Questions and Answers

The Board of Education is currently forming naming committees for the high schools and will be soliciting ideas from the public in January. Recommendations from the naming committees will be presented to the Board in March or April.

One High School on NW 48th & W Holdrege, One High School at S 70th & Saltillo Rd, and One Elementary School at 102nd just south of Holdrege.

The Board of Education has a naming process outlined in policy. A community group will solicit names from the community and make a recommendation to the Board of Education.

The High School on NW 48th & W Holdredge will open in the fall of 2022 and the High School on S 70th & Saltillo will open in the fall of 2023.

Fall of 2022.

Yes, new schools increase General Fund costs. The LPS General Fund will need to cover start-up costs such as instructional materials, supplies, and staffing. Teachers traditionally move with students to the new site from existing schools. The state aid formula does provide some increased funding for new schools. In addition, state aid does fund a portion of Early Childhood.

Capacity of the current design is 240 students in an all-day program. The capacity would increase if any of the Early Childhood classes were half-day.

Potentially, if capacity is available and needs continue in nearby neighborhoods.

Not at this point.

TBD. If the existing facility has capacity for K, then they would stay there. This will need to be evaluated each year as the Arnold neighborhood grows.

Yes.

Our intentions would be to complete the roadway including LHA property as part of the project. LPS will need to work this out with the City.

An establishment cannot get a liquor license unless it is 150 feet or more from a school.

After the bond election, we’ll provide community/neighborhood input opportunities on the design/process.

Providing each and every child with an education is a foundational pillar of our country.  The Nebraska Constitution Article VII-1 states that “The Legislature shall provide for the free instruction in the common schools of this state of all persons between the ages of five and twenty-one years.”

Bond issues remain with the residence at the time of the bond issue vote. If your property was recently annexed into Lincoln and into LPS, you will pay on the Norris bonds that existed prior to the annexation and only new bond issues for LPS, post annexation. You will not pay for LPS previous bond issues from 1999, 2006, 2014, if your property was annexed after 2014. Yes, you will pay previous bond issues for Norris and the new bond issue for LPS, but not overlapping time periods.

Replacement of the current Yankee Hill Education Center building is on Tier 2 of the LPS 10-Year Facilities & Infrastructure Plan.  This means that the project is on the list for the future but is not currently funded within the scope of the 2020 bond issue.  The scope of the project would be defined at the point the project is funded.

Yes.  The next opening in the current debt schedule is the roll-off of the 2010 Build America Bonds in the Qualified Capital Purpose Undertaking Fund.  The final payment for this is due January 15, 2030.  Therefore, a new debt payment will be possible in the 2029-30 budget.  Market conditions could create an opportunity to pay off debt earlier which could create an earlier window.

The sections refer to the number of classrooms per grade level.  A four-section school has four classrooms per grade level (Kindergarten, first grade, second grade, etc.).  A six-section school has six classrooms per grade level.

The design process for the proposed high schools is just beginning.  The plan is to build comprehensive school buildings with comparable facilities to the existing six high schools, including swimming pools.

The analysis and planning for the 2020 bond issue indicates that it can be funded with no planned increase to the current combined bond and building fund levy rate based on the current district property valuation.  To determine your individual tax impact, you can take your taxable value divided by 100, multiplied by seven cents or .07. The analysis done to date for the bond issue is based on a 25-year amortization.  Should the 2020 bond pass, the market conditions at the time of issuance will determine the length of term.

The tax request for the 1999 High School Bonds and a portion of the 2014 Bond issued in 2016 will roll off in 2020-21.  Replacing the 1999 and 2016 principal and interest payments with new bond debt creates a window in 2020 to develop a plan to issue debt without a plan to raise the current bond and building fund levy rate.

The district will work through the process of establishing boundaries consistent with Board of Education policy prior to the new schools opening. The process includes community input and decisions are typically made one year prior to the opening of the new schools. Existing boundaries are continually reviewed to ensure the district is maximizing the space available in schools. These reviews will continue.

The athletic complex design and turf will be determined based on funding available. The total vision for athletics and activity complexes identified on the LPS 10-Year Facility & Infrastructure Plan totals $25 million. The bond funding proposes to fund $13 million of the $25 million. The vision is a stadium with football and track and a competition baseball field at the NW site and an investment in soccer, softball, and tennis at the SE site. In addition, the plan includes an investment in a multipurpose turf field at each of our existing sites (not Lincoln High because Beechner is already turf). The remaining funding will need to be achieved through community partnerships and fundraising OR phasing in the athletics and activities complex elements. If sufficient funding is not available at the time of construction, the new high schools may start with grass not turf fields.

The cost per $100,000 of valuation is approximately 70 dollars per year.

Both of the Park and Everett IAQs were part of a long-range plan developed in the late 1990’s to provide an extensive overhaul of all of the LPS school facilities with new HVAC (Heating, Ventilating, & Air Conditioning) systems upgrades, code upgrades (i.e., Life Safety Code, Americans w/Disability Act, International Building Codes, International Plumbing Codes, International Electrical Codes, etc.), building shell improvements (i.e., roofing, tuck-pointing, caulking & sealants, insulation, etc.), and any other maintenance-related improvements that the site/facility required, to bring them up to district standards.  Thus, the current cost.

Future IAQs that are currently listed in Tier 3 will cost less per square foot because of the ground work performed when the initial IAQs were completed.  As an example, we will not have to remove an entire roofing system and replace with new insulation and roofing, thus minimizing the cost the second time around.

Another example would be HVAC upgrades on the 2nd & 3rd Tier projects.  The original IAQs invested in new mechanical rooms, duct work, power, and plumbing with the associated equipment.  These second round IAQs will not have those same investments as a necessary component to the project scope.

This elementary school will not have a YMCA. Any future considerations for partnership with the YMCA at future sites are yet to be determined.

No. The decision regarding the need and placement of a new rec center in Lincoln should occur with the City of Lincoln Parks & Recreation Department.

There is not a new middle school in the 2020 bond plan. There is a new elementary school at 102nd and Holdredge. There are new middle schools in the district long-range 10-year plan.

The 1999 levy will go away and the 2014 bond levy will decrease.  The current general fund levy is $1.04 the maximum levy is $1.05.  The school board will determine the tax levy in future years.  The Capital Purpose levy pay for bonds for new schools build under the Federal stimulus act in 2008, it will roll off when the debt payments are done.  That fund is not set to roll off at this time.  The 2020 bond is expected to utilize the 1999 and 2014 bonds rolling off.

Constructing an athletic and activity facility on both new high school campuses is more cost-effective than one consolidated facility. This is due to the cost-savings that will occur by simultaneous design and construction with the new high schools. There will still be space at each new high school to add additional classrooms as needed.

The process of drawing attendance boundaries for new schools follows Board of Education policy which includes opportunity for community input. Decisions about boundaries are typically made one year prior to the opening of a new school. Additionally, existing boundaries are continually reviewed to ensure the district is maximizing the space available in schools. These reviews will continue.

The district looked at more than a dozen parcels in this region of the City in the search for one of this size. The first task is to find an interested seller, then an acceptable price. In addition, the location that was chosen gives developers and the City an opportunity to grow up to and around us versus constructing a high school and all that that type of complex brings within an existing neighborhood. We want to be a good neighbor to those to whom we are adjacent. Lastly, the choice took into consideration the long-term growth of the city. Four of the six existing high schools are more than 50 years old. The choice of location took into account the vision of where the city limits of Lincoln could likely be in another 50 years.

The total percentage of LPS high school students participating in the free/reduced lunch program is 42%. The percentage of participating students by grade level can be found in Table 1-23 of the LPS Statistical Handbook. The percentage of participating students by high school can be found in Table 1-27 of the LPS Statistical Handbook. The LPS Statistical Handbook can be accessed here.