Highlights of 11/23 Board of Education Regular Meeting and Special Work Session

Special Work Session

The Lincoln Board of Education met for a Special Work Session on Tuesday, Nov. 23, at the Lincoln Public Schools District Office, 5905 O St. The purpose of the Special Work Session is for the Board to review election district proposals presented by the Lancaster County Election Commissioner.

After the federal census is conducted - every 10 years - the Board works with the Lancaster County election commissioner to adjust the seven sub-district boundaries to account for changes in population.The requirement is that each sub-district be substantially equal in population.

There are roughly 295,000 people in the LPS school district, meaning each LPS sub-district will have approximately 42,000 people. Deadline for Board approval of the new sub-district divisions is the end of the calendar year.

The Board will have recommendations ready for first reading later during the Regular Meeting, with second reading and approval at the Dec. 14 Regular Meeting. The proposal will be published Wednesday, Nov. 24, on the LPS website for community review and an opportunity for the public to submit questions and comments.

Lincoln Board of Education Regular Meeting

The Lincoln Board of Education met for a regular meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 23, at the Lincoln Public Schools District Office, 5905 O St.

Special Reports, Presentations and Celebrations of Success

Lux Middle School named a Blue Ribbon School

Lux Middle School has been honored as a 2021 Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education. Lux earned this distinction for its overall academic performance and its progress in closing achievement gaps. Lux is one of only 326 schools in the country to earn the honor this year. Lux was recently formally honored during a ceremony in Washington, D.C.

LPS Community Contributions

This year, Lincoln Public Schools surpassed our goal of $150,000 by pledging $155,713.50 for our Combined Community Campaign! This is a 13.5% increase from last year. Our theme, "See the need. Meet the need" was reflected in staff’s efforts and contributions to support our students and families.

Top five contributions

Elementary school:

Clinton - $2,721
Elliott
Huntington
Campbell
Zeman

Middle school:

Lefler - $4,256
Schoo

High School:

North Star - $5,808
Southeast

5% or greater staff participation

Elementary school:

Don Sherrill - 100%
Fredstrom - 100%
Brownell
Campbell
Clinton
Huntington
Kloefkorn
Meadow Lane
Zeman

Elementary schools had a 14% increase in the number of donors.

Middle school:

Dawes - 68%

Middle schools had an 11% increase in the number of donors.

High School:

Yankee Hill - 74%

High schools had a 22% increase in the number of donors.

LPSDO departments:

Accounting - 100%
Instructional Directors - 100%
Payroll - 100%
Superintendent’s Office - 100%
Superintendent’s Office-Custodial - 100%
Teammates - 100%
Athletic Department-LPSDO
Business Affairs Division
Federal Programs
Government Relations
Student Services

Departments had a 24% increase in the number of donors.

Pandemic Update

Superintendent Steve Joel gave the following update about changes being made to address staff concerns:

Zoom from home: Starting Monday, Nov. 29, participants are allowed to Zoom from home for meetings and professional learning that are scheduled after contract time, and have previously been scheduled as Zoom or hybrid. An example might include a liaison meeting that has already been set as a Zoom meeting. Regularly scheduled, in-person, staff meetings, MDT/IFSP/IEP meetings, and professional learning will continue as normal without a Zoom option.
Additional time off: Subject to a Memorandum of Understanding with the Lincoln Education Association, we are proposing giving both January 4 and May 26 (currently non-student days) as days off. In the current negotiated agreement, teachers can select either January 4 and May 26 as a plan day and take the other one off. Instead, we propose giving both of these days to our staff as days off. LPS will keep our schools open for any teacher to have the option to work in the school, work from home, or take the day to focus on their own wellbeing. We will communicate more information to you as soon as the details are finalized.
Suspend appraisals: Pending approval from the Nebraska Department of Education, we will suspend all appraisals for certified staff, non-probationary or no performance concerns for the remainder of the year.
District administrator meetings: To keep administrators in their buildings, we will move district administrator meetings to Zoom after Tuesday, Nov. 30. This will allow administrators to aid teachers with issues as they arise in the buildings.

In addition to those changes above, the following changes have already been made this school year. Any staff that need additional information about how these changes might apply to them are asked to contact their supervisor.

Class cover compensation increased from $38 to $50.
We have hired 19 teacher associates to decrease the need for class covers and increase the number of available substitute teachers to accept jobs.
On Mondays and Fridays, certified LPS district office staff and administrators are providing class coverage in buildings where there is a large number of staff absences.
Incentivizing substitute teachers up to $450 each month to accept jobs on high absences days. Subs can earn bonuses by working every Monday in the month, every Friday in the month, and/or 75% of the available days in the month.
All teachers have access to up to 14 hours of paid collaborative planning time at workshop rate (totalling approximately $350). These hours are completed at the school level with guidance from school leadership.
Any staff who are uncomfortable with the spacing and proximity to others in a group meeting is able to let the facilitator know so an accommodation can be made. This may be attending the meeting on a separate date, an alternate activity, a Zoom-in option, small group conference, or another alternative as determined appropriate by the presenter.
COVID-19 leave was reinstated on Oct. 1 using ESSER funds to help staff who are required to isolate or quarantine. Employees will receive up to 5 days (40 hours, or a part-time employee equivalent) of paid sick leave for the qualifying reasons listed on this chart.
ESSER funding was used to purchase technology so 24 identified elementary teachers can record their classroom lessons that will assist students who have to quarantine. This allows students to remain engaged with their school work without teachers having to take on hybrid teaching.
The Board of Education approved extending fall break by one non-student day.

First Reading

Newly Annexed Properties to the City of Lincoln

The City of Lincoln has annexed multiple parcels of land, which automatically brings these properties into the district of Lincoln Public Schools. These properties need to be assigned attendance centers so potential purchasers of homes in these areas will know which schools they will be attending. The annexed parcels of land and their proposed attendance areas are:

Aster Road and Tallgrass Parkway, final plat #21070, for the 2021-22 school year: Kooser Elementary School, Schoo Middle School and North Star High School
Reunion Ridge Cup, Annexation Ordinance #21151, for 2021-22 school year: Adams Elementary School, Moore Middle School and Southwest High School

The Board will vote on the proposed attendance areas at its next meeting.

Lincoln High School Enhancement & Renovation Project

LPS recently received bids from interested vendors to provide enhancements and renovations at Lincoln High School. It’s recommended that the lowest bid be accepted for the project:

BIC Construction LLC (Lincoln, Neb.) - $1,223,900

There were three other bidders:

Rogge General Contractors Inc. (Lincoln, Neb.) - $1,243,000
Perry Reid Construction LLC (Lincoln, Neb.) - $1,254,000
Genesis Contracting Group LLC (Lincoln, Neb.) - $1,264,000

The Board waived second reading and voted to approve the bid from BIC Construction LLC.

Board Member Election Districts

After holding a Special Work Session earlier in the evening, the Board held first reading on the option put forth.

The proposal will be published Wednesday, Nov. 24, on the LPS website for community review and an opportunity for the public to submit questions and comments.

There will be a second reading and approval at the Dec. 14 Regular Meeting.

Fruits, Vegetables and Potatoes

LPS requested bids to provide frozen and canned fruit, vegetables, and potato products for use by the Nutrition Services Department. The contract prices are for Dec. 1, 2021 - Nov. 30, 2022. There are two optional one-year renewal periods. The following bids were submitted for the various 43 items that were on the bid request:

Cash-Wa Distributing (Kearney, Neb.) - $167,083.57
Churchfield Trading Company (Boise, Idaho) - $16,354.25
National Food Group (Novi, Mich.) - $10,941.24
Performance Foodservice/Reinhart (Omaha, Neb.) - $10,590
Schreiber Foods International (Upper Saddle River, NJ) - $21,900
Sysco Lincoln (Lincoln, Neb.) - $90,238.09
J.R. Simplot Company (Boise, Idaho) - $387,835.80

This will be an estimated annual expenditure of $704,942.95 from the LPS Nutrition Services Fund. The Nutrition Services Department is self-sustaining, meaning it does not draw upon any funds from the LPS General Fund.

The Board waived second reading and voted to approve the bids.

Second Reading

Series 2021 Bond Issue

In 2020, voters approved to issue bonds of the school district in a principal amount not to exceed $290 million for the purpose of:

Constructing, furnishing and equipping a high school in the northwest area of the school district and a high school near the southeast area of the school district;
Constructing an elementary school in the northeast area of the school district;
Constructing, furnishing, equipping, renovating, remodeling and repairing Park Middle School and Everett Elementary School;
Constructing, furnishing, equipping, renovating, remodeling and repairing focus program facilities, early childhood facilities and athletic and activity facilities;
Constructing, furnishing, equipping, renovating, remodeling and repairing various school district facilities, additions and infrastructure throughout the school district; and
Acquiring sites and constructing related infrastructure improvements for school facilities of the school district.

LPS staff has prepared for the second and final issuance of the authorized bonds and has worked with the school district’s financial advisor (Piper Sandler & Co.), its bond counsel (Gilmore & Bell), and its general counsel (Perry, Guthery, Haase & Gessford) to prepare a draft resolution and to meet all other requirements necessary for the second issuance of bonds - for the amount of $95 million - that was authorized in the February 2020 bond election.

The Board voted to approve the draft resolution.

Informational Items and Reports from Board Committees

Annual Financial Audit

Tonight the results of the 2020-21 school year audit for LPS and Educational Service Unit 18 were presented to the Board. Every year, Lincoln Public Schools and ESU 18 are required to have an external financial audit of the General Fund.

Representatives from BerganKDV told the Board in an unusual year, this was one of the smoothest audits they have ever done. They said there were no findings to report and they enjoyed working with the LPS team.

Public Comment

There were 8 citizens who addressed the Board during the first public comment period. You can view their comments as part of the full meeting video here.

Glimpses of LPS

We open every Board meeting with a video that highlights the amazing things taking place in our school district. Tuesday’s video featured students and staff who participated in the annual Culinary Competition at The Career Academy.

Published: November 23, 2021, Updated: November 23, 2021