Kansas City area school leaders finalists for top job in Lawrence

The next leader of public schools in Lawrence will likely come from the Kansas City area.

Both finalists for the Lawrence Public Schools superintendent’s job are from Kansas City, but from different sides of the state line.

The Lawrence school board on Monday announced that this week it will interview Anthony Lewis, an assistant superintendent with the Kansas City Public Schools district, and Jayson Strickland, a deputy superintendent with the Kansas City, Kansas, Public Schools

The selected candidate will replace interim Superintendent Anna Stubblefield,who has served in that role since former Superintendent Kyle Hayden left the post last summer to become chief operations officer for Lawrence schools.

Lewis, who is originally from Alabama, came to the Kansas City, Mo., school district in 2011 as director of elementary education. In December 2016 Lewis became assistant superintendent for KCPS.

Strickland, a graduate of Kansas State University and University of Missouri-Kansas City, where he got his master’s and doctoral degrees, currently serves as deputy superintendent of the Kansas City, Kan., school district.

A national search had attracted 60 applicants for the position.

Lawrence residents can meet the two finalists at two meet-and-greet events this week. The district will host Lewis from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday at Lawrence High School, 1901 Louisiana St. Strickland will be available from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Wednesday at the school.

This story was originally published January 23, 2018 at 1:56 PM with the headline "Kansas City area school leaders finalists for top job in Lawrence."