Highlights of the January 28, 2025 Lincoln Board of Education regular meeting

January 28, 2025

The Lincoln Board of Education met for its regular meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 28, at 6:00 p.m. at the Lincoln Public Schools Steve Joel District Leadership Center, 5905 O Street. You can watch the full video of the meeting here.

Special reports, presentations and celebrations of success

Nola Derby-Bennett and the Lincoln Community Learning Centers

The Lincoln Community Learning Centers (CLCs) under the direction of Nola Derby-Bennett was honored with the Champions Award in the Engage Every Student Recognition Program during a special ceremony hosted by the U.S. Department of Education. This was the first year for the program and only 13 nominees nationwide were selected for the honor. 

The award recognizes programs that expand access to high-quality after-school and/or summer learning classes for local students. There are currently 30 LPS schools with CLC programming serving 10,000 students across the district. These CLCs give students opportunities to dig deeper into STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) programs, the arts, social activities and physical activities. 

You can watch a highlight of the presentation here

The Career Academy update

The Career Academy Director Josh Jones provided an update to the Board. He highlighted that current enrollment for the spring semester sits at 641 students, a record high. TCA opened 10 years ago with 269 students.

The Career Academy is a joint venture between LPS and Southeast Community College. The goal of TCA is to provide academic and real world experiences to high school juniors and seniors through high school and dual credit courses in 15 different career pathways.

Pathways include Academic Transfer, Ag/Bioscience, Business/Entrepreneurship, Construction (Electrical, HVAC, Residential), Criminal Justice, Culinary, Early Childhood, Engineering, Health Sciences (Nurse Aide, Emergency Medical Technician, Physical Therapy Aide, Anatomy/Physiology, Dental Assisting), Human Services, K-12 Education, IT Networking/Cybersecurity, IT Programming, Precision Machining and Welding.

Through TCA coursework, state or national certification is offered in Nurse Aide, Med Aide, Emergency Medical Technician and Culinary. Welding, Engineering, Electrical, Early Childhood provide a Southeast Community College Certificate. Students in the Education pathway are promised an LPS interview once they obtain the required certification or degree.

TCA brings in community partners to connect with students to provide field trips, guest speakers, pathway summits, job shadowing opportunities, and job fairs. 

In the 10 years of the program, there have been 2,103 graduates. One of the graduates from the class of 2024 joined Jones in the presentation. Sapphire Guzman was also a Southwest High School graduate. She started enrolled in welding. Sapphire also did machining and took a psychology course. During her time in TCA, she attended the national Skills USA conference.

“I didn’t truly understand the meaning test driving your future until my second year,” added Guzman. “I took two years of machining in one year.”

Board President Bob Rauner said, “I think the idea of preserving options for every kid. You can get into a school like UNL if you want to, but there are options too like welding, IT or HVAC. Our job is to give students options so they can pursue what they want to.”

Jones responded with “We’re a district of choice.”

You can watch a highlight of the presentation here

The Foundation for LPS

The Foundation for Lincoln Public Schools Interim President John Neal provided a quarterly update for the Board. 

Neal announced as part of the update that The Foundation will provide a $1,000 award for the five educator winners of the annual Thank You Teacher recognition that is sponsored in partnership with LPS, Lincoln Education Association and KFOR/KFRX. The deadline to submit nominations is Friday, Jan. 31. More information and the nomination form can be found online at: https://home.lps.org/thankyouteacher/.

Also in the update, Neal shared that the scholarship application is open until Jan. 31 for LPS seniors. Over 110 post-secondary scholarships are awarded each year. More information can be found on the Foundations’ website here: https://www.foundationforlps.org/scholarshipsandawards/scholarships/.

Nominations are also now being accepted for the annual Foundation Outstanding Educator Awards. There are over 20 awards in a variety of categories. Those interested in learning more, or to submit their nominations may do so by Feb. 28 on this website.

Neal also updated the board about the crowdfunding platform Fund a Need. The Foundation has already raised year-to-date $140,000, far surpassing last year.

If anyone is interested in becoming involved with the Foundation, they can visit FoundationforLPS.org.

You can watch a highlight of the presentation here.

First reading

Newly annexed property - school attendance areas

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 S 84th St. & Van Dorn St. which is slated as commercial development to Maxey Elementary School, Lux Middle School, and East High School.

Chromebooks

The CLASS technology plan provides budget resources in the 2024-25 fiscal year to continue the practice of assigning a Chromebook to next year’s sixth grade students (3,150) and ninth grade students (3,300) that they will use throughout their middle and high school years. 

Staff recommended accepting the bid from Connection Inc. to purchase the Chromebooks for a total of $1,966,500. Due to purchasing timelines, the Board waived second reading and voted to approve the purchase.

Agreement for Group Travel with Travel with Barb

Each high school is on a four-year rotation for national travel for music groups. The majority of the cost of the trips are fundraised by students and booster groups. These trips do fall under the fee waiver policy for those students who qualify for free and reduced lunch.

A travel company is used to organize the trip. The Board will hold second reading and vote to approve the expenditure from the activity fund.

State 21st Century Community Learning Center continuation and new grant applications

The 21st Century Community Learning Centers (CLCs) federally-funded grant program provides grants to eligible schools for the purpose of creating or expanding Community Learning Centers. The primary purpose of 21st Century funds is to provide students with academic enrichment opportunities designed to complement their regular academic program.  

All CLC services are provided during non-school hours or periods when school is not in session. The CLC’ programs and activities are designed to build on the capacity of community partners and neighborhood schools. Each site is to have an academic focus to assist participating students in meeting state and local academic achievement standards.  Families of students served may also receive services in areas that support family literacy, health, other family support services, and childcare.

These 21st Century CLC grant renewal applications rotate on a five year basis and are a continuation of grant funding for Calvert, Arnold, McPhee and Norwood Park elementary schools; Park and Dawes middle schools; and North Star High School. 

In addition, new grant applications are being considered to grow CLC offerings for Kooser, Meadow Lane, and Roper elementary schools and Schoo Middle School.

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

Second reading

Newly annexed property - school attendance areas

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 East Dominion Estates to Robinson Elementary School, Culler Middle School, and East High School.

The Board voted to approve the assignment.

Informational items and reports

Wellness, American Civics and Multicultural (WAM) Committee update

Committee Chair Annie Mumgaard provided a summary of the committee meeting that occurred earlier in the afternoon. She shared that the WAM work aligns with the 2024-2029 LPS Strategic Plan goals around student and staff wellbeing.

During the meeting, Board members learned that there is an increase in students eating meals at school due in part to the Community Eligibility Provision program. The CEP program is available through the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and National School Breakfast Program (NSBP). There are currently 23 LPS schools designated as CEP schools. 

There is an initiative by LPS to provide information and supports for students and families around the importance of attending school every day. Staff are gathering data to better inform their efforts.

Also part of the committee meeting, information was shared about the CLC sports equity update. In 2023-2024, a program was piloted to offer intramural soccer at the elementary level.

For staff, a new pilot wellness program was rolled out in January. Eligible staff can learn more and sign up for this program by going to this webpage.

Superintendent update

Interim Superintendent John Skretta gave his first update to the Board. He started by commending the McPhee Elementary staff under the leadership of interim principal Theresa Haack.

“I want to affirm their responsiveness in implementing our Standard Response Protocols when a school experienced a crisis there last week,” said Skretta. “Also our LPS Security and Crisis teams for providing additional support.”

Skretta also reported that he visited Robinson and Saratoga elementary schools and Scott Middle School in his first week of his new role. In addition, he was invited to participate in the Mickle Middle School PTSO book study using “Middle School Matters.”

In addition to visiting schools, Skretta toured LPS partner Educare. Educare provides early childhood education at Belmont Elementary School. 

Skretta also participated in the Nebraska Association of School Boards Legislative Issues Conference with Board members Danek and Srivastav.

Skretta closed his update by recognizing and thanking the Board members during National School Board Appreciation week. 

“The tireless, selfless volunteerism and commitment from our school Board members is amazing,” said Skretta. “There are things like attending conferences, answering constituent phone calls and emails at all hours that are just some of the work they do behind the scenes.”

Public comment

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

Glimpses of LPS

We open every Board meeting with a video that highlights LPS. Tuesday’s Glimpses featured Rousseau and Humann kindergarten students bringing their CKLA lessons to life with a royal ball and banquet. You can watch the Glimpses video here.


Published: January 28, 2025, Updated: January 28, 2025