Highlights of the May 12 Lincoln Board of Education and ESU 18 regular meetings

May 12, 2026

The Lincoln Board of Education and Educational Service Unit (ESU) 18 held regular meetings on Tuesday, May 12, at the Lincoln Public Schools Steve Joel District Leadership Center, 5905 O Street. The Board of Education meeting started at 6:00 p.m. with the ESU 18 meeting following immediately after. You can watch the full video of both meetings here.

Lincoln Board of Education regular meeting

Public hearing on Policy 5520 – Student fees

Each year the Board conducts a public hearing under the provisions of the Nebraska Public Elementary and Secondary Student Fee Authorization Act and other Nebraska laws. The purpose of this hearing is to receive input regarding proposed updates to Policy 5520 and Appendix 1. The input received during the hearing will be taken into consideration by the Board when they take action on the updated policy.

Minor changes to the policy includes:

  • Raising the All-State Music waiver from $25 to $50 to cover audition and participating fees.
  • Changing color guard for marching band waiver not to exceed $425.
  • Adjusting the select and non-select music groups waiver not to exceed $625.

No one addressed the Board during the public hearing.

This item was also presented during first reading. The Board annually reviews and approves Policy 5520 to ensure that its policy is in accordance with the Public Elementary and Secondary Student Fees Authorization Act. 

The district’s general policy is to provide for the free instruction in school in accordance with the Nebraska Constitution and state and federal law. This generally means that the school district’s policy is to provide free instruction for courses that are required by state law or regulation and to provide the staff, facility, equipment, and materials necessary for such instruction without charge or fee to the students.

The school district does provide activities, programs, and services to children that extend beyond the minimum level of constitutionally required free instruction. Students and their parents have historically contributed to the district’s efforts to provide such activities, programs, and services. The district’s general policy is to continue to encourage and to the extent permitted by law, to require such student and parent contributions to enhance the educational program provided by the district.

The Board will hold a second reading and vote at the next regular meeting to reaffirm the policy.

Special reports, presentations and celebrations of success

Equity Cadre – State of Diversity Address

Each year, the LPS Scholar Equity Cadre presents their Annual State of Diversity. During their update, the group highlighted their activities from the school year and how it connected to their purpose. Some of those activities included:

  • Cadre story time where members collaborated with Lincoln Public Schools Early Childhood and Lincoln City Libraries to read the book “I Am You: A Book about Ubuntu” to LPS early childhood students in classrooms across the district.
  • Students in the Cadre participated in Greater Than One District in February with students from other districts from across Nebraska. 
  • The group met with different staff groups and departments to learn about the district and provide feedback on district curriculum and systems. 

You can watch a highlight of the State of Diversity of Address here.

Ann Spotanski – Clinton Elementary School

The Nebraska School Counselor Association named Clinton Elementary School counselor Ann Spotanski the 2026 Nebraska Elementary School Counselor of the Year. The award recognizes school counselors who demonstrate excellence in their profession.

In Spotanski’s role, she is responsible for planning whole group and small group lessons, meeting with students and families, and collaborating with teachers and staff. All of these things make a positive impact on the Clinton school community.

You can watch a highlight of Spotanski’s resolution presentation here.

Kate Pittack – Scott Middle School

The Nebraska School Counselor Association recently named Scott Middle School counselor Kate Pittack as the 2026 Nebraska Middle School Counselor of the Year. The award recognizes middle school counselors who demonstrate excellence in their profession.

Pittack collaborates with teachers and administrators to support student wellbeing, visits with students helping them celebrate their accomplishments while working on future goals, and collaborates with students and families to work through challenges.

You can watch a highlight of Pittack’s resolution presentation here.

Lori Hemmett – Lincoln Public Schools Counseling Supervisor

Lincoln Public Schools Counseling Supervisor Lori Hemmett was recently given the Nebraska School Counselor Association Administrator of the Year Award. The award recognizes an administrator for their support of comprehensive school counseling programs in their school or district.

Hemmett’s path at LPS began in 2002 as a Spanish teacher at Southwest High School, where she was part of the original staff. After nine years, she moved to North Star High School to start her school counseling career. In 2016, she became the leader of East High School’s counseling team. She’s been in her current position as school counseling supervisor for three years.

In her role as counseling supervisor, Hemmett has been instrumental in adding 24 school counseling positions to bring the total to 137, building core curricula with themes each quarter, and initiating elementary summer school lessons to reinforce prosocial and career readiness skills.

You can watch a highlight of Hemmett’s resolution presentation here.

Foundation for Lincoln Public Schools update

Foundation for Lincoln Public Schools President Natalia Witta provided a quarterly update to the Board. As part of the update, Witta shared that the Foundation team continues to work closely with district leadership and school teams to provide flexible, responsive support that strengthens opportunities across LPS.

Witta also highlighted the Foundation’s work this last quarter which included:

  • Launching the inaugural All In for LPS fundraising event and community engagement effort that generated more than $82,000 from 217 donors.
  • The Foundation has received approximately $1.7 million in contributions and distributed more than $900,000 directly to LPS programs, classrooms, students and educators since September.
  • More than $136,000 has been distributed through the Fund a Need platform this school year with over 98 campaigns completed.
  • The Foundation has assisted students and families facing urgent needs and barriers by distributing more than $170,000 through the Student Emergency Fund.
  • This spring, the Foundation awarded 118 scholarships totaling more than $158,000 to graduating seniors.
  • The Foundation recently recognized 19 educators with Educator Awards. 
  • During Teacher Appreciation Week May 4-8, Foundation staff and board members delivered appreciation gifts to every LPS school and program as a small gesture of gratitude for the incredible work happening across the district each day.

Looking ahead, the Foundation team is looking forward to the annual Give to Lincoln Day taking place on May 28. Their fundraising goal is $200,000. 

The staff at the Foundation are also preparing for another summer of Spark – a nine-week STEAM-based summer program. Registration remains open, and more information can be found at foundationforlps.org/spark.

You can watch a highlight of the Foundation’s presentation here.

First reading

Policy 4620 – Human Resources

The Board periodically reviews and revises policies to align with current practices or meet requirements set forth by local, state or federal laws and regulations.

A Nebraska law went into effect on May 1, 2026 that modifies reemployment rules for school employee retirement plan members who separate from the district. The proposed policy changes align with the law requirements. 

In the policy revisions, it states that the district will not reemploy or have conversations about reemployment with retirement plan members who are taking a distribution until after the mandatory 120-day sit out period.

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

Lux Middle School roofing project

Staff recommended the Board consider the lowest responsible bid from White Castle Roofing for $1,288,743 for a roof replacement project at Lux Middle School.

Due to construction timelines, the Board waived second reading and voted to approve the lowest bid.

Second reading

Proposed two-year negotiated agreements with Custodial Employees Association

Each year, the district recognizes and meets with representatives from the Custodial Employees Association for the purpose of negotiating salary, benefits and working conditions. This year, a two-year proposed agreement is brought before the Board for consideration. 

Custodians:

  • The total package for 2026-2027 is 4.36%, which includes a 3.93% salary increase.
  • The total package for 2027-2028 is 4.44%, which includes a 3.32% salary increase.

All agreements also include increases in FICA and retirement costs and an estimated 7.44% increase in health insurance premiums. The District will cover 80% of the out-of-pocket health insurance increase for the 2026-2027 and 2027-2028 years. The full negotiated agreement can be found online.

The Board held a second reading and voted to approve the agreement.

Proposed contracts with the associate superintendents and ESU administrator

Annually, the Board reviews the contracts of the associate superintendents and the ESU 18 Administrator. 

It is recommended that the proposed current contracts for the Associate Superintendent for Business Affairs, the Associate Superintendent for Human Resources, the Associate Superintendent for Teaching and Learning, Associate Superintendent for Civic Engagement and the Administrators for Educational Services be amended and extended for a period of two years. It is also recommended that a total salary increase of 4.26% with an overall total package increase of 3.87%, be approved for 2026-27 for each contract. 

The Board held a second reading and voted to approve the updated contracts.

Education Quest College Access Grant - Lincoln High School

EducationQuest Foundation awards College Access Grants through a competitive application process every other year. All Nebraska public and private high schools are eligible to apply if approved or accredited to issue a high school diploma. High schools are funded for four years and may use grant funds to develop and support college access activities. Previous College Access Grant recipients may reapply two years from the last year of funding.

This is a grant that all LPS high schools apply for and this grant application is for Lincoln High School for the amount of $20,000. 

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

Informational items and reports

Superintendent update

LPS Superintendent John Skretta opened his remarks by thanking the students who presented during the Equity Cadre update. 

Skretta also shared numbers as fast facts with the Board, including approximately 3,700 seniors who will be graduating in ceremonies next week and 200 employees retiring from Lincoln Public Schools. There were also 314 teachers who were new to the district this year, and 450 classified staff who joined the district.

To conclude the update, Skretta thanked the Board and ESU leadership for their service with the annual tradition of donating books to school libraries in their name. Pyrtle Elementary received books in honor of Board President Bob Rauner; Prescott Elementary received books in honor of Vice President Piyush Srivastav; Lakeview Elementary received books in honor of ESU Chair Barbara Baier; and Campbell Elementary received books in honor of ESU Vice Chair Annie Mumgaard. 

Public comment

There were no individuals that addressed the Board during the public comment period. 

Glimpses of LPS

We open every Board meeting with a video that highlights LPS. Tuesday’s Glimpses featured the next in the Classroom Calling series that followed Northwest High School band teacher Paul Kenney. You can watch the Classroom Calling Series on YouTube.

Educational Service Unit (ESU) 18 regular meeting

Contract and appointment of the ESU 18 Unit Administrator

The ESU 18 Board appoints and reviews the contract of the ESU 18 Administrator each year as required by law. The ESU Board held a second reading and voted to confirm the ongoing appointment of Takako Olson as the ESU 18 Unit Administrator.

You can watch the full ESU 18 meeting here.

Published: May 12, 2026, Updated: May 12, 2026