Proposed school boundary changes presented to Lincoln Board of Education

The opening of three new schools gives the Lincoln Board of Education the unique opportunity to review projected city growth and adjust current school attendance boundaries to fully and efficiently utilize existing and future building space. The Board Planning Committee presented the proposed school boundary changes to the full Board during Tuesday’s work session.

The Board Planning Committee has been meeting with staff to gather information, look at data and draft a proposal for boundary changes. The next step in the process will be to provide the proposal information to the community through a special webpage on the Lincoln Public Schools website. During that time, community feedback will be gathered through a form on the website and reviewed by the committee. There will also be multiple public forums scheduled in August. Adjustments to the proposal will then be made based on the feedback provided and a final proposal will be  presented to the Board for approval in late August or early September. The boundary changes would not take effect until the 2022-23 school year. 

Planning Committee Chair Bob Rauner commented about the process, “These are proposed boundary changes and are not a full recommendation yet. The public will have multiple opportunities to comment and provide feedback through the webpage and community forums both in-person and virtually.” 

Any students impacted by the proposed changes in 2022-23 would be able to remain in their current attendance center based on Board Policy 5122, which in part states: “Students in attendance at a specific school may be permitted to complete their education at that attendance center if the boundary is changed, placing the family in another attendance center.” In addition, eighth-graders living within the LPS boundaries will still be able to choose any high school to attend their freshman year by January 31 of the previous year. If a high school is not requested by the first day of school, the student will attend their attendance area school.

Below are highlights of the proposed boundary changes for elementary and middle schools presented during the work session. 

Proposed Elementary School Boundary Changes

  • Study Area A (Beattie to Roper): the area between West Van Dorn Street to West Old Cheney Road, and Highway 77 to Northwest 112th Street.
  • Study Area B (Meadow Lane to the new Robinson Elementary): the area between North 84th Street to North 112th Street, and Holdrege Street to north of O Street. 
  • Study Area C (Kahoa to the new Robinson Elementary): the area between North 84th Street to North 98th Street, and south of Adams Street to north of Holdrege Street. 
  • Study Area E (Riley to Meadow Lane): the area between North 56th Street to North Cotner, and south of Holdrege Street to the north of O Street.
  • Study Area F (Huntington to Riley): the area between North 48th Street to North 52nd Street, and south of Huntington Avenue to the north of Garland Street.
  • Study Area H (Adams to Cavett): the area between South 32nd Street to South 40th Street, and south of Yankee Hill Road to an area between Rokeby and Saltillo roads. This will also include an area south of the drainage channel from 27th Street to South 32nd Street.
  • Study Area I (Sheridan to Holmes): the area to the north and east of Normal Boulevard to west of 42nd Street, and between South and Sumner streets.
  • Study Area J (Sheridan to Beattie): the area to the south of Van Dorn Street, between Woodsdale Boulevard and south 27th Street.
  • Study Area P (Pyrtle to Morley): the area between 77th Street to 84th Street, and south of Van Dorn Street to the north of Bancroft Avenue.
  • Study Area Q1 and Q2 (Pyrtle to Maxey): the area between 84th Street to west of 98th Street, and between South Street and Pioneers Boulevard.
  • Study Area S1 (Adams to Roper): the area between West Old Cheney Road and West Pleasant Hill Road, and between Southwest 40th Street and South Folsom Street.
  • Study Area T (Humann to Cavett): the area between South 40th and South 48th streets, and between Yankee Hill and Rokeby Roads.

Proposed Middle School Boundary Changes

  • Study Area A (Park to Irving): the area west of the railroad tracks and South 1st Street between Pioneers Boulevard and Van Dorn Street; including the area between Old Cheney Road and Pioneers Boulevard and from west of the railroad tracks to Southwest 12th Street.
  • Study Area B1 (Scott to Irving): the area between the railroad tracks to Southwest 12th Street, between Old Cheney Road and Pleasant Hill Road and including an area to Denton Road between Folsom Street and the railroad tracks.
  • Study Area C (Scott to Irving): the area between Old Cheney Road and Claire Avenue between South Coddington and Southwest 12th.
  • Study Area L (Pound to Moore): the area south of San Mateo Lane and Union Hill Road to Yankee Hill Road, between 40th to 56th Street.

Planning Committee Member Annie Mumgaard added, “In the Planning Committee, another question that we constantly kept bringing up is the question of equity when you’re looking at boundaries. When you’re creating boundaries, you can do some unintended consequences that can be inequitable, so that always became a question as well - what school is this impacting, how is it impacting the neighborhoods.”

Planning Committee Member Lanny Boswell commented, “Because of our family-friendly transfer policy, students that attend their school currently - even if the boundary moves - your student can still continue to attend the school you’re at, as well as any siblings that would attend concurrently. What that means is that all of these proposals if adopted phase in over time and that is part of the intent - we know as the city continues to grow we continue to make adjustments to make efficient use of all of our facilities to serve students the best we can.”  


Published: June 8, 2021, Updated: June 9, 2021