Lakeview fears annexation

COLUMBUS -- The potential for future annexation by the City of Columbus and Columbus Public Schools raised concerns from the Lakeview Community Public Schools Board of Education Monday.

During the board meeting, Superintendent Paul Calvert relayed some of the information discussed during a meeting between representatives of Lakeview and Columbus Public Schools, which included the Columbus Public Schools valuation concerns.

Because of those concerns and the northern growth of the city, Columbus may, in the future, annex properties within the Lakeview district, which would create financial problems for the Lakeview district, Calvert said.

“There are plans for annexation to the north in the next 10-30 years,” he said. “The annexation would occur with the plans for Columbus.”

Although states surrounding Nebraska have laws on the books that keep school boundaries in place following annexation, Calvert said, Nebraska does not.

“The legislation as it is written favors metropolitan areas,” Calvert said. He said he would try to work with state legislators to see if a law can be written similar to other states’.

The board also discussed the first reading of the option enrollment policy, which would formalize the guidelines already in place.

According to the current practice, the district accepts option enrollment students, on a first come first serve basis, into classes with less than 20 students at the elementary level and less than 85 students in high school classes.

Larry Mohrman, board member, said he supported the policy because it makes it clear when the district can and can not accept non-resident students.

“Our main priority needs to be our resident students,” Mohrman said, to those families that pay taxes and contribute to the district.

Ron Keller concurred, stating, “This takes the discretion out of it, which I like.”

A second reading is expected to be held during the November meeting.

The makeup of the district for the 2009-10 school year, when the transition occurs, was discussed as preliminary planning is being conducted.

The board decided in March on a temporary junior high solution to address issues of relocating the Sunrise Elementary School students and overcrowding at Shell Creek Elementary School. Kindergarten through sixth grade students from Sunrise will be divided between the Shell Creek and Platte Center elementary schools.

The Sunrise students must be relocated before September 2009, the deadline for the district to turn over the Sunrise facility to Archer Daniels Midland Inc., which purchased the building for $500,000 and donated an additional $1 million to the district in July 2007. ADM has said it intends to use the site as an employee-training facility.

Calvert said administration and staff are currently working on what the district will look like in terms of class numbers, staffing and curriculum.

Sunrise Elementary School Principal John Mlinar said preliminary plans are to have the students living in Country View attend Platte Center Elementary School. The decision would set enrollment at 140 students for Platte Center and 160 students at Shell Creek because 80 students would be sent to Platte Center and 30 to Shell Creek.

Lakeview High School Principal Bob Arp said with the addition of the seventh and eighth grade students to the high school, it is going to create space problems that they are trying to work through.

Calvert said the district is continuing to plan and prepare for the transition and hopes to have a final blueprint available by early 2009.

“We spent time trying to address those issues and hope to continue making progress each month,” he said. “We hope to have the plan by January or February.”