Water Conservation in Response to March 2019 Flooding

Lincoln Public Schools Families,

We have been fortunate here in Lincoln that we are not seeing the flooding and devastation that many areas in our state are facing. However, the City of Lincoln is experiencing a challenging situation with the depletion of our water supply due to the impact of recent flooding on the water treatment plant near Ashland.

We want you to know that our Lincoln Public Schools community is immediately embracing the city guidelines: Limiting our water use whenever and wherever we can. LPS is serious about being a good citizen of this community, while making sure quality teaching and learning continues.

We want to stress: Our water is still safe to drink. But this is an opportunity for Lincoln Public Schools to lead the way in resourceful and appropriate water conservation during the Level Two mandatory water restriction imposed by city officials.

As fourth quarter begins, we will continue with quality teaching and learning in our schools.

Our Steps

At the same time, until further notice, here are steps we are taking immediately to reduce the amount of water use:

• We are in the process of distributing disposable dishes to our schools this morning and will use disposables to serve all meals, significantly easing the need for washing dishes. We will continue to serve regular school breakfast and lunch.
• This is the perfect teachable moment for all our students. We are talking to children of all ages, encouraging them to limit use of faucets and drinking water – only when necessary – while making sure we continue sanitary practices.
• We also suggest that students be thoughtful when using drinking fountains. Flooding victims and communities experiencing tragedy should have priority on bottled water, so we will not be providing bottled water at this time.
• Our custodial staff are adjusting their cleaning practices to maintain safe conditions while using sanitizing products instead of water whenever possible.
• We will not wash any LPS vehicles at this time.

Lincoln Public Schools is proud to be a part of this amazing community and we promise to do our part in taking care of our neighbors. We hope the entire community of Lincoln joins us in our efforts to conserve water at this very important time. For more information from the city about what we can do at home, please check out their webpage.

Sincerely,
Steve Joel
Superintendent