September 9, 2025 at 6:00 PM - Board of Education Regular Meeting

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. The Lincoln Board of Education shall also make available for examination and copying as requested by members of the public, at least one copy of all reproducible written materials to be discussed at the meeting.

The Board believes public attendance and participation, when appropriate to the business at hand, is beneficial to the work of the Board and models the importance of civic engagement and civil discourse to the community’s children, but it cannot impede the Board from completing the business of the meeting. 

In keeping with Board Policy 8420 and Neb Statute 84-1412(3), the Lincoln Board of Education has established these reasonable regulations to conduct Public Comment::

• Abiding by time limits
• Refraining from applauding, cheering, jeering, or engaging in speech that defames any individual(s), or stymies or blocks meeting progress;
• Refraining from the use of audio recordings, video recordings, or any digital still images, posters, signs, costumes, other props and/or photographs
• Refraining from abusive, disruptive or threatening language or gestures, and
• Staying in the areas identified by the Board as reserved for the public.

If at any time persons appearing before the Board do not comply with these or any other Board requirements, it shall be the responsibility of the chair to declare that person or persons out of order and require a change in behavior, delay or recess the meeting, or refuse permission to continue to address the Board, and ultimately may require the person or persons to leave the premises of the Board meeting.

The Human Resources Division also includes the Office of Risk Management.  As such, in addition to the Lincoln Board of Education approving all contractual agreements with employees, all employee benefit issues, all personnel actions, and all other matters within the scope of the Human Resources Division, as part of the Human Resources Matters agenda, the Lincoln Board of Education also must approve the settlement of Workers’ Compensation claims, take action on tort claims filed against the district, and take action on all other matters within the scope of the Office of Risk Management.

Explanation:
This report includes routine human resources changes:

a. Administrator Employees
         Elections - 1

b. Certificated Employees:
         Elections - 3
         Leave of Absence - 1 
         Separations - 2

c. Certificated Substitute Employees:
         Elections - 57
         Separations - 1

d.  Classified Employees:
          Elections  - 41
          Separations - 34

e. Employment of Family Member - 1

f. Civic Leave - 1

g. Proposed removal of the "Interim" Title and Contract with LPS Superintendent

Proposal:
That the Board approve the Human Resources items presented in the attachment(s).*

1. That the following is the Board’s estimate of the total amount under its adopted budget statement to be received by the district from taxation of the taxable property within the school district for the fiscal year beginning September 1, 2025, and ending August 31, 2026, namely:

2. That the County Commissioners of Lancaster County be requested and directed to levy and collect for said mentioned purposes the tax rate necessary to produce $399,364,001, after the county’s tax collection fee has been deducted, the same as other property taxes are levied and collected.

3. That the officers of the Board be directed to report the action of the Board of Education to the County Commissioners of Lancaster County (in their capacity as the levying board) and to the Auditor of Public Accounts not later than September 30, 2025, in accordance with State Law Section 13-508 R.R.S. Neb., and that the officers be further directed to report the action of the Board to the Lancaster County Clerk in accordance with State Law Section 79-1083 R.R.S. Neb.

4. That the 2025-26 budget as presented and all supporting documents (copies of which are on file with official district records and which are hereby incorporated herein by this reference as though set forth in full) as developed by the administration are hereby approved and adopted.

5. That the administration is hereby authorized to take all action necessary to implement the adopted budget herein, and to make any necessary changes or adjustments as required by Nebraska laws to properly reflect such adopted budget statement hereby approved, due to assessed valuation certifications or re-certifications or such other matters which require necessary fiscal adjustments to complete the budgeting process for the 2025-26 fiscal year adopted budget and budget statement hereby approved.

6. That the officers of the Board be directed to make and deliver to the County Clerk, not later than September 30, 2025, the approved itemized estimate of the amounts necessary and period of years to repay the principal and interest on bonds issued in accordance with § 79-10,110, et. seq., and other laws.

7. That in accordance with Section 003.04C of Title 92, Nebraska Administrative Code, Chapter 2, Section 79-1070 R.R.S. Neb., and other Nebraska laws and regulations, the Board authorizes that at any time during the 2025-26 school fiscal year there is temporarily insufficient money in any of the particular funds detailed in section 1 of this resolution, or in any of the funds of a "blended component unit" of the district as such term is defined in the Governmental Accounting Standards Board Statement 14, the Associate Superintendent for Business Affairs or a designee may transfer money from other funds to such fund, such transfer to be considered a loan subject to repayment as soon as funds are available to do so.

Periodically, new circumstances or changes in legislation or regulations from the state or federal government requires the school district to make a number of updates to align existing policy without changing the original leadership or organizational intent of the Board. Other changes are recommended to update policy language with current district practices. When the Board has a number of such policies to revise, it collects them into a single Board agenda item.

Policies and regulations have been updated as follows:

Policy 4000 has been updated to reflect that Employee Wellness is a function of the Human Resources Division.

Policies 4210, 4300 and 4880 have been updated to include "military" as well as "veteran status" to comply with the Nebraska Fair Employment Practices Act to include "military" status as a protected class for certain individuals. 

Policy 4520 has been changed to reflect the current District practice of publishing a single Employee Handbook, rather than employee handbooks specific to employee groups.

Policy 4640 has been changed to clarify that "[r]egular, dependable, in-person attendance is an essential function of every position in Lincoln Public Schools."

Policy 4930 has been updated to eliminate outdated areas of emphasis for staff professional development. 

Editorial changes were made to Policies 4220, 4510, 4600, 4650 and 4790.

The following policies are submitted for affirmation as written and do not require revisions: 

4100, 4200, 4310, 4320, 4330, 4340, 4400, 4420, 4500, 4610, 4615, 4620, 4630, 4660, 4670, 4680, 4690, 4700, 4710, 4720, 4730, 4740, 4750, 4760, 4770, 4772, 4775, 4780, 

4800, 4810, 4820, 4825, 4830, 4840, 4850, 4860, 4865, 4870, 4885, 4890, 4900, 4910, 4920, 4940, 4950, 4960, and 4970.

These recommended changes have been approved by legal counsel.

The Board believes public attendance and participation, when appropriate to the business at hand, is beneficial to the work of the Board and models the importance of civic engagement and civil discourse to the community’s children, but it cannot impede the Board from completing the business of the meeting. 

In keeping with Board Policy 8420 and Neb Statute 84-1412(3), the Lincoln Board of Education has established these reasonable regulations to conduct Public Comment::

• Abiding by time limits
• Refraining from applauding, cheering, jeering, or engaging in speech that defames any individual(s), or stymies or blocks meeting progress;
• Refraining from the use of audio recordings, video recordings, or any digital still images, posters, signs, costumes, other props and/or photographs
• Refraining from abusive, disruptive or threatening language or gestures, and
• Staying in the areas identified by the Board as reserved for the public.

If at any time persons appearing before the Board do not comply with these or any other Board requirements, it shall be the responsibility of the chair to declare that person or persons out of order and require a change in behavior, delay or recess the meeting, or refuse permission to continue to address the Board, and ultimately may require the person or persons to leave the premises of the Board meeting.

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.