July 29th Monthly Update

Translations: Arabic | Karen | Spanish | Vietnamese

Lincoln Public Schools Families,

While COVID-19 remains prevalent, we have more resources to reduce the severity and risk of spread. These include vaccines and boosters and understanding more about the transmission of COVID-19. This year’s Safe Return to School Plan considers these factors as we prepare for the upcoming school year. Please read the plan carefully as there are a number of changes. In addition, we will continue to work collaboratively with the Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department to address any change in community conditions or outbreaks.

We are also including other important information and reminders as we approach the first day of school. To help keep you informed, we will continue with monthly update emails on the last Friday of each month throughout the school year. This is a change from last year’s weekly emails. We will communicate with you immediately if anything should change.

In This Message...

Updated Safe Return to School Plan

The complete updated Safe Return to School Plan can be found on our website: lps.org/safereturn. Highlights and changes in the plan include:

Face Coverings

Face coverings remain OPTIONAL for everyone inside all LPS buildings and on all LPS buses. Individuals may wear a face covering based on their personal preference, and informed by their vaccination status and personal level of risk. Anyone who wants to wear a face covering while in our schools is welcomed to do so. 

LPS may adjust face covering protocols as necessary after consultation with the Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department (LLCHD).  During the school year, face covering requirements may change for a specific school building, program, classroom or setting based on the number of positive cases, outbreaks, community conditions or risk of spread. We are taking a targeted approach to best address conditions and outbreaks.

Self-screening, Testing, Reporting

Students and visitors entering any LPS facility are expected to conduct a self-screening for COVID-19 symptoms every day prior to arriving.

Every day ask yourself or your student the following screening questions prior to entering an LPS building:

Do you have any of the following symptoms?

  • Fever of over 100.4
  • Cough
  • Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
  • Muscle or body aches
  • New onset of loss of taste or smell
  • Sore throat
  • Diarrhea

If you answered YES, do not go into an LPS building. Instead:

  • Self-isolate immediately.
  • Contact your healthcare provider or seek medical care.
  • Get tested for COVID-19.
  • Families of students need to contact the school to report the absence. 

Get tested for COVID-19

  • Bryan Health
  • CHI
  • Nomi Health
  • Nebraska DHHS
  • Your healthcare provider
  • Order your free home COVID test by going to covidtests.gov to place an order. 
  • Several pharmacies including CVS, HyVee and Walgreens along with other health care provider offices and urgent care clinics also offer testing. If a person is uninsured or underinsured, they can call the COVID-19 hotline at 402-441-8006 and the Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department will connect them to testing resources.

Students who test positive for COVID-19

Students who test positive for COVID-19 should notify the school health office as soon as possible and follow directions provided. 

Quarantine and Exclusion

Lincoln Public Schools will continue to follow policies and protocols around illnesses as found on page 13 in the Important Information Handbook. In addition, LPS established the following requirements in consultation with and at the direction of the Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department.

Exclusion from an LPS building for illness

Following LPS policies around illnesses, if an individual has any symptoms the following is required before they can return:

  • The individual must be fever free for 24 hours without the use of medications.
  • The rash must be gone or there is a note from a medical provider which says the rash is not contagious to others.
  • The eyes are clear, with no drainage or a medical provider’s note stating the individual is not contagious.
  • No vomiting or diarrhea for 24 hours.
  • Persistent cough is resolved without the aid of cough suppressant medication.
  • Or the individual must have a note stating medical clearance from a health care provider.

Isolation and Quarantine

Each case is unique and needs to be addressed individually. This chart provides general guidelines around isolation.

Individuals who test positive for COVID-19 are expected to stay home for 5 days from the date obvious symptoms appeared (fever, cough, sore throat, muscle pain, diarrhea, loss of taste or smell) or the date the COVID-19 test was taken. Individuals who test positive for COVID-19 can return on day six if they have been fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication and have symptom improvement. Individuals shall wear a face covering for an additional 5 days when they return.

Individuals who are exposed to COVID-19 through a close contact are expected to wear a face covering for 10 days after the close contact and should seek testing 5 days after the exposure. A close contact is someone who was less than 6 feet away from an individual who tests positive for COVID-19 for a cumulative of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period.

Communication About Positive Cases

Starting August 15, anyone interested will be able to view the weekly total of positive COVID-19 cases identified in each building and across Lincoln Public Schools with the COVID-19 dashboard provided online. The information will be updated daily. We will no longer send out daily emails to staff and families about positive COVID-19 cases in buildings.

REMINDER: Complete the online enrollment verification

If you haven’t already, please verify your child’s information online through the parent portal, ParentVUE. This includes updating contact and emergency information, signing consent release forms, etc. We would appreciate you completing/updating the information before the first day of school. Note: this process is to be completed each year.

Please visit https://synergyvue.lps.org/ to access and log in to your ParentVUE account. Once you have logged in, select the Online Registration button in the upper right corner, and follow the prompts to update and verify your information. It is important that you complete this task as soon as possible. 

If you have previously used your ParentVUE account, but can’t remember your password, you can reset it online at https://synergyvue.lps.org/. If you have not yet activated your LPS ParentVUE account, please contact the main office of your child’s school for instructions and an activation key.  

If you have questions or need help with completing these steps, please contact your child’s school.

Sign up to receive text messages from your child’s school

In addition to receiving phone and email messages, you can sign up to receive notifications from your child’s school via text messaging when available.

What you need to do:

While verifying your child’s information through Online Registration in ParentVue, make sure your cell phone number is correctly listed and the Text Communication option is marked YES.

REMINDER: Free and Reduced Lunch Applications Due

The federal program that allowed Lincoln Public Schools to serve school meals at no charge to all students ended. Because the program ended, we are encouraging all* families to fill out the Free and Reduced meal application online as soon as possible. 

*Please note: If your family has been recently notified of Direct Certification Approval for the 2022-2023 school year, a Free and Reduced Meal application is not needed.

This application must be completed each year in order for families to qualify for free or reduced school meals. Families who do not complete the application will be charged normal meal prices for any school meals their child eats.

You can go to our website to fill out this quick and easy online application. If you do not have access to the online application, you can go to your child’s school office and pick up a paper application.

Additional information about Free and Reduced meals is on our website: https://home.lps.org/ns/free-reduced. If you have any questions, please call (402)436-1747 or email us at freeandreduced@lps.org.

Student Calendar

You can find an updated student calendar on our website.

August 15 – early release for all students

  • Elementary: First day of school for all students grades Kindergarten-5
  • Middle School: First day of school for all students in grade 6. NO CLASSES for students in grades 7-8.
  • High School: First day of school for all students in grade 9. NO CLASSES for students in grades 10-12.

August 16 & 17- early release for all students

  • Elementary: Classes in session for all students grades Kindergarten-5
  • Middle School: Classes in session for all students in grades 6-8
  • High School: Classes in session for all students in grades 9-12

August 18

  • First day of classes for all preschool students.
  • Elementary: Classes in session for all students grades Kindergarten-5
  • Middle School: Classes in session for all students in grades 6-8
  • High School: Classes in session for all students in grades 9-12

August 30

  • Early release for all students grades K-12 (check your school’s calendar for specific times)
  • NO CLASSES for preschool students.

Resources for families​

If you are in crisis and need immediate assistance, these services are available any time of the day or night, any day of the week:

  • CDCs How Right Now: website with resources and tips
  • CenterPointe Helpline (Lincoln): 402-475-6695
  • Nebraska Family Helpline: 1-888-866-8660
  • National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 9-8-8 or 1-800-273-8255
  • Your Life Your Voice (Boys Town)  1-800-448-3000 or text VOICE to 20121 (text charges from your phone carrier may apply)
  • Lincoln Police Department (non-emergency) 402-441-6000 or 911 (emergency)

Additional community resources can be found at MyLink – a website (https://mylnk.app) and a mobile app (for Apple and Android – search MyLink). It can be downloaded in a wi-fi environment and then used when wi-fi is not available. Translations are provided in Arabic, Somali, Spanish, and Vietnamese.

Middle School Grading Scale Changes for ACES Courses

ACES courses are academic connections courses which are taught in Career and Technical Education, Art, Music, and World Languages. Prior to this year, some of the middle school ACES courses used COM (Commendable), S (Satisfactory) and N (Needs Improvement) for grades. Starting this school year, Lincoln Public Schools will be using the A-F grading scale for ACES courses in middle schools.