Highlights of the June 11, 2024 Lincoln Board of Education and ESU 18 regular meeting

The Lincoln Board of Education and ESU 18 met for regular meetings on Tuesday, June 11, at the Lincoln Public Schools Steve Joel District Leadership Center, 5905 O Street.

Lincoln Board of Education Regular Meeting

Special reports, presentations and celebrations of success

John Neal - Associate Superintendent for Civic Engagement

The Board of Education recognized Associate Superintendent for Civic Engagement John Neal for his 43 years of serving staff, students, families and the community through his work in education.

Dr. John Neal began his career with LPS in 1981 as an assistant swimming coach at Northeast High School and then as a gifted mentor in 1982, before taking a job outside of LPS. He returned to LPS as the principal at Mickle Middle School in 2002.

In 2008, Dr. Neal became the district’s first Director of Secondary Education where he oversaw middle and high schools and the four focus programs - Science Focus Program, Arts and Humanities Focus Program, Information and Technology Focus Program, and Entrepreneurial Focus Program.

A new position was created in 2012, and Dr. Neal was selected to serve as the Assistant to the Superintendent for Governmental Relations and General Administration. In this position, he served as the official liaison between the school district and other government entities, including as the district’s lobbyist. While the duties remained the same, Dr. Neal’s title changed multiple times, the last time to Associate Superintendent for Civic Engagement in 2023.

During his tenure at LPS, Dr. Neal assisted with the development of The Career Academy. He also collaborated with others to build the Safe and Successful Kids Interlocal agreement, and to implement the Eagle Feather Project for Native American graduating seniors. Dr. Neal oversees Athletics, Communications, Community Learning Centers, TeamMates, and Wellness.

Athletics and Activities update

Lincoln Public Schools Athletic and Activities Director JJ Toczek provided a year in review for the Board. The core purpose of the LPS Athletics and Activities program is to offer students education-based opportunities to extend the learning experiences outside the classroom. These experiences aid in the overall growth of student-participants by promoting academic achievement, skill development, life skills, citizenship and competitive success.

Goals for the last school year included working collaboratively with school athletic and activities directors and providing them with support, carrying out the program’s goals through an equitable lens, and aid in the overall growth of student-participants. There was also a focus on sportsmanship, increasing safety and security at events and promoting positive student and adult behaviors through continuous communication and student leadership development.

Other highlights from the year included:

• Girls wrestling saw an 86.7% increase in participation in the second year of the program.
• Unified sports saw a 40.1% increase in participation since last year.
• Overall participating in NSAA/LPS activities was up an additional 628 students.
• The overall four-year graduation rate for LPS athletic and activities student participants was 98.5%.

First reading

Policy 3500 - Funds Management

Lincoln Public Schools reviews and updates policies on an ongoing basis to ensure that they accurately reflect the ever-changing work of the district and capture changes to state and federal laws and requirements.

Revisions to Board Policy 3500 are recommended by the Board Finance Committee to more closely align with Business Affairs Policy 3610 which delegates full power and authority to the Director of Purchasing to sign contracts and documents in the ordinary course of the district’s business activities that are $10,000 and under and that are consistent with the district’s spending plan and budget.

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

2025-2026 Student calendar

Each year a joint LPS/LEA committee composed of a Board member, family members, teacher and administrators recommends a student calendar to the Board for consideration. A framework of calendar variables was adopted by the Board to guide the Calendar Committee’s work in meeting the goal of creating a school calendar that demonstrates the district’s commitment to learning. 

Following the development of the recommended student calendar, district staff assigns additional staff-specific days on the calendar according to the negotiated agreement, including staff compensatory and teacher professional learning days. These days are non-student days.

The Calendar Committee has brought forth a 2025-2026 student calendar for Board consideration after receiving feedback from staff, parent and student groups. 

You can preview the proposed 2025-2026 student calendar here. The Board will hold second reading and vote on the proposed 2025-2026 Student Calendar at the next meeting.

Interlocal Cooperation Act Agreement between Lincoln Public Schools and ESU 18 for core and educational services

Educational Service Units (ESUs) are called “service units” because their main objective is to serve the needs of Nebraska’s school districts, educators and students. Created by the Nebraska Legislature in 1965 to provide services to enhance educational excellence, ESUs exist in order to provide access to core services deemed vital to a child’s education by the state of Nebraska. 

ESU 18 is unique in that it serves a single district, Lincoln Public Schools, but does not work in isolation as ESU 18 networks with other ESUs across the state of Nebraska along with the ESU Coordinating Council. 

There are ongoing interlocal cooperation agreements to provide core services by LPS to ESU 18 and educational services by ESU 18 to LPS that mirrors services provided by ESUs across the state. Such services include instructional media services, technology, and staff development with LPS reimbursing ESU 18 for said services in the first agreement, and ESU 18 reimbursing LPS for said services in the second agreement. 

The term of the renewal period for these agreements will be Sept. 1, 2024, through Aug. 31, 2027.

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

Proposed renewal of contracts with associate superintendents and ESU administrator

The Board annually reviews the contracts of the associate superintendents and the ESU 18 administrator.

The Board held first reading and will vote at the next meeting on contract amendments, extensions and total salary increases of 4%, with an overall total package compensation increases of 4.10% for the associate superintendents of Business Affairs, Human Resources and Teaching and Learning during the 2024-2025 school year. 

The Board also held first reading and will vote at the next meeting on contract amendments, extension and total salary increases of 4.28% with an overall total package compensation increase of 4.45% for the director of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment and ESU 18 administrator during the 2024-2025 school year.

Proposed 2024-2025 pay rates for substitutes and miscellaneous employees

Each year the Board reviews pay rates for substitutes and miscellaneous employees.

This year the recommended salary increases are dependent on the employee group and range from no increase to a 4.54% increase. It is recommended substitute paraeducators receive a 7.55% increase and the stipend for substitute nutrition services personnel with 10 years of regular employment experience go from $0.15 per hour to $0.50 per hour due to recruiting and retention difficulties for these positions.

For intramural workers and coaches, athletic event workers, standard head clinician setup pay, clinical additional coaches, concessions workers, student workers, band workers, band camp workers and camera operators, the recommended adjustments are made in anticipation of the increase in the Nebraska minimum wage to $13.50 per hour effective Jan. 1, 2026.

The Board waived second reading and voted to approve the new pay rates which can be viewed here.

Proposed agreement with Transportation Employees Association

A negotiated agreement with the Transportation Employees Association was put before the Board for the 2024-2025 school year. 

The agreement includes a total package increase of 10.06%, with an 11.03% salary increase. The total package also includes increases in Social Security and retirement costs. The estimated 1.99% increase in health insurance premiums will be covered by the school district for the 2024-25 year. The death benefit payout will also increase from $5,000 to $20,000.

Because of the upcoming Summer Interview Days, staff asked the Board to waive second reading and vote on the agreement. The Board voted to approve the agreement which can be viewed here.

Lincoln Public Schools will host two interview days this summer to fill nearly 150 open positions across the school district. The first will be held on Thursday, June 13, from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. at Scott Middle School in the gym. Job openings include bus drivers, paraeducators, transportation paras, food service workers, food service manager trainees, head bakers, head cooks and custodians. Walk-ins are welcome, but interested applicants are strongly encouraged to complete the pre-event application on the LPS website to speed up the process. More information can be found on the LPS website. 

You can find all of the approved employee groups 2024-2025 negotiated agreements online here.

Second reading

10-Year Facilities and Infrastructure Plan update

Staff brought forward a recommendation to revise the 10-Year Facility and Infrastructure Plan to include a new facility at the Yankee Hill site. The project was previously in the Tier II Priority list of the plan. LPS staff have identified the need for additional space for student support programming.  

The LPS Board of Education initiated a 10-year facility planning process in 2005 to serve as a guideline for district facility and infrastructure needs.  The LPS 10-Year Facilities and Infrastructure Plan has been subject to annual reviews, approvals, and changes over the years as circumstances and conditions have demanded.  

The current 10-Year Facilities and Infrastructure Plan was approved by the Board of Education on Dec. 10, 2019. The numerous needs identified in the plan were the result of input from community-based groups including the High School Taskforce and a Superintendent’s Facilities Advisory Committee.  On Feb. 11, 2020, 62-percent of Lincoln voters cast their ballots in favor of the bond issue which funded Tier I Priorities. LPS has a 20-year history of completing projects in line with community expectations and successfully prioritizing a few projects from Tier 2 Priorities within the bond amount authorized by the voters. All of the financing is in place and the vast majority of Tier I Projects are complete.  Approximately $25 million is available for Tier II Priorities.

LPS needs a facility to better serve the Yankee Hill Education Center, the Student Support Program, and the Transition Program for students in grades 9-12.  The district owns in excess of 24 acres on the site. The proposal is to design and construct a new facility and repurpose the existing facility for other district educational programs.  The new facility will serve all three programs.

• The Yankee Hill Education Center is a high school behavioral skills program that serves students who have been identified as needing a period of time in a safe, supportive, therapeutic environment that focuses on building prosocial skills along with academics. Program staff are trained in a behavior program model to create a structured, safe, and predictable school environment for students.
• High School Student Support Program is part of the Student Services Department providing students in high school the opportunity to continue their academic progress and earn credit during times of transition, long-term suspensions, or expulsions in a smaller, more structured environment. (Currently located at the Nuernberger Education Center.)
• High School Transition Program is an opportunity for students in grades 9-12 to continue their academic progress within Lincoln Public Schools. Students work on graduation requirements through eLearning in a smaller, more structured environment within a larger, comprehensive high school. The program can serve up to 40 high school students. (Currently located at Nuernberger Education Center and Northeast High School.)

The new High School Student Support Center facility at the Yankee Hill site will be approximately 47,000 square feet and the current cost estimate is $24 million. The tentative project schedule is for design to begin in the  Fall of 2024, and ground-breaking sometime during the  Summer  of 2025 A soft opening is planned around January of 2027.

The current Yankee Hill facility will be utilized for the Individual Success Program, a comprehensive Special Education program for students with developmental disabilities from kindergarten through age 21. The mission of the ISP is to improve school performance, behavior, mental health, and social wellbeing for students with significant needs through specialized education, support, and inclusive advocacy.  The Individual Success Program currently located at Cavett, Robinson, Lux, Lincoln East, and Lincoln Northwest will relocate to the existing Yankee Hill facility.

Upon the completion of the High School Support Center at the Yankee Hill Site, the Nuernberger Education Center will be fully dedicated to serving middle school students and the Don Sherrill Education Center will continue to serve elementary students.

The Board voted to approve the update to the 10-Year Facilities and Infrastructure Plan.

MAP Growth Testing contract

MAP Growth is a nationally-normed test that measures both student achievement and growth in reading and math. There is close alignment between fall and winter MAP results and the spring Nebraska Department of Education’s Nebraska Student-Centered Assessment System (NSCAS) tests that measure Nebraska English Language Arts and Math state standards. The MAP Growth results are used in LPS to monitor student achievement and growth, as part of placement and intervention decisions for students, evaluate district curricula and programs and to report to parents.

Staff recommended the Board approve a three-year agreement with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for a total of $629,348 to provide the MAP Growth assessment.

The Board voted to approve the contract.

Informational items and reports

Finance Committee

Board Finance Committee Chair Kathy Danek reminded the community of upcoming opportunities for community input on the development of the 2024-2025 Budget. LPS prudently builds the annual budget using a three-year forecast to minimize the negative impact of drastic swings in revenue. By utilizing cash flow, LPS is able to weather volatile shifts in revenue caused by large reductions in State Equalization Aid a year after the school district may receive a bump in local property assessment values the previous year.

Upcoming key dates for public input include:

• June 25: Work Session at 4:30 p.m. to view presentation of the proposed preliminary budget followed by the Regular Board meeting with a public comment period.
• June 26: Virtual presentation and public forum at noon by going to lps.org; and in-person presentation and public forum at 6:00 p.m. at the Steve Joel District Leadership Center (5905 O Street). 
• June 27: Virtual presentation and public forum at 6:00 p.m. by going to lps.org.

Associate Superintendent for Business Affairs Liz Standish added, “June is when we really need that community feedback.”

You can find more key dates on the development of the 2024-2025 Budget here on the website.

The Career Academy

Board member Annie Mumgaard reported from the joint TCA board meeting that they are up 75 applications from last year. Any students interested in learning more about TCA or wanting to apply can visit the website: https://home.lps.org/tca.

Superintendent update

LPS Superintendent Paul Gausman provided an update on the 2024 National Individual Events Tournament of Champions. Students from East, North Star, Southeast and Southwest high schools represented LPS in 12 categories. 

Lincoln East enjoyed one of the best finishes in school history claiming third place in team standings. East students Max Apel and Luke Nash each won national championships and Isabella Razdan and Harper Schupbach were national runners-up. Fifteen other Spartans helped the squad earn the third-place trophy.

Lincoln Southeast had eight competitors with four placing in the top 15, Southwest had five competitors with one placing in the top 10, and North Star had four competitors.

Gausman also thanked Associate Superintendent for Civic Engagement John Neal for his years of service as tonight’s meeting was Neal’s last before retirement.

Public comment

There were two individuals that addressed the Board during public comment. You can watch it as part of the full meeting video here. 

Glimpses of LPS

We open every Board meeting with a video that highlights Lincoln Public Schools. Tuesday’s Glimpses featured sights and sounds from graduation ceremonies across the district. You can watch the Glimpses video here.

ESU 18 Regular Meeting

The board of ESU 18 held its regular meeting immediately following the Lincoln Board of Education meeting. 

Interlocal Cooperation Act Agreement between Lincoln Public Schools and ESU 18 for core and educational services

Educational Service Units (ESUs) are called “service units” because their main objective is to serve the needs of Nebraska’s school districts, educators and students. Created by the Nebraska Legislature in 1965 to provide services to enhance educational excellence, ESUs exist in order to provide access to core services deemed vital to a child’s education by the state of Nebraska. 

ESU 18 is unique in that it serves a single district, Lincoln Public Schools, but does not work in isolation as ESU 18 networks with other ESUs across the state of Nebraska along with the ESU Coordinating Council. 

There are ongoing interlocal cooperation agreements to provide core services by LPS to ESU 18 and educational services by ESU 18 to LPS that mirrors services provided by ESUs across the state. Such services include instructional media services, technology, and staff development with LPS reimbursing ESU 18 for said services in the first agreement, and ESU 18 reimbursing LPS for said services in the second agreement. 

The term of the renewal period for these agreements will be Sept. 1, 2024, through Aug. 31, 2027.

The ESU Board will hold a second reading and vote at the next regular meeting.

Proposed renewal of contracts with ESU administrator

The ESU Board annually reviews the contract of the ESU 18 administrator.

The Board held first reading and will vote at the next meeting on contract amendments, extension and total salary increases of 4.28% with an overall total package compensation increase of 4.45% for the ESU 18 administrator during the 2024-2025 school year.

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