Highlights: 5/24 Lincoln Board of Education Regular Meeting

The Lincoln Board of Education met for a regular meeting on Tuesday, May 24, at the Lincoln Public Schools District Office, 5905 O St. You can watch a video of the full meeting here.

Board Chair Don Mayhew opened the meeting asking for a moment of silence to honor those elementary students’ lives lost earlier in the day. Superintendent Steve Joel acknowledged the news reports of the school shooting in Texas during his update later in the meeting. 

“I want to take a moment to remind our community that we have a Safety and Threat Assessment team that are nationally recognized experts,” said Joel. “We can’t let our guards down. At LPS, we are going to continue to follow our established safety protocols put into place to fortify our schools from potential threats.”

Those include:

  • Heightened awareness of activity in and around our schools and property, immediately reporting anything of concern to law enforcement.
  • Initiating Standard Response Protocols when needed.
  • Continued communication and coordination with local, state and federal law enforcement.

“School safety takes an entire community. I want to thank our law enforcement, and Joe Wright and his team for their response.”

If anyone sees or hears something that makes them feel unsafe, they should contact LPS Security, Lincoln Police at (402)441-6000, or through the green Safe to Say button on the LPS website.

Special reports, presentations and celebrations of success

BackPack Extra Mile Walk Recognition

This last week, fundraising efforts for the 2022 BackPack Extra Mile Walk have surpassed $100,000. 

Top fundraising schools were:

  • Maxey Elementary, $7,153.09
  • Park Middle School, $3,119.24
  • Southeast High School, $5,156.00

Food Bank of Lincoln President Michaella Kumke thanked the staff, students and community for their continued support in feeding students through the BackPack program.

Staff Celebration:  Courtney Pentland, School Librarian at North Star High School

The Board frequently honors staff who win state or national awards with formal resolutions. On Tuesday, the Board recognized North Star High School librarian Courtney Pentland for being elected the 2023-2024 President of the American Association of School Librarians. She will serve as President-elect of the national organization during 2022-2023.

First reading

School Meal Prices 2022-23

The Lincoln Public Schools Nutrition Services Department operates a school meal program that provides breakfast and lunch meals to LPS schools.  Annually, the Board of Education reviews and approves school breakfast and lunch prices.

To help offset the rising cost of food, staff have proposed raising lunch prices five cents. Breakfast prices will remain the same. There will not be an increase to those who qualify for Free and Reduced meals.

The proposed fees for 2022-2023 are as follows:

Elementary School Lunch
Full price $2.50
Reduced $0.40
Adult/non-student $4.00
Second lunch $4.00

Middle School Lunch
Full price $2.70
Reduced $0.40
Adult/non-student $4.00
Second lunch $4.00

High School Lunch
Full price $2.85
Reduced $0.40
Adult/non-student $4.30
Second lunch $4.30

Breakfast
Elementary full price $1.30
Secondary full price $1.50
Reduced $0.30
Adult/non-student $2.50
Second breakfast $2.50

The Board will hold a second reading and vote on the proposal at its next Regular Board Meeting.

Newly Annexed Property to the City of Lincoln

The Board of Education assigns school attendance areas to property newly annexed to the City of Lincoln. This action establishes school attendance areas prior to the sale of residential lots, allowing purchasers to know what schools their children will attend.

The proposal assigns the newly annexed area of Salt Bank Business Park for 2021-22 school year to Norwood Park Elementary, Dawes Middle School, and Northeast High Schools.

The Board will hold a second reading and vote on the proposal at the next meeting.

FAA Aviation Maintenance Technical Workers Grant Program

Airline industry projections for workforce needs in the future are alarming. Boeing, leading manufacturer of airlines in the U.S., predicts a world demand of 754,000 new technicians by 2037. The global aviation maintenance technician workforce will need to add almost 38,000 new technicians annually in order to meet the projected demand.

In passing the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018, Congress focused anew on addressing the projected shortages of skills in the aviation industry by directing the establishment of an Aviation Workforce Development Grant Program. The goal of this new program is to provide grants to eligible projects to support the education and recruitment of aviation maintenance technical workers and the development of the aviation maintenance workforce.

To support the local workforce needs in this area, the Lincoln Public Schools Curriculum Department has partnered with Duncan Aviation to develop and launch the Aviation and Technical Education Focus Program. This program is focused on helping students identify the best aviation track for them and exposing them to a variety of potential aviation-related careers, with an emphasis on aviation maintenance.

Using the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) High School STEM Curriculum, LPS began offering courses in aviation during the 2019-2020 school year at North Star High School. Due to space limitations, the program is no longer able to serve all students interested in pursuing a career in this field. The Aviation Maintenance Technical Workers Grant is vital to helping LPS expand the Aviation and Technical Education Focus Program at North Star. 

The Board waived second reading and voted to approve the grant application.

North Star Aviation Renovation & Addition Project

Bids were received for additions and renovations for the Aviation and Technical Education Focus Program at North Star High School. Staff recommended the Board approve the lowest responsible bidder, Scheele-Kayton Construction LLC.

LPS is funding between $1.4 - 1.5 million of the $5.4 million project as part of the 2020 Bond Referendum. Boys and Girls Club of Lincoln/Lancaster County are contributing approximately $805,000. Duncan Aviation is contributing $3,335,000 to the project.

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

LNS Building Contribution, Development, & Space Lease Agreement with Boys and Girls Club of Lincoln/Lancaster County

The Boys & Girls Club of Lincoln/Lancaster County has operated after-school hours youth programs at Lincoln Public School facilities since 2008.

The proposed agreement will allow the Boys and Girls Club of Lincoln/Lancaster County to make donation payments to LPS in the total amount of $805,000 for purposes of contributing to the North Star addition mentioned above in exchange for Boys and Girls Club to be able to use the space for youth programs and other purposes. The initial term of the agreement is 15 years and begins upon completion of the addition.

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

Aviation & Technical Education Focus Program at LNS Agreement with Duncan Aviation, Inc

The proposed agreement is for Duncan Aviation to make donation payments to LPS in the total amount of $3,335,000 for the purpose of expanding the facilities that will house the Aviation and Technical Education Focus Program at North Star. The agreement calls for LPS to be fully responsible for the program and to consult with Duncan Aviation from time to time.

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

Hytera Radios for Elementary Schools

Lincoln Public Schools received a three-year grant to purchase two-way radios and accessories to be used at elementary schools. Staff recommend the lowest bid by Shaffer Communications Inc for a total of $510,600 over three years.

The Board will hold a second reading and vote to approve the bid at the next meeting.

Proposed 2022-2023 Pay Rates for Substitute and Miscellaneous Employees

As part of the annual process, the proposed 2022-2023 pay rates for substitute and miscellaneous employees was brought before the Board. Generally, the recommended salary increases range from no increase to a 3.7 percent increase depending on the employee group. A few intramural related positions have a higher increase due to challenging market conditions. The determination of what salary to recommend is made in conjunction with the supervisor of that employee group and an assessment of the availability of candidates for the positions. The proposed rates can be viewed here.

The Board will hold a second reading and vote to approve the proposal at the next meeting.

Second reading

Newly Annexed Property to the City of Lincoln

Newly Annexed Property to the City of Lincoln

The Board of Education assigns school attendance areas to property newly annexed to the City of Lincoln. This action establishes school attendance areas prior to the sale of residential lots, allowing purchasers to know what schools their children will attend.

The proposal assigns the newly annexed area of Wandering Creek PUD to Pyrtle Elementary School, Lux Middle School, and East High School for the 2021-2022 school year. For the 2022-2023 school year it will move to Maxey Elementary School as part of the earlier approved attendance area boundary changes.

The Board voted to approve the proposal.

Student Calendar for the 2024-2025 School Year

Each year a joint Lincoln Public Schools and Lincoln Education Association committee, composed of a Board member, parents, teachers, and administrators, recommends a student calendar to the Board for consideration. The Board adopted calendar variables to guide the Calendar Committee’s work in meeting the goal of creating a school calendar that demonstrates the district’s commitment to learning.

The Calendar Committee began work in October 2021 to consider a student calendar for 2024-25. The committee met three times to build a student calendar for Board consideration. The committee began with a review of the previously approved 2019-2020 student calendar because of the similarity of dates with 2024-2025. Additional feedback was received from teachers who are members of the LEA faculty representatives, parents on the Community Curriculum Council, and students from the LPS Equity Cadre. The recommended student calendar aligns with the Board’s student calendar purpose and calendar variables.

The Board voted to approve the proposal.

Public comment

There were 13 individuals that addressed the Board during public comment. You can watch the public comments in 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 water bottle filling stations recently installed in our schools. You can watch the Glimpses here


Published: May 24, 2022, Updated: May 24, 2022