Papillion La Vista board reviews 2025–26 budget plan, ratifies maintenance contract and discusses parcel near Anderson Grove

The Papillion La Vista Community Schools Board of Education on Aug. 11 received a detailed preview of the district'025'6 budget and property-tax schedule, ratified a tentative agreement with maintenance staff and discussed a 1.17-acre strip of land adjacent to Anderson Grove Elementary School.

Superintendent Dr. Wrigley opened the meeting with back-to-school remarks, noted the district'019s opening of a new young-adult transition program facility and thanked staff and community partners including the United Way of the Midlands for the Shine Bright hygiene-kit initiative. "We are welcoming back our students to the 2025'6 school year," the superintendent said, and reminded families that the first day would be a half day for some grade levels.

At the meeting's core was a presentation by Brett Richards on the district'019s preliminary budget and tax parameters for 2025'6. Richards said the district proposes a 2.6% increase in the general fund, bringing that fund to $169,816,374, and expects total revenues and expenditures near $154.2 million. The county'019s preliminary valuation showed a 7.6% increase, Richards said, and the district is projecting a 2.75% increase in state foundation aid compared with the previous year.

Richards outlined the calendar for adoption and hearings: the board will consider an increased base-growth percentage resolution on Aug. 25; a formal budget presentation and public hearing is set for Sept. 8; the Sarpy County tax hearing will be Sept. 18 (Bellevue University Hitchcock Center); the district hearing and budget adoption is Sept. 22; and the tax-request adoption is scheduled for Oct. 13.

Budget drivers Richards highlighted include projected labor-package increases (an estimated 4% total including benefits), a 5.4% rise in health-insurance costs, added costs for a new SRO sergeant position, rising costs for Tier 3 alternative-placement services, increased transportation and activity-related costs, and startup operations costs tied to a new elementary school planned to open in 2026'7. Richards said the district intends to ask the board for authority to increase local revenue above the 3% revenue cap set in state law; a governor-backed change allows districts to seek up to an additional 4% in certain years. "The 4% revenue will give the district access to another 5.6 plus million. We won't ask for that much," Richards said, and the staff currently plans to propose a smaller increase (Richards indicated roughly 2.5% as a working estimate while the board will consider up to 3% in the resolution).

On federal allocations, Richards reported a change in Title I allotment: the district'019s Title I funding for 2025'6 is preliminarily $441,000 after a one-year increase to about $991,000 in 2024'5; Richards said the district may be on the border of eligibility in the poverty-count formula used by the Nebraska Department of Education.

The board took several formal actions by roll call vote. The consent agenda was approved (motion by Skip Bailey; second by Mr. Madler). The board ratified a tentative negotiated agreement with maintenance staff represented by SEIU Local 226 for the 2025'6 and 2026'7 contract years; the tentative agreement reflects a wage increase Richards summarized as about 3.94% in the first year and roughly 3.8% in the second year (motion to ratify by a board member; second recorded). The board also acknowledged its annual review of the 7000-series construction-related policies; Richards noted the district mirrors the state statute on the design-professional threshold, which this year is $144,000 for projects requiring architects and engineers. All three motions passed on recorded roll-call votes with the board members present voting yes.

In discussion items, the board reviewed a proposed transaction involving a roughly 1.17-acre strip of district-owned land east of Anderson Grove Elementary. Richards presented a developer'019s site plan for a three-level senior-living facility and said the developer intends to build on the upper portion of the combined site; the lower level of the parcel would be held by the developer but not developed initially. Richards told the board the access drive is planned from 306th Street and that the developer indicated the project should not affect school traffic.

The board moved several agenda items to future meetings because of an upcoming closed session. Members then voted to enter executive closed session to discuss a legal matter in order "to protect the public interest and to protect the reputation of individuals," per the motion carried by roll call.

The meeting included multiple committee and board-member reports, including updates on NASB workshops, a legislative committee meeting, an upcoming school-financing-review commission meeting to be streamed on the Nebraska Department of Education YouTube channel and preliminary planning for a district trip to Washington, D.C., in April.

Votes at a glance: the consent agenda, the maintenance-staff tentative agreement with SEIU Local 226 (approved), the district acknowledgment of review of the 7000-series construction policies (acknowledged), and the motion to enter executive closed session (approved).

While the board discussed budget parameters and asked staff to refine numbers ahead of August and September hearings, no final tax-request or budget-adoption votes were taken at this meeting.