced for years, it would be misguided to claim a redesign is the solution to challenging student behaviors, teacher turnover, and poor leadership.

Before there is a vote from the school board the community should know all of the following:

1. The cost of this project and how it is a “budget reduction” as it was originally proposed. (In my research, magnet schools can cost upwards of a million dollars before doors even open. The magnet school was presented as a budget reduction proposal with savings coming from selling the ESC building and moving staff members to other buildings. How can we afford to do this during such fiscally difficult times and when will this be discussed in the process?)

2. The funding sources. Transparency, transparency, transparency.

3. The acceptance process for students. Will students be accepted based on a lottery system or will academic criteria, behavior records, or even truancy affect acceptance?

4. Transportation plans. Will busing be provided for East side students who don’t get accepted into the magnet school and have to travel farther to get to school?

5. Accurate, honest data on magnet schools. Magnet school successes and failures need to be presented clearly to the public and school board.

6. Equity impacts. This will require more than a flawed “equity analysis” report presented at a board meeting. How will we ensure this does not create gentrification in our community and further divide us?

If this process lacks transparency, there will not be community “buy-in.” Our schools belong to us. If the district leaders care about community support, they should want to convince ALL OF US a magnet school is the right thing to do and tell us exactly how it will be competently implemented without financial strain or further damage to the reputation of Lawrence Public Schools.