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LAUREL — The rising cost of food has forced the Laurel-Concord- Coleridge school to raise lunch prices.
LCC Supt. Jeremy Christensen proposed to raise the school lunch amount by five cents. Christensen told Board members on June 9 the school is still well within the “middle” of pricing compared to other local public schools.
“We did a study among area school districts. We were very much in the middle in terms of overall cost for breakfast and lunch prices,” said Christensen. “The three schools that were lower than us, in terms of prices, all three are doing a 25 to 30 cent increase.”
The new pricing will not be applied to milk and juice. The Board also discussed cell phones in school. The Nebraska legislature recently “banned” the use of cell phones in schools, leaving little wiggle room for school boards to make new policies. Christensen said their previous policy already aligns with the new law.
The school will require phones to be in backpacks or lockers for the school day and only be allowed if an instructor is using them for a class.
In their June 9 meeting, the school board also approved extensive sick leave for a teacher who had used all their paid time off an d applied all given “sick pool” days. Teachers can donate two of their 12 sick days to the sick pool, which is used to cover another teacher when they take extended leave for medical purposes.
Due to the technology support teacher leaving, and receiving no applicants for the position, the board approved to work with the Education Services Unit, or ESU 1, to fill the position. The board approved two contracts with the ESU, one covering from now through December and the other covering the rest of the school year. Each on-site day is $525, but problems with their tech support that can be fixed remotely are also covered in the on-site cost. Christiansen said they will likely save money on this contract because the school does not contribute to the benefits that are associated with typical employment.
“At least for this year, this is a substantial cost savings for our school district, because … we’re not paying any extra for health insurance, or those sorts of things,” said Christensen.
Legislation has been passed that requires updates to the schools’ handbook and board policies. Slight word changes and phrasing were included in the estimated 18 changes. Many of the word changes include adding military status as a non-discriminatory group.
Near the end of the school year, only two people tried out for the cheer team, said Christensen. According to the school’s policy and the superintendent, an organization or team can only be recognized with a minimum of four members. This results in there being no cheer team expected for the upcoming school year. Interest will be considered again at the beginning of the fall to see if there might be more participants, said Christensen.
The dance team, however, will continue as they attend their summer camps, said Christensen.
