KCKPS ends contract for special education director. District doesn’t say why
Leadership in Kansas City, Kansas’ largest public school district quietly parted ways with their head of special education who, for years, has drawn criticism from families and staff.
As of Wednesday evening, the district hadn’t specified why. Or, what comes next.
The board governing Kansas City, Kansas, Public Schools voted not to extend the contract of JaKyta Lawrie, the executive director of the Wyandotte Comprehensive Special Education Cooperative, during a Tuesday evening meeting. Their vote came at the recommendation of the human resources department, an item that was included in the meeting’s consent agenda.
Lawrie, who has led special education programming for KCKPS and other Wyandotte County public school districts for years, will no longer serve in the executive director role effective June 30.
The school board’s decision comes after numerous special education staff members have spoken out — during public meetings, in an audit conducted by the University of Kansas and in the media — with concerns about the department’s leadership.
Special education staff, former and current, recently told The Star they were worried that directives from administrators, including Lawrie, would cause them to fall out of federally mandated compliance and fail to properly serve their students. They also said they felt administrators would retaliate against them if they didn’t carry out those directives.
Ahead of the board’s vote, Skyler Myers, a former principal of KCKPS’ alternative high school, the Fairfax Learning Center, asked board members to hold the special education program’s administration accountable.
He asked the board to look into why the school district has spent millions over previous school years to contract special education work, largely in virtual formats, to keep up with staffing vacancies. Myers also wants the board to clarify why the ratios between special education teachers and students have increased in recent years, and for it to acknowledge that staffing shortages in KCKPS aren’t only due to the national teacher shortage.
“By what metric are we able to see that our SPED department is positioned with the right people in leadership?” he asked the board.
KCKPS declined to say whether the decision to not renew Lawrie’s contract was linked to ongoing concerns about the program, or what the process of hiring a new director will look like moving forward.
“This is a personnel matter, and we cannot comment further,” Edwin Birch, executive director of community relations and government affairs, wrote in an email on Wednesday afternoon. “The school district remains committed to ensuring continuity and stability for our students, staff and families.”
