LPS announces new 2021-22 Remote Learning Program principal

Lincoln Public Schools announced Friday that Casey Fries will serve as principal for the new 2021-22 LPS Remote Learning Program. His duties will begin Monday, March 1.

“There is a tremendous amount of work to be done in a short amount of time to bring the 2021-22 Remote Learning Program to life,” LPS Associate Superintendent for Instruction Matt Larson said. “Casey brings excellent skills and knowledge into this key leadership role. He will be able to get to work right away to build an effective and efficient program that will serve students’ needs as we navigate the pandemic next year.”

Fries is currently an associate principal at East High School, starting in that role in 2017 after being an instructional coordinator there for three years. Prior to that he taught math at Lincoln High School from 2010 to 2014. Fries has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, a Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction and a Master of Education in Educational Leadership, both from Doane College.

Fries will be instrumental in helping build and shape the RLP for the entire school district grades K-12. Now that LPS has an idea how many students are enrolled in the program he has the arduous task this spring of building student class schedules, finding teachers for the program, developing student expectations, providing staff development and launching the program next fall. Next school year, Fries will serve as the principal over the entire Remote Learning Program.

As of Feb. 20, 785 students in grades kindergarten through 12th grade registered for the 2021-2022 Remote Learning Program. The deadline for families to enroll was Friday, Feb. 19. 

Here are the numbers per grade level as of Feb. 20:

• Kindergarten = 17
• Grade 1 = 38
• Grade 2 = 37
• Grade 3 = 60
• Grade 4 = 45
• Grade 5 = 66
• Grade 6 = 58
• Grade 7 = 80
• Grade 8 = 82
• Grade 9 = 49
• Grade 10 = 77
• Grade 11 = 88
• Grade 12 = 88

Of the 785 students currently registered, 189 are special education students and 118 of those are approved for placement in the program. That’s 15 percent of the program’s enrollment. There are 53 students waiting for their Individualized Education Plan meetings to determine if this program will meet their needs. If a student has health issues that prevent them from attending in person, families are to contact their school’s special education coordinator to inquire about homebound services for next school year.

For planning purposes, families were asked to commit now for at least one semester in the one-year only program designed to bridge the gap until the end of the pandemic. Now that the deadline has passed, families who decide at a later date to enroll their child in the program or to switch to in-person learning will follow a permit process by making a request through Student Services.

More information about the LPS 2021-2022 Remote Learning Program can be found on the LPS website: rlp.lps.org.

---