Lincoln Board approves staff contracts, community learning center agreements, annexation and annual goals

The Lincoln Board of Education on Tuesday approved multiple consent and action items including tentative agreements with the Maintenance Employees Association and the Transportation Employees Association, renewed Community Learning Center contracts with nine lead agencies, adopted legislative guidelines and the board and superintendent annual goals, and approved newly annexed property to the city of Lincoln.

The board opened with ceremonial recognitions for two district leaders and then moved through the consent agenda and a series of motions that were voted on by roll call.

Board action highlights

- Maintenance and transportation agreements: Blake Simpson, director of employee relations, told the board the district had "reached a tentative agreement with both of those" employee groups and asked the board to waive second reading so the agreements could be completed in one reading. The board voted to waive second reading and approve the proposed agreements for the 2025-26 school year.

- Community Learning Center (CLC) contracts: The board approved annual contracts with nine CLC lead agencies that collectively serve 31 schools. The presenter said contract amounts vary by number of schools and students served and that the contracts cover all funds routed through Lincoln Public Schools for the CLCs, including 21st Century Community Learning Centers funding, Safe and Successful Kids interlocal funds, Title I, and other district-managed sources. One board member abstained on the vote; the remainder voted to approve.

- Newly annexed property: The board approved item 10.1 0.1, a resolution listing newly annexed property to the city of Lincoln; the item includes properties near Wysaukee (sic) Moore and Standing Bear and is close to the Grandview site.

- Legislative guidelines and annual goals: The board approved the districtlegislative guidelines for the coming session and adopted the 2025-26 board and superintendent annual goals and priorities after a brief discussion about aligning those goals with the district strategic plan.

- Ceremonial recognitions: The board passed resolutions congratulating Josh Jones, director of the Career Academy, for receiving the Nebraska Educators Rising Administrator of the Year award, and Sue Kasada, principal of Standing Bear High School, for being named Region 1 High School Principal of the Year by the Nebraska State Association of Secondary School Principals.

Votes at a glance

- Tentative agreements with Maintenance Employees Association and Transportation Employees Association (waive second reading and approve): approved by roll call. - Community Learning Center agreements (nine lead agencies): approved by roll call; one abstention recorded. - Resolution congratulating Josh Jones: approved by roll call. - Resolution congratulating Sue Kasada: approved by roll call. - Approval of newly annexed property to the city of Lincoln (10.1 0.1): approved by roll call. - Legislative guidelines (10.1 0.2): adopted by roll call. - Board and superintendent annual goals and priorities (2025-26): adopted by roll call. - Consent agenda (item 8): approved by roll call; one member declared a potential conflict and abstained on a single subitem identified in a separate conflict statement.

What the board said

Blake Simpson summarized the labor agreements and asked the board to expedite approval: "I am pleased to share that we have reached a tentative agreement with both of those. I would ask that we would waive a second a second reading and get this completed tonight in 1 reading so that we can move forward as we begin the new school year." (Blake Simpson, director of employee relations)

On CLC contracts, a district presenter explained the contracts cover district-managed funding streams and that two new schools, Meadow Lane and Roper, were added to the CLC umbrella for the year.

Context and next steps

Most items approved are routine annual actions that allow the district to continue operations and programming into the new school year: labor agreements to set terms for maintenance and transportation staff, contracts to run after-school programming, and an intergovernmental acknowledgment of annexed property. The SRO interlocal agreement with the city of Lincoln was discussed in detail and scheduled for a later vote after an annual program review; that agreement was not finalized at this meeting.

The board scheduled follow-up items and program reviews where applicable (for example, the school resource officer program receives an annual in-depth review in November).