{"id":258,"date":"2019-04-15T15:22:50","date_gmt":"2019-04-15T20:22:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/home.lps.org\/tac\/?p=258"},"modified":"2019-04-15T15:30:09","modified_gmt":"2019-04-15T20:30:09","slug":"summary-of-april-10-2019-meeting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/home.lps.org\/tac\/summary-of-april-10-2019-meeting\/","title":{"rendered":"Summary of April 10, 2019 Meeting"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Summary of April 10, 2019 Meeting<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The third and final Lincoln Public Schools Superintendent Teacher Advisory Council of the 2018-19 school year met Wednesday, April 10.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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General School District Update<\/span><\/p>

Connie Duncan, president of the Lincoln Board of Education:<\/h3>

\u201cWe\u2019ll be dealing with the budget throughout the summer \u2026 Nobody seems to like property taxes, but I do, because I like really good schools \u2026 I would like you all to do one thing for me: When you are out in the community, talk about LPS and invite them to take a tour of one of our schools.\u201d<\/p>

LPS Superintendent Steve Joel:<\/h3>

\u201cI think that once we return from spring break, it\u2019s a race to the end of the year\u2026. while we are also starting to plan for the next school year.\u201d<\/p>

He said that staffing looks different this year compared to previous years, because there are fewer retirements this year \u2013 and the budget is tighter than in years past. \u201cIt goes in cycles.\u201d<\/p>

Joel expressed his gratitude for a great school year: \u201cThank you for your commitment and dedication to students and teaching \u2026 I believe the coming years in education are going to be every exciting.\u201d<\/p>

Upcoming budget<\/h2>

\u201cWe will receive significantly less in state aid next year, but we likely won\u2019t have a final number until we get closer to the end of the Legislative session,\u201d Joel said. \u201cThere are many unknowns this year in the Legislature, and public schools are caught right in the middle\u2026. I would urge you all to talk to your local senators, they are strong proponents of our public schools.\u201d<\/p>

He stressed that LPS has been wise in budget forecasting and making sure there is a healthy cash balance for the leaner years.<\/p>

Superintendent\u2019s Facility Advisory Committee<\/h2>

Joel said that the big work of the school district now is the Facility Advisory Committee, made up of 100 community and school stakeholders who will consider both present and future facility and infrastructure needs looking forward over the next 7-10 years.<\/p>

He noted significant student growth over the past 5 to 10 years, especially in the six high schools that are now operating at 110 percent of capacity. \u201cThe big question has been how many high schools and where, but what emerged at the last Committee meeting \u2026 was consensus that we should be moving toward two high schools, something north and something south, only built to half capacity this time around \u2026 Buildings can be built today with seamless ways to add more space.\u201d<\/p>

He said he believes recommendations from the Facility Advisory Committee will include additional focus programs, generally housed inside existing high schools. \u201cEducation is really moving toward connecting kids to their strengths, something they can study and connect with \u2026 We as a school district must continue to prepare kids for jobs we don\u2019t even know will exist in the future \u2026 and that has meant more of an emphasis on project- and problem-based learning.\u201d<\/p>

The Committee will issue final facility recommendations by August, the Lincoln Board of Education will determine whether a bond issue will move forward in November or December, and the community will likely vote on a LPS bond issue sometime in 2020.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Questions and Answers<\/span><\/p>

The Legislature approved new legislation with a reading mandate. How will that impact LPS, and will this mean even more testing?<\/h3>

Joel and Matt Larson, associate superintendent for Instruction, said LPS officials have already started mapping out a strategy that will address the new reading legislation.<\/p>

\u201cWe would remind you that, under the School Board\u2019s direction, we have fewer assessments now than we had a few years ago \u2026 But bottom line this won\u2019t get better. We have state mandated tests that we must administer \u2026 That\u2019s the story of the environment we work in. \u201c<\/p>

Larson continued: \u201cUltimately, however, the assessment should be invisible within instruction \u2026 It should help you make better instructional decisions. Part of it is a mind shift where we don\u2019t draw a line between instruction and assessment. Assessment should be a tool that helps you be a more effective teacher. Assessment should help your instructional practice.\u201d<\/p>

Our enrollment growth slowed last year, is that expected to continue \u2013 and are there fewer kids attending kindergarten next year?<\/h3>

Joel: \u201cI think we need several more years to monitor what will happen with our student growth, but yes, next year we are only predicting 350 to 400 more students than this year.\u201d<\/p>

The kindergarten question, however, is a different question. This year LPS is asking families to sign up for kindergarten online, and that is a cultural change that will take some time for families to adjust \u2013 so the kindergarten numbers are merely coming in slower than in previous years.<\/p>

Are we going to lose federal dollars for support of our Title I schools?<\/h3>

Joel: \u201cThere is plenty of anxiety and national trends in education right now, with threats to decrease federal dollars.\u201d<\/p>

He predicted that much of the conversation is politics and rhetoric, and that Title I schools are fairly safe. \u201cAt the end of the day, you would have trouble getting senators to cut educational funding for marginalized populations.\u201d<\/p>

He added he is more concerned about the possible advent of charters and vouchers on the state level, particularly pointing out proposed legislation that would allow tax credits. \u201cCharters and vouchers start with tax credits \u2026 There are people who are very motivated to chip away at public education.\u201d<\/p>

Council tabletop conversation<\/h2>

Joel asked Council members to have conversations, asking: \u201cAt a classroom level, how do you try and ensure equity in your classroom?\u201d<\/p>

  • \u201cI think the great definer is actually having a goal, a definite learning goal \u2013 so there is complete understanding that we all need to get to the same place.\u201d<\/li>
  • \u201cYou need to know your students at an individual level \u2026. You need to get out into their world and understand them better, understand how they learn \u2026 and what they\u2019re going through \u2026 We need to be aware of student needs. We need to understand that kids need shoes and food before they will learn \u2026 What barriers are in place?\u201d<\/li>
  • \u201cUnderstanding unique student needs may happen more easily at the elementary or middle school level \u2026 It\u2019s harder in high school to know the struggles our students have. \u2026 We don\u2019t know all their stories.\u201d<\/li>
  • \u201cWe definitely need smaller class sizes with students with more needs \u2026 That can be a great equalizer.\u201d<\/li>
  • \u201cI do think equity comes from some building control \u2026 You know your kids, and as a leader it is powerful to be able to distribute points in ways that meet your individual needs \u2026 I think sometimes that\u2019s what makes us feel like a smaller school district.\u201d<\/li><\/ul>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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    LPS Superintendent Steve Joel welcomed everyone to the group Wednesday, thanked them for their time \u2013 and encouraged Council members to talk with other educators in their building for questions and feedback. \u201cYou are my teacher ears and eyes at the building level,\u201d Joel said. \u201cPlease consider what you need to know, and what I need to know as superintendent. We are open to suggested presentations and great conversation material \u2013 it\u2019s a wide-open array of topics.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_header_footer","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-meeting-summaries"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/home.lps.org\/tac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/home.lps.org\/tac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/home.lps.org\/tac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/home.lps.org\/tac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/home.lps.org\/tac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=258"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/home.lps.org\/tac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":264,"href":"https:\/\/home.lps.org\/tac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258\/revisions\/264"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/home.lps.org\/tac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/home.lps.org\/tac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/home.lps.org\/tac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}