Highlights of 3/19 meeting of the Lincoln Public Schools Superintendent’s Facility Advisory Committee

The Lincoln Public Schools Superintendent’s Facility Advisory Committee convened Tuesday (March 19) – a group that is meeting monthly to analyze long-range facility needs to envision schools of the future and ensure that LPS wisely accommodates student growth into the next 7-10 years. 

For half of the meeting, Committee members participated in a Four Corners group activity in which participants were asked to choose from and talk about several possible facility scenarios. “This is our way of consensus building … starting to take the pulse of this group,” said Nick Cusick, a co-leader of the advisory committee. 

For example, the activity included facility scenarios with choices such as:

1. One 2,000-student high school with all of the same facility elements and similar square footage is the best and most equitable solution (360,000 sq. ft., $103 million).
2. Two 1,000-student high schools with all of the same core facility elements and scaled back square footage to meet the population of the school is the best and most equitable solution, (230,00 sq. ft. each – total $135 million), master-planned to expand the square footage to serve 2,000 students over time.
3. Two 1,000-student high schools with scaled back facility elements (no swimming pool and/or auditorium for example) master-planned to add elements in the future is the best solution and still equitable (less than $135 million).
4. A vastly different solution is the best, even if it does not mirror the other six high schools (examples might include expanding existing high schools or focus program-only schools).

Although discussion will continue and this was only one activity, at this point in time the group favored option 2.  The committee also weighed in on grade level configurations, athletics and activities complex, and focus programs.

The Committee also spent time in subcommittee work:

• New High Schools
• New Elementary School and Middle School/Alternate Grade Level Configuration
• Early Childhood and Community Learning Centers
•  Infrastructure and Finance
• High School Athletics and Activities Complex
• High School Focus Programs and Alternatives

For more about presentations, to ask questions, to find a list of Committee members, meetings and resources, go to: https://home.lps.org/sfac/ 

The Lincoln Board of Education charged LPS Superintendent Steve Joel with the establishment of the Advisory Committee to review the school district’s facility and infrastructure needs, options and priorities.  The Facilities Advisory Committee – with more than 100 Lincoln stakeholders – will meet through the summer and offer recommendations for a thoughtful, community-based plan that lays the foundation for a potential bond issue in 2020.  

The Committee is led by three co-leaders:

• Jennifer Brinkman, Lancaster County Commissioner.
• Maribel Cruz, senior leadership consultant for Talent Plus.
• Nick Cusick, president of Bison, Inc.

 

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