September 23, 2014 at 6:00 PM - ESU 18 Board of Education Regular Meeting

Rationale: 

Notice of the time and place of the Lincoln Board of Education meeting was e-mailed to an extensive list of local and regional news media.  A mailing list is maintained at the Lincoln Public Schools District Office.  A public notice was published in the LINCOLN JOURNAL STAR.

The Lincoln Board of Education is empowered to act on any item listed on the Agenda at any time during the meeting, irrespective of the time or order listed. Pages listed, or further detail, are available upon request. The Open Meetings Act requires and the intention of the Board is that agenda items be sufficiently descriptive to give the public reasonable notice of the matters to be considered at the meeting. The Lincoln Board of Education releases its agenda well in advance of most meetings and desires that all interested persons are fully informed. Any interested person who has a question or needs clarification about the sufficiency of a descriptive item should contact the Office of the Superintendent of Schools.

Rationale:  The attached minutes are intended to accurately reflect the action of the Board at its previous meetings.

Explanation
The minutes have been prepared for Board approval.

Rationale: 

A hearing was previously held on whether the governing body should approve or modify the preliminary property tax request for Educational Service Unit No. 18 (Attachment One).      

Explanation
The 2014-15 budget of Educational Service Unit No. 18 has already been adopted.  According to state law Section 77-1601.02, the preliminary tax request for the unit shall be the property tax request from the prior year, unless the governing body holds a hearing and sets the property tax request at a different amount.  The prior year’s property tax request would not correctly fund the 2014-15 budget, which has already been formally adopted by the Board of Educational Service Unit No. 18.  Attachment Two reflects last year’s property tax rate, this year’s initial estimate, and the final property tax rate for 2014-15.  

Staff recommends that the following resolution be adopted so that the 2014-15 budget may be funded, as adopted.  A simple majority vote is required.      

Proposal
That the Board approve the following proposal:        

THEREFORE Be it resolved that the Board of Educational Service Unit No. 18 hereby sets the unit’s 2014-15 property tax request at a different amount from that of the 2013-14 fiscal year and that, pursuant to State Law Section 77-1601.02 and other Nebraska laws, does hereby set the 2014-15 Educational Service Unit No. 18 property tax request, including the county’s collection fee and any delinquent tax allowances, at $2,685,807.15; and  

THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that if updated valuation, budget, or other pertinent information is subsequently received by Educational Service Unit No. 18 or by Lancaster County, the unit, its administration, and the County shall adjust the property tax request to reflect the updated information pursuant to State Law Sections 77-1601 and other Nebraska laws.

Rationale:  In keeping with Policy 8420, a time limit of five minutes will be allotted for any speaker. At the discretion of the Chair, the speaker may be allotted additional time.

Rationale: 

Explanation
At this point, it is appropriate for the Board to meet in closed session for one of the stated matters and/or any other permissible closed session matters in compliance with the law.

Rationale:  The Lincoln Board of Education is authorized by state statute to hold closed sessions.  Closed sessions may be held when clearly necessary for the protection of the public interest or for the prevention of needless injury to the reputation of an individual.  Reasons that meet this standard include but are not limited to:  (a) strategy sessions with respect to collective bargaining, real estate matters, pending litigation, or litigation which is imminent as evidenced by communication of a claim or threat of litigation to or by the public body; (b) discussion regarding deployment of security personnel or devices; (c) investigative proceedings regarding allegations of criminal misconduct; (d) evaluation of the job performance of a person when necessary to prevent needless injury to the reputation of a person and if such person has not requested a public meeting; and (e) legal advice.