Highlights of the Sept. 24, 2024 Lincoln Board of Education and ESU 18 Regular meeting

September 24, 2024

Lincoln Board of Education Regular Meeting

The Lincoln Board of Education met for its regular meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 24, at the Lincoln Public Schools Steve Joel District Leadership Center, 5905 O Street. 

First reading

NDHHS Youth Mental Health Education funding

Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (NDHHS) Office of Health Disparities is offering grants up to $10,000 per applicant for programs that serve youth at risk and provide education and resources about mental health to increase the number of adolescents who have an adult they can talk with about serious problems.

In the past, LPS has used federal grant funds to implement Hope Squads. Hope Squads is an evidence-based suicide prevention curriculum that uses peer support teams to help students learn about mental health and reduce the risk of suicide. 

Students nominate their peers to participate on the Hope Squad based on traits like being a good listener, concern for others and being easy to talk to. These students become the school’s Hope Squad - teaching and connecting with the entire student body to reduce stigma and change school culture. 

Each secondary school requires an advisor to oversee the program. The grant would help pay for 20 school sponsors, or one for each middle and high school, for their time to lead and coordinate Hope Squads using the curriculum.

The Board will hold a second reading and vote on the grant application at the next meeting.

Second reading

2024-25 Lincoln Public Schools budget adoption, base growth percentage increase, and property tax request

During the meeting, the Board held second readings and voted on the 2024-25 budget, the base growth percentage increase, and the property tax request.

Building the budget begins each February when LPS staff review every budget line item and look at student enrollment and needs to match staffing levels for each school building. The budget process this year also focused on aligning resources with priorities adopted with the 2024-2029 LPS Strategic Plan.

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.

2024-2025 Budget Adoption
LPS proposed a 4.97% increase in the expenditure budget to $539,189,965. The majority of the expenditure increase - approximately $18.6 million of the almost $25.5 million - goes towards salary and benefit increases already approved through the staff negotiation process earlier in the year. Staff salaries and benefits make up almost 90% of the total budget. Each month, LPS pays over 6,500 employees a total of $30 million - money that pumps back into the Lincoln economy through the purchase of goods, services and property taxes.

The Board voted 5-1 to approve the 2024-2025 Budget.

2024-2025 Property Tax Request
The Board voted on an estimated total levy increase of 3.9 cents - or approximately $1.10 per 100 of valuation - to help offset the approximately $32 million decrease in state equalization aid to the district. The drop in state aid this year is calculated to equal a levy of nine cents. The average homeowner of a property valued at $281,614 would see a $110 increase in their property taxes.

Last year, the Board approved a 14 cent drop in the total levy to $1.07 per 100 of valuation. Two factors that led to the sizable drop were the valuation growth and the state of Nebraska’s investment in Special Education cost reimbursement from state sources instead of local sources.

The Board voted 5-1 to approve the 2024-2025 Property Tax Request.

2024-2025 Base Growth Percentage Increase
Under LB 243 passed by the Nebraska legislature last year, state law limits year-over-year growth of a public school district’s property tax request to three percent plus other growth factors. Because LPS enrollment exceeds 10,000 students, the district may exceed the base growth percentage by an additional four percent with a 70 percent approval vote by the Board of Education.

State Equalization Aid to LPS for 2024-25 decreased by $32,422,664. The four percent increase exceeding the base growth percentage will replace the dollars lost from state funding due to property valuation increases. Because of this loss in state aid, the total general fund revenue budget for LPS is increasing by 1.11%.

The Board voted 5-1 to approve the 2024-2025 Base Growth Percentage Increase.

More information and resources about the 2024-25 Budget, including past presentations, can be found on the website: https://lps.org/budget.

2024-25 Board of Education and superintendent annual goals and priorities

Annually, the Board evaluates the superintendent and develops annual priorities for the superintendent for the coming school year. The 2024-25 Board of Education and superintendent annual goals and priorities are presented below.

1. By April 8, 2025, develop and present to the board a comprehensive action plan tied to the Strategic Plan, which includes clear action steps, responsible parties, measurables, and a progress tracking system. Thereafter, an annual fall report on district progress towards the measurables will be presented to the board and made publicly available.
2. By January 2025, develop and present to the Board a broader alliance of legislative engagement opportunities to support enhanced communication and education with local and state partners. By April 8, 2025, demonstrate the use of district communications platforms to inform constituents about legislative and community topics relevant to LPS.
3. By April 8, 2025, develop and present to the Board a comprehensive recruitment and retention plan, including a specific plan to strengthen staff wellness.

The Board held a second reading and voted to approve the annual goals and priorities.

Superintendent Update

LPS Superintendent Paul Gausman gave an update to the Board.

Gausman congratulated students who took the Advanced Placement exams last school year. Representatives of the College Board announced that 210 LPS students at all eight high schools earned an AP Scholar Award. Gausman also shared that there has been an increase of LPS students taking AP exams. Close to 2,200 LPS students or 16.8 percent of our high school students took the AP exams last school year, compared to 10 years ago when there were 875 students or 8.5 percent of LPS high school students take the AP exams.

In addition, LPS had seven students earn the distinguished AP Capstone Diploma. Students need a score of 3.0 or higher on both the AP Seminar and AP Research exams along with four additional AP exams.

Gausman also invited students and families in grades 8-11 to check out the LPS Focus Programs during the Fall Information Night. The event will be Tuesday, Oct. 1, from 6:30-8:00p.m. at Irving Middle School. Families will be able to learn more about all of the focus program offerings and make connections with staff.

Public comment

There were four individuals that addressed the Board during public comment. You can watch public comment 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 English Language students from Lakeview Elementary School visiting Whispering Acres. 

Educational Service Unit 18 Regular Meeting

The Educational Service Unit 18 met for its regular meeting immediately following the Lincoln Board of Education meeting. You can watch the full video of the ESU 18 meeting here.

ESU budget adoption and property tax request

The Board held a second reading and voted on the ESU budget and property tax request for 2024-2025.

The ESU Budget and property tax request includes:

• Increases for salaries, benefits and contracted services to account for negotiated increases.
• Adjustments to the Pathfinder Program increasing contracted services.
• Increase in budget authority to account for Nebraska Department of Education grants to LPS and private schools run through the ESU.

The Board voted to approve a flat levy of $0.015, with a budget of $17,733,202.

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