Highlights of 11/27 Lincoln Board of Education Meeting

The Lincoln Board of Education held a regular meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 13, at Lincoln Public Schools District Office, 5905 O St.  The Board will hold its next regular meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 11.

United Way Community Campaign Update

This year Lincoln Public Schools increased their participation rate in the annual LPS Combined Giving Campaign to 34 percent (compared to 23 percent last year), raising more than $147,500, according to a campaign update presented to the Lincoln Board of Education Tuesday by Betsy Tonniges, who coordinated the campaign at LPS. 

“I see so much overlap between the mission of United Way and Lincoln Public Schools,” said Brian Wachman, executive director of United Way of Lincoln and Lancaster County.  “Thank you, this means a lot, all these funds will go out to people who really need it.”

This year the top three LPS schools contributing the most to the campaign – also the top three secondary schools – were:

  • Lincoln North Star High School under the guidance of principal Ryan Zabawa
  • Lincoln High School under the guidance of principal Mark Larson
  • Lincoln East High School under the guidance of principal Sue Cassata

The top three LPS elementary schools were:

  • Clinton Elementary School, principal Angee Luedtke
  • Zeman Elementary School, principal Kristi Schirmer
  • Hartley Elementary School, principal Jeff Rust

The LPS schools with the greatest increase this year were:

  • Dawes Middle School, principal Angie Plugge
  • Beattie Elementary School, principal Sean Bailey
  • Hartley Elementary School, principal Jeff Rust 

Annual Financial Audit

State law requires that the school district conduct an annual financial audit, and Tuesday officials reported on the audit – giving LPS what Board President Connie Duncan called “a clean bill of bill.”

Representatives from HSMC Orizon CPAs, LLC, the independent auditor for LPS, pronounced positive reports for the 2017-18 audits for both the school district and for Educational Service Unit No. 18.

Board member Don Mayhew said: “My opinion…is we have a lot of very intelligent, hard-working people who do something very difficult, and they do it well.  That is good news to all of us.”

Attendance areas approved for newly annexed property

The Board of Education assigns school attendance areas to property newly annexed to the city of Lincoln. The Board Tuesday approved attendance areas for newly annexed property – near North 84th and Holdrege streets – as Meadow Lane Elementary School, Culler Middle School and Lincoln East High School.

Fruits and vegetables

The Board approved final bids for the purchase of frozen and canned fruits and vegetables for use by LPS Nutrition Services for all schools.   Approved are:

  • Churchfield Trading Company (Boise, Idaho) – $49,607.55
  • Sysco Lincoln (Lincoln, Nebraska) – $79,635.39
  • J.R. Simplot Company (Boise, Idaho) – $339,170.70
  • Simco Foods (Los Angeles, California) – $48,864.00

Student Celebration

The Lincoln Board of Education Tuesday heard a presentation from Kent Steen, curriculum specialist for Computer Science, and Lincoln East High School junior Pranav Rajan, who co-founded Code For Change, a computer science education organization based in Lincoln.

Public Comment…

One Lincoln citizen gave public comments Tuesday evening. To view the meeting go to: Livestream.com/lpsor 

To view the entire Board meeting;
Go to: Youtube.com/user/lpsorg


Published: November 27, 2018, Updated: November 27, 2018