The Lincoln Board of Education Tuesday evening discussed the first draft of what is called the Lincoln Public Schools Ten-Year Facility and Infrastructure Plan. This is a major work in progress that will evolve over time, and the necessity for forward planning is obvious. With more than 4,000 new students enrolled in the last five years (and many more to come), the Board of Education will spend much time analyzing and reflecting on the best strategies to develop space for learning – within available resource limitations. Living in a community that is growing at a dizzying pace, we must anticipate where growth will occur and how many classroom “seats” will be needed to continue to provide the excellent education our community expects and demands.
Meanwhile, the recent election has stirred significant concern among some individuals who are new to Lincoln as well as new to our country. Please let me assure everyone: LPS welcomes each and every child and strives to partner with parents to ensure academic progress – and we do not anticipate changes. At LPS, we will make sure our students and parents are welcomed, valued and feel safe, and we have been meeting with various groups to underline that. There may be uncertainty concerning immigration in Washington D.C., but there is stability in our school district. It is my sincere hope that we continue to welcome and educate children who come to this country to escape negative situations across the globe. They are a big part of our future.
In other news, I congratulate the Foundation for LPS on being ranked 15th in the country among school district foundations. We are fortunate to have a Foundation and a community that support our work in the classroom. It is a major reason why our school district performs so well. Thank you to Wendy Van (president of the Foundation) and her team. We are making a difference.
So far, no snow but intense cold. I keep thinking about the preliminary weather reports from this summer that indicated we could have one of the coldest winters facing us. And, believe it not, I think it would be nice to get a little snow with that cold.
Happy holidays to all,
Steve
