Highlights of the November 12, 2024 Lincoln Board of Education meetings

November 12, 2024

Lincoln Board of Education Special Meeting

The Lincoln Board of Education met for a special meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 12, at the Lincoln Public Schools Steve Joel District Leadership Center, 5905 O Street. The special meeting began at 4:30 p.m. After opening the meeting, the Board immediately moved to Closed Session for the purpose of negotiations and collective bargaining. You can watch the video from the open session of the meeting here.

Lincoln Board of Education Regular Meeting

The Lincoln Board of Education met for its regular meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 12, at 6:00 p.m. at the Lincoln Public Schools Steve Joel District Leadership Center, 5905 O Street. 

Special reports, presentations and celebrations of success

Liz Thomsen - Lux Middle School

Art educator Liz Thomsen was named the 2024 Middle School Art Educator of the Year by the Nebraska Art Teachers Association during their fall conference in October. Thomsen currently teaches at Lux Middle School, and prior to that with the Remote Learning Program during the pandemic and Yankee Hill Education Center. 

Thomsen was nominated for not only the work she does in the classroom, but also for her efforts in sharing instructional ideas and best practices to her colleagues in Lincoln and across the state. 

Sarah Gabelhouse - Standing Bear High School (formerly Arnold Elementary School)

Art educator Sarah Gabelhouse was named the 2024 Elementary Art Educator of the Year by the Nebraska Art Teachers Association during their fall conference in October. Gabelhouse taught at Arnold Elementary for three years prior to moving to Standing Bear High School in the fall of 2024. 

Gabelhouse was nominated for not only the work she does in the classroom, but also for her efforts in sharing instructional ideas and best practices to her colleagues in Lincoln and across the state. 

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 South 56th Street and Cavvy Road to Humann Elementary School, Moore Middle School, and Standing Bear High School.

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

Fieldhouse and support facilities at new activity complexes at Northwest and Standing Bear high schools

The Board was asked to consider bids to build fieldhouses and support facilities at new athletic complexes at both Standing Bear and Northwest high schools. 

Phase one at the Northwest facility would include locker rooms and field house. Phase one at Standing Bear would include softball fields, backstop and concrete, bleachers, locker rooms, concessions, restrooms and signage. The projects were projected to cost approximately $5.89 million, and will be paid for through a mixture of the Fielding Dreams Capital Campaign from the Foundation for Lincoln Public Schools, district funds, and a partnership with the YMCA.

“I want to add a huge thank you to the Foundation and the Lincoln community for the fundraising campaign that is bringing these amenities to LPS and the community,” added LPS Associate Superintendent for Business Affairs Liz Standish. “This is a huge moment worth celebrating that we are able to bring these facilities to everyone across the city who will be participating in activities. The Foundation’s Fielding Dreams Campaign is the major revenue stream that is making this happen.”

Due to construction timelines, the Board waived second reading and voted to approve the lowest bid of $4.9 million to Hampton Construction in Lincoln.

Evaluation of the superintendent of schools

The Board of Education evaluates the superintendent of schools regularly. A mid-year updated evaluation of LPS Superintendent Paul Gausman has been completed and will be recommended for approval to be placed in his personnel file.

The Board will vote on the superintendent’s updated evaluation at the next meeting.

Fruits, vegetables, potatoes

Bids were requested from interested vendors to provide frozen and canned fruit, vegetable and potato products for use by LPS Nutrition Services for all locations. The contract prices are for the period of Dec. 1, 2024, through Nov. 30, 2025. 

It was recommended the award be made to the vendors who meet the specification for an estimated annual expenditure of $1,274,490.

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

Lincoln Southwest, Lincoln High, Lincoln Northwest choice filing deadline January 31, 2025

Each year staff monitors enrollment trends and available capacity in schools to determine the impact on educational programs and the availability for students to transfer to a school outside their assignment area.

Lincoln Public Schools continues to allow incoming ninth grade students to choose what high school they would like to enroll in, and must turn in their High School Choice Form by January 31, 2025. 

Enrollments at Lincoln High, Southwest and Northwest continue to exceed building capacity. The 2024-2025 enrollment numbers at Lincoln Southwest and Lincoln High currently exceed 2,000. The enrollment numbers at Lincoln Northwest currently exceed 1,000. Because of this, staff have determined and recommended that any additional transfer requests made after the Jan. 31, 2025 deadline not be accepted. This continues to follow current high school enrollment procedures, and confirms past years’ practice.

The Board will vote to uphold this policy at the next regular meeting.

Informational items and reports

From Board Chair Bob Rauner

Board Chair Bob Rauner provided a report from the recent National School Board Association Council of Urban Boards Education (CUBE) Conference. The conference brings school leaders together to learn evolving strategies and address unique educational challenges for urban school districts.

Superintendent update

LPS Superintendent Paul Gausman gave an update to the Board.

Gausman started his report thanking Veterans for their service and highlighting the community service by the Northeast High School Air Force Junior ROTC program to help set up for the parade downtown on Sunday. In addition, Northeast and Southeast marching bands played in the parade.

While highlighting Veterans Day events, Gausman also thanked LPS K-12 Science Curriculum Specialist Jaci Kellison for her work in helping schools organize activities for Veterans Day, and for her work during the 2024 Student Vote mock election.
Gausman also highlighted the official enrollment that was released last week. He stated that we are just 15 students shy of the 2018 record enrollment with 42,282 students in grades prekindergarten-12th.

The superintendent’s update concluded congratulating the student-athletes and their fall accomplishments.

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 Lincoln Public Schools. Tuesday’s Glimpses featured students at Sheridan Elementary during the 2024 Student Vote. 

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