Highlights of 12/12 Lincoln Board of Education meeting
The Lincoln Board of Education held a regular meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 12 at Lincoln Public Schools District Office, 5905 O St. The Board will hold its next meeting on Jan. 9 at 6 p.m.
Board looks forward, approves refreshed LPS strategic plan
After a comprehensive community engagement process over the past year, the Lincoln Board of Education Tuesday approved a new and refreshed strategic plan to take the school district through the next five years.
“The community has really reached out and helped us decide how to guide the district in the next five years,” said Board President Lanny Boswell. “I look forward to taking this plan forward.”
The Board determined to create an overarching vision for the new strategic plan that states: “To prepare all students to be college, career and civic-life ready with a goal of 90 percent on-time graduation.”
The new strategic plan then focuses on five major thematic areas: academic success for students, global citizenship for all students, support for educators, family and community partnerships, and growth ready facilities.
The themes and goals are:
Future Ready Global Citizens:
- Investigate the feasibility of developing additional K-12 focus programs, strengthening existing focus programs, and other programming options.
- Develop plans to address the need for students to have greater exposure to world languages and cultures.
Support Academic Success for all Students:
- Expand delivery model opportunities to allow for flexible scheduling.
- Expand plans to address mental health needs of students.
- Assess feasibility to expand access to high quality early childhood program access through additional full-day and part-day program options.
- Increase movement opportunities throughout the school day to support developmental, physical and social needs of students.
Support for Educators:
- Research and implement strategies to recruit, hire, develop, support and retain the highest quality and diverse staff.
- Evaluate district assessments to determine the impact on classroom time and student performance.
Family and Community Partnerships:
- Work toward providing all students access to full-service community schools that provide after school programs.
Growth ready facilities and infrastructure:
- Research and develop facility plans to address growing high school enrollment.
- Continue to update the LPS 10-year Facilities and Infrastructure Plan.
The strategic plan draft is the result of intense community participation and support in an initiative that began early last school year – an initiative that included 49 community sessions and 3,800 responses from community citizens. Data collected from community engagement was passed onto a Community Study Team – made up of community members and LPS staff – and then reviewed and modified through two Board work sessions.
Attendance areas for newly annexed property
The Board approved attendance areas for newly annexed city property near Yankee Hill Road and South 40th Street. Attendance areas will be: Humann Elementary School, Pound Middle School and Lincoln Southeast High School.
LPS Policy
The Board approved revisions in policy series 4000 related to Human Resources, including changes for Equal Employment Opportunity and Recruitment.
Applications
The Board approved an application for a Woods Charitable Fund Breakthrough Initiative Grant.
The Board considered submission of a grant request to United Way to help continue to support the Two Generations – Family Literacy project. They will vote final approval at the Jan. 9 Board meeting.
Data Snapshot
Instructional leaders presented a variety of scores and evaluation data – previously released to the public – to give Board members a “Data Snapshot” of the school district.
“I want to stress that we are using this data all year long,” said Jane Stavem, associate superintendent for Instruction at LPS. “We have many systems in place for analyzing data at a school level – and we are getting better and better in using this data in more meaningful ways…We are also getting better looking at data, student by student, determining what they need to continue to be successful.”
Stavem explained that educators from across the school district will come together to identify common threads and common possible strategies. “We will look at individual stories of our students and ask questions such as: What barriers can we take out of the way? What adjustments do we need to make?”
Update on Refunding Series 2010 Build America Bond issue
The Board was given an update on their previous approval for refunding of the series 2010 Build America Bond Issue. The purpose of advanced refunding is to take on bonds at a lower interest rate. The refunding resulted in 6.3 percent taxpayer savings – or just over $2.9 million.
Staff Celebration
The Lincoln Board of Education recognized Lincoln Public Schools employees who have given the school district 25 years of professional service:
- Darcy Ahlman
- Linda Bouwens
- Leslie Brown
- Carrie Burkey
- James Danson
- Kathryn Dean
- Sandra Devlin
- Susan Dinsdale
- Julia Dixon
- Robin Douglas-Lundy
- Kathleen Drahota
- Teresa Drake
- Richard Drommond
- Lynette Dunse
- Deborah Eastman
- Julie Eschliman
- Patrick Gatzemeyer
- Stacey Haney
- Sandra Hanson
- Stacey Heiser
- Richard Herrera
- Kathy Hoffart
- Anne Hubbell
- Kevin Hubbell
- Trisha Knoell
- Lisa Kramer-Hansen
- Karen Krull
- Karen Langan
- Roman Lys
- Robert McEntarffer
- Kelly Mitchell
- Carol Moravec
- Lisa Morehouse
- Marsha Munger
- Allegra Penington
- Nancy Peters
- Richard Powers
- Darin Raguse
- Cynthia Sell
- John Snoozy
- Joyce Sohl
- Pamela Steckelberg
- Stacy Steffensmeier
- Shari Stock
- Donna Straight
- Larry Sypho
- Scott Vicroy
- Sherry West
- Sandra Whiston
- Judith Wittwer
- Cheryl Wood
- Gary Zellweger
- Mara Zigurs
Published: December 12, 2017, Updated: December 12, 2017
