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Topeka Public Schools Unified School District 501 Board of Education

22 meetings on our record, 14 of them from the past year and 8 with unconfirmed dates · typical meeting 1 h 59 min · 12,601 students · 7 members on our roster

Latest · Oct 1, 2026
Topeka school board adopts new parent and family engagement policyPlay 1:21:38
Newest meeting we have
Oct 1, 2026 · District's board page ↗ (it may list later ones)
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Also on the board: Lisa Schmitt, Board President

Watch the board’s yearA decision it made, its hours, its busiest night at the mic and where its time went, each with its source
Recent meetings

What the board took up lately

Board meeting · 1 h 44 minThursday, October 1, 2026Topeka school board adopts new parent and family engagement policyPhones in schoolReading and test scoresSpeakers: Lisa Schmitt, Ashley Beason, Sue Bolley, C. Richard Bonebrake and 2 more
Play 1:21:38
Board meeting · 2 h 08 minThursday, September 17, 2026Topeka school board hears chronic absenteeism report, approves consent itemsChronic absenteeismPhones in schoolSpeakers: Ashley Beason, Sue Bolley, C. Richard Bonebrake, Lalo Muñoz and 2 more
Play 1:01:00
Board meeting · 2 h 52 minThursday, September 3, 2026Speakers: Lisa Schmitt, Sue Bolley, C. Richard Bonebrake, Lalo Muñoz and 2 more
Watch
Board meeting · 1 h 41 minThursday, August 20, 2026Chronic absenteeismSpeakers: Lisa Schmitt, Ashley Beason, Sue Bolley, C. Richard Bonebrake and 2 more
Watch
The board

Who talks on this board

Minutes speaking per full board meeting · 14 board meetings, Dec 4, 2025 – Oct 1, 2026 · talk time only, never tone or stance

Listed by seatAbout 49% of members' speaking time here is named; we rank at 60%.
Coverage: about 49% of members’ speaking time named (36%–67%)

Minutes = time we heard them speak per meeting, from the speech we have named so far, so each is a floor: at least that much.

Runs the meeting
Lisa SchmittBoard President · Position 1, District 1 · runs the meeting, not rankedShare3.9min, at least7 of 14meetings heard, of those while seated—runs the meeting, counted apart1.3questions asked per meeting, at least
Members · listed by seat
C. Richard BonebrakeBoard member · Member at Large · We could name only 25% of the speech they may have given; we rank at 30%Share1.9min, at least13 of 14meetings heard, of those while seated—not ranked1.4questions asked per meeting, at least
Randall SchumacherBoard member · Position 2, District 2Share3.1min, at least12 of 14meetings heard, of those while seated—not ranked1.7questions asked per meeting, at least
Keith TatumBoard member · Position 3, District 3Share5.2min, at least12 of 14meetings heard, of those while seated—not ranked2.2questions asked per meeting, at least
Lalo MuñozBoard member · Position 4, District 1Share2.8min, at least12 of 14meetings heard, of those while seated—not ranked1.7questions asked per meeting, at least
Sue BolleyBoard member · Position 5, District 2Share4.8min, at least12 of 14meetings heard, of those while seated—not ranked4.5questions asked per meeting, at least
Ashley BeasonBoard Vice President · Position 6, District 3 · We could name only 13% of the speech they may have given; we rank at 30%Share0.9min, at least9 of 14meetings heard, of those while seated—not ranked0.3questions asked per meeting, at least

Minutes speaking per full board meeting held while seated; a meeting they missed or stayed silent in counts as zero · bar = minutes named so far · talk time only, never tone or stance · Hamlet

Meetings on our record
All 22 meetings on our record
Clips

What board members said

Another question is, I— there was a lot to read here, but there is— is there another place in our policy, or should it be here, about parents and guns on property?Sue BolleyBoard member · Topeka Public Schools Unified School District 501 Board of EducationWatch the full meeting from 2:17:49
  • There's over— for 15 years there's been input into an effective way to build a little theater. …C. Richard BonebrakeBoard member · Topeka Public Schools Unified School District 501 Board of Education · Sep 3, 2026Watch the full meeting from 2:05:18
  • I did attend the personnel meeting, and I do have some information on that if you're interested. …Sue BolleyBoard member · Topeka Public Schools Unified School District 501 Board of Education · Aug 20, 2026Watch the full meeting from 1:23:58
  • There's constant increase in college tuition and fewer students are going to college. I think less than 25%. …C. Richard BonebrakeBoard member · Topeka Public Schools Unified School District 501 Board of Education · Jul 23, 2026Watch the full meeting from 54:19
  • I wonder if we could have an update on the summer school food program. And is that still going? And then what are we seeing in terms of numbers?Lalo MuñozBoard member · Topeka Public Schools Unified School District 501 Board of Education · Jul 9, 2026Watch the full meeting from 1:19:54
  • I— the, the slight concern that I have is that the, the GAAP principles include some, um, accountability benchmarks, and, and if we're moving away from that process, how are we going to, to maintain those same standards?Keith TatumBoard member · Topeka Public Schools Unified School District 501 Board of Education · Jun 25, 2026Watch the full meeting from 1:10:30
On the map · Phones in school

April 16, 2026

The board discussed phones in school.

Its first meeting on phones in the year we read; phones came up at 6 of its meetings.

Watch the filmOpen the meeting
Meeting time

Where the board's meeting time went

Ceremony and recognition16%10%–22%
Budget and finance11%4%–20%
Public comment1%0%–4%
Safety and discipline0%0%–15%

    The two readers didn’t agree on 11% of the time; it counts toward no topic, so every share above is a floor.

    Not shown: facilities, closures and enrollment, curriculum and instruction, student services and special education, labor and personnel, governance and policy, routine business, other subjects, whose checks haven’t passed

    Public comment

    Of the 22 meetings on our record, we counted public speakers at 15; 7 had at least one. The busiest, on Sep 3, 2026, heard from 4.

    4 on Sep 3, 20264 speakers2 speakers0.9 a meeting on average
    Attendance

    The roll call at 11 of the 22 meetings on our record: the ones where we could read it

    Roll-call attendance, member by meeting
    MemberOct 1Sep 17Sep 3Aug 20Aug 6Jul 23Jul 9Jun 25Jun 4May 21Apr 16Mar 12Feb 5Dec 4
    Lalo MuñozPresentNot recordedNot recordedPresentPresentPresentNot recordedPresentPresentPresentPresentNot recordedPresentPresent
    Keith TatumPresentNot recordedPresentPresentPresentPresentNot recordedPresentPresentPresentPresentNot recordedPresentPresent
    Sue BolleyNot recordedNot recordedNot recordedPresentNot recordedNot shownNot recordedPresentNot recordedPresentPresentNot recordedPresentPresent
    Randall SchumacherPresentNot recordedNot recordedPresentPresentPresentNot recordedNot recordedPresentNot recordedNot recordedNot recordedNot recordedNot recorded
    C. Richard BonebrakePresentNot recordedNot recordedPresentNot shownNot recordedNot recordedPresentNot recordedNot recordedPresentNot recordedPresentPresent
    Ashley BeasonPresentNot recordedPresentPresentPresentPresentNot recordedPresentPresentPresentPresentNot recordedPresentPresent
    Lisa SchmittPresentNot recordedPresentPresentPresentPresentNot recordedPresentPresentPresentNot recordedNot recordedPresentPresent

    PresentNot shownNot recorded

    Federal district ID 2012260 · student count from the federal 2023-24 count · meeting videos posted by the district