Highlights of 2/25 Board of Education regular meeting

The Lincoln Board of Education met for a regular meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 25, at the Lincoln Public Schools District Office, 5905 O St. The Board will hold its next regular meeting on Tuesday, March 24.

First reading

Bond Election
The Board of Education held a first reading to certify the results of the bond election held on Feb. 11 as submitted by the Lancaster County Election Commissioner. There were 36,761 votes cast in favor of the bonds and 22,471 votes cast against. The Board will hold a second reading and vote to certify the results at the next meeting.

Property Purchase
The Board held first reading on the purchase of a small parcel of land and buildings adjacent to the new high school site on Northwest 48th Street. The Board will hold a second reading and vote to approve the purchase at the next Board meeting.

Annexed Property
The Board of Education assigns school attendance areas to property newly annexed to the City of Lincoln. This establishes school attendance areas prior to the sale of residential lots, allowing purchasers to know what schools their children will attend. Tonight the Board held a first reading to assign attendance areas to a newly annexed area near Fletcher Avenue in the Steven’s Creek area. The assigned attendance area will be Norwood Park Elementary School, Dawes Middle School and Northeast High School. The Board will hold a second reading and vote on the assignment at the next regular meeting.

United Way of Lincoln Emerging Leaders United Grant
The Community Learning Center at Norwood Park Elementary is applying for a grant with United Way to assist with paying for furniture in their flexible learning spaces. The Board waived the second reading and voted to approve the grant application.

U.S. Department of Justice Federal Grant - School Violence Prevention Grant Program
The Board discussed the submission of the School Violence Prevention Grant application for up to $500,000 for a 36-month period. There is a 25% match requirement, which will be provided through existing district threat assessment team staff time as in-kind contribution. The district will apply for grant funds to purchase a real-time web-filtering platform for digital monitoring of district-sponsored content. The Board will hold a second reading and vote to approve the application at the next regular meeting.

Portable Classrooms
Portable classrooms offer a short-term solution to add needed classroom space as Lincoln Public Schools manages short-term enrollment growth and construction at schools. The Board held a first reading to approve the bid for $790,419 to Génesis Contracting Group for the construction of portable classrooms to be installed at Pershing, Sheridan, and Lakeview elementary schools; Scott, Goodrich, and Schoo middle schools; and East High School. The Board will hold a second reading and vote to approve at the next regular meeting.

Second Reading

Multi-tiered System of Support for Behavior
Lincoln Public Schools reviews policies on an ongoing basis and updates policies to ensure they accurately reflect the ever-changing work of the district. The revisions to Policy 5400 and Regulations 5400.1 and 5400.2 are recommended to make the language of Policy 5400 (previously Student Conduct and Discipline) consistent with the district’s Multi-tiered System of Support for Behavior. The Board discussed these revisions and voted to approve the revisions.

Informational Reports

Budget Calendar
Board policy directs staff to present a budget calendar prior to March 1. The budget calendar for preparing the 2020-2021 LPS budget includes the following dates:

  • April - June: Executive committee works with Board finance committee
  • June 23: Board Budget Work Session, 4:30 p.m. at District Office
  • June 24: Community Budget presentation and forum, 5:00 p.m. at District Office
  • June 25: Community Budget presentation and forum, 7:00 p.m. location to be announced
  • July 28: Second Budget Work Session, 4:30 p.m. at District Office
  • August 24: Public Hearing and Budget Forum, 6:00 p.m. at District Office
  • August 25: First reading of budget approval
  • September 8: Second reading and approval of budget

Preliminary High School Design Concepts
Liz Standish, associate superintendent of Business Affairs, and Scott Wieskamp, director of Operations, presented the new high school design concepts. The two new 1,000-student capacity high schools are part of the overall project scope of the 2020 Bond election. They will be master-planned through the design process to allow for future expansion to 2,000-students. These preliminary schematic designs of the new high schools are a culmination of research and assessment of school facilities throughout the country, numerous project team meetings, and stakeholder conversations. 

Click here to view the presentation. All the documents presented during the open house can be viewed on our special webpage here.

Staff Celebration

Three Lincoln Public Schools physical education teachers have been honored as the best in the state by the Nebraska Society of Health and Physical Educators. The Board recognized the following teachers with resolutions at the meeting: Amy Cariotto at Southwest High School was named the 2019 High School Physical Education Teacher of the Year; Charlotte Ceballos from Lefler Middle School was named the 2019 Middle School Physical Education Teacher of the Year; and Cathy Mohlman from Irving Middle School was named the 2019 Adapted Physical Education Teacher of the Year. 

Public Comment

There were seven citizens that addressed the Board during Public Comment. The video from tonight's meeting will be available soon on our website: https://home.lps.org/board/


Glimpses of LPS

We open every Board meeting with a video that highlights the amazing teaching and learning taking place in our schools. Tonight’s video featured Park Middle School sixth grade students in science class.

Click here to view the Glimpses.


LPS LIVE: Board Preview

Before every Board of Education meeting, Don Mayhew previews topics of interest with special guests. In Tuesday’s episode, Don Mayhew sat down with Scott Wieskamp, director of Operations, to talk about the new high school design concepts. View the full episode here.

 


Published: February 25, 2020, Updated: February 27, 2020