September 26, 2022 at 6:00 PM - Board of Education ESU 18 Special Meeting/Public Hearing

Rationale: 

Notice of the time and place of the Educational Service Unit 18 Board 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 Educational Service Unit 18 Board 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 Educational Service Unit 18 Board 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 Educational Service Unit 18 Board 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.

Rationale: 

The Governing Body of Educational Service Unit No. 18, is conducting this special public hearing pursuant to Section 77-1632 (previously 77-1601.02) and other Nebraska laws.  These laws provide that the 2022-2023 property tax request may not exceed the Educational Service Unit’s property tax request from the prior year, unless the Unit first holds a special public hearing and then passes a resolution that includes all requirements of the statutes.  The prior year’s property tax request would not correctly fund the 2022-2023 budget which is being considered for formal adoption by the Unit Governing Board on September 27, 2022.  The purpose of this special public hearing is to receive testimony on the proposed property tax request.  Any testimony received will be taken into consideration by the Unit Governing Board when action is taken to approve or modify the provided property tax request prior to October 15, 2022.  A notice of this special public hearing containing all statutory information has been published in a newspaper of general circulation in Educational Service Unit No. 18 at least four days prior to the hearing.

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.