Highlights of 4/16 meeting of the Lincoln Public Schools Superintendent’s Facility Advisory Committee

Highlights of 4/16 meeting of the Lincoln Public Schools Superintendent’s Facility Advisory Committee

Potential LPS bond issue estimate for 2020:  $250-$290 million within existing bond fund levy

The Lincoln Public Schools Superintendent’s Facility Advisory Committee, convening Tuesday (April 16), was presented with an important piece of information about a potential upcoming LPS bond issue in 2020:  The school district has the capacity to fund a bond issue of $250 million to $290 million within the existing bond fund levy – in other words, with no planned bond fund levy increase. 

The amount was calculated through an analysis taking into account possible 25-year financing, estimates of interest rates – and debt rolling off previous bond issues.  The conservative estimate presents a range of possible bond amounts, since interest rates and other variables could change in the coming months.  

The Facility Advisory Committee is a group of 100 Lincoln stakeholders who are meeting monthly to analyze long-range facility needs to envision schools of the future and ensure that LPS wisely accommodates student growth into the next 7-10 years. 

Tuesday, LPS officials presented a report for the Advisory Committee’s Infrastructure and Finance Subcommittee, offering a conservative estimate of a total bond issue range that could be funded through the existing bond fund levy. In the coming months, as the school district gets closer to a decision about a bond issue, officials will recalculate and analyze the total with increasing accuracy.  In addition, the Infrastructure and Finance Subcommittee requested additional information on models at different levy rates and with different lengths of time for financing.  

The Facility Advisory Committee will approve final recommendations about facility and infrastructure needs by August, then the superintendent and Lincoln Board of Education will evaluate and analyze the recommendations in preparation for a potential bond issue in 2020.

Other subcommittees also met Tuesday:

• New High Schools
• New Elementary School and Middle School/Alternate Grade Level Configuration
• Early Childhood and Community Learning Centers
• High School Athletics and Activities Complex
• High School Focus Programs and Alternatives 

For more about presentations, to ask questions, to find a list of Committee members, meetings and resources, go to: https://home.lps.org/sfac/ 

The Board of Education charged Superintendent Joel with the establishment of the Facility Advisory Committee to review the school district’s facility and infrastructure needs, options and priorities.

The Committee is led by three co-leaders:

• Jennifer Brinkman, Lancaster County Commissioner.
• Maribel Cruz, senior leadership consultant for Talent Plus.
• Nick Cusick, president of Bison, Inc.

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