In the official proceedings of the Sandy Creek and Lawrence-Nelson school board special meetings held on Sept. 12 and published in the Sept. 22 edition of the Nuckolls County Locomotive-Gazette, it was reported the boards unanimously passed resolutions regarding the linked unification agreements. Those few lines in the official proceedings made reference to some big changes coming for the 2024 school year but did not give a hint as to what the changes might be.
What really happened is that both the Sandy Creek and Lawrence-Nelson school boards voted unanimously to not continue the unification agreement which has linked the two schools since the 1990s.
When first adopted, the agreement linked the Guide Rock, Superior, Lawrence, Nelson and Sandy Creek school districts and thus the name of South Central Unified District 5.
Since that agreement was made, the Guide Rock and Superior districts merged and withdrew from the unification. The Lawrence and Nelson districts also merged but stayed with SCUD until now. When Sandy Creek and Clay Center districts merged the former Clay Center district became part of SCUD 5.
What is now known as Sandy Creek was formed in 1967 and includes several former Clay County districts including Deweese, Edgar, Fairfeld, Clay Center and Glenvil.
In more recent times the unified district discussed the closure of the schools in Lawrence and Nelson,
This week the following story about the special meetings is posted on both the Sandy Creek and Lawrence-Nelson school websites. It was written by Rita Brhel, a reporter for the Clay County News.
Come May 2024, Sandy Creek and Lawrence-Nelson public schools will go their separate ways as their individual school boards allow the current unification agreement to expire.
Lawrence-Nelson’s Board of Education met Sept. 14, at the L-N High School, in Nelson, to vote on a linked resolution regarding the unification agreement. The motion to approve the resolution was made by Becky Miller and seconded by Philip Brockman, both of Lawrence. The motion carried at a vote of 6-0.
Sandy Creek’s Board of Education met at L-N High School immediately following the adjournment of L-N’s board. The motion to approve the linked resolution was made by Chad Dane, of Clay Center, and seconded by Ryan Petr, of Glenvil. The motion carried at a vote of 6-0.
Sandy Creek’s Board also discussed closing the Highway 14 pedestrian underpass at the Clay Center school site. Julie Otero, South Central Nebraska Unified School District #5 superintendent, explained the Nebraska Department of Transportation contacted Sandy Creek asking to replace the underpass with above-ground crosswalk lights, pending approval by the City of Clay Center. The motion to close the underpass was made by Brian Shaw, of Fairfield, and seconded by Dane. The motion carried at a vote of 6-0.
The unified board of education, which consists of both the Sandy Creek and Lawrence-Nelson individual school boards, met at high school in Nelson immediately following the close of the Sandy Creek board meeting and held a public hearing on the then-proposed 2022-23 budget for the unified district, as well as the levy. Two members of the public addressed the board with concerns about their property taxes.
Dane made the motion, which was seconded by Phil Janda of Lawrence, to approve the 2022-23 General Fund of $11,316,982 for the unified district. This represents a 5 percent increase in the operating budget over the 2021-22 school year. The motion carried 12-0.
Donita Furman, of Clay Center, made the motion to approve the 2022-23 property tax request for the unified district. Shaw seconded. The motion carried 12-0. Petr then made the motion, seconded by Miller, to set the property tax request. The motion carried 12-0.
The 2022-23 tax request for the unified district is $0.785439, a 1-percent reduction since the 2021-22 tax request.
The elementary school is located in Lawrence and the high school in Nelson, Last year the high school enrollment was 74 with 7.9 full-time teachers according to a report published by High Schools.com. Niche.com reports 91 students in pre-K through grade 5 with a student teacher ration of 9:1.
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