June 13, 2018 at 5:00 PM - Board of Education Special Meeting/Retreat

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 2017-18 Board of Education and Superintendent’s Annual Goals and Priorities were adopted on August 8, 2018, and the achievement data is included under each item.

1. By 2019, develop, implement, and sustain district initiatives that result in an increased graduation rate, with a goal of 90% on-time graduates that are career and college ready.

December 2017 Press Release:
The high school graduation rate for the LPS class of 2017 decreased slightly, from 85.6 to 85.2 percent, statistically staying flat.  LPS actually had more graduates than ever in 2017: 2,032 compared to 1,955 the year before.  The percent of dropouts has remained constant (6.2 percent), while the percent of students continuing in school to work toward graduation after four years has increased (8.2 percent for 2016, 8.6 percent for 2017).

LPS has long focused on the goal of making sure students are college and career ready.  In fact 68 percent of LPS students in the class of 2016 went on to attend college - and 92 percent of LPS students who enrolled in a four-year college continued into their sophomore year

Summaries of each achievement area:
English Language Arts (ELA), grades 3-6:
In all grades, the percent of LPS students proficient on NeSA-ELA exceeds the state average.

• 7 points higher in 3rd grade
• 9 points higher in 4th grade
• 7 points higher in 5th grade
• 8 points higher in 6th grade

2017 is the first year the NeSA-ELA assessment has been given. The design of the assessment has changed and scores on the NeSA-ELA should not be compared to scores from previous years on the NeSA-R.  Next year students will take a different assessment, the NSCAS.

ELA grades 7, 8 and 11
In grades 7 and 8, the percentage of LPS students proficient on NeSA-ELA exceeded the state average (6 points higher in 7^th grade and 7 points higher in 8^th grade)

In grade 11, the percentage of LPS students "On Track" or "Meeting" expectations on the ACT exceeded the state average
Science:
Elementary curriculum enhancements showed evidence of effectiveness in fifth grade during the 2016-17 school year, coming within one percent of the highest all time score over six years of the test.

The high score occurred while all students were using a new science curriculum for the first time in fifth grade only, while the test covers material over three years of instruction.

In fifth grade, the percent of LPS students proficient on NeSA-S rose steadily from 2012 to 2014 and then became relatively stable in 2013-14, and have maintained.

Middle schools met state average in 8^th grade

2016-2017 was the first year ACT-S was given in place of NeSA-S for LPS juniors - and they exceeded the state average on the ACT science by two percent proficient.
Math:
In grades 3-8, the percent of LPS students proficient on the NeSA-M exceeds the state average in every grade.  

Results of first year of using ACT scores for 11^th grade achievement indicate the school district is above the state average.

2. By December 15, 2017, adopt a Strategic Plan, and provide regular progress reports to the Board of Education commencing in 2018.

The 2022 Strategic Plan was adopted December 12, 2017, and progress reports are schedule to begin in the fall of 2018.

Vision Statement: The overarching vision of Lincoln Public Schools is to prepare ALL students to be college, career, and civic-life ready with a goal of 90% on-time graduation.
Strategic Themes:

• Future Ready Global Citizens
• Support Academic Success for All Students
• Support for Educators
• Family & Community Partnerships
• Growth Ready Facilities & Infrastructure

3. Establish the Superintendent's High School Task Force to investigate community options and priorities for serving high school students and make recommendations by May 1, 2018.

The Superintendent's High School Task Force recommendations where presented on April 24, 2018.

Summary of Committee Recommendations:
Comprehensive High School:

• Design comprehensive high schools with agile spaces (classrooms, core spaces, learning areas, commons areas) to accommodate student and staff collaboration.
• Design comprehensive high schools to provide accessibility for a variety of student and community needs (student/family needs, restroom considerations, community partners, mental health, full-service -community agencies).
• Seek further feedback from students, parents, community, and community organizations that use LPS facilities about the interests, usage, activities, design, and type of school desired.

• Create alternative options to completing high school credit requirements with a focus on career skills, college readiness, and civic-life readiness.
• Allow for flexibility between paths without impacting credit and completion.
• Enhance existing programs to add more diversity and choice options to account for multiple layers of participation (skills exposure, skill development, certification, etc.).
• Redesign a district choice model that transitions the concept of a single pathway to a wheel model, implying more opportunities for pursuing areas of interest, taking a variety of courses, and making connections to career and college opportunities.

• Continue to provide transportation to focus programs and The Career Academy to ensure programs are accessible to all students. Should additional specialized programs be developed, transportation should be provided and be equitable for all programs.
• A comprehensive high school should be built to serve as a full-service community school with space for mental health and other student and family services.
• All school facilities should include expressive spaces where the culture of students and the community can be reflected, expressed, and honored.

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.