It is my pleasure to welcome you to our South Central Nebraska Unified School District #5. The district proudly serves the communities of Clay Center, Deweese, Edgar, Fairfield, Glenvil, Lawrence, and Nelson.
SCNUSD #5 has a rich background of excellence in its 23 years of unification. It has been noted in the past, we are “set apart for excellence, our students enjoy a dynamic and rigorous curriculum equipping them with college readiness skills and challenging them to be lifelong leaders. With a 100 percent college acceptance rate, over 87 percent of our students go on to college. Additionally, 98 percent participate in at least one co-curricular activity,” former Superintendent Julie Otero.
This, 2023-24 school year, will be the final chapter for this unification. In the Fall of 2022, the SCNUSD #5 Board of Education voted unanimously to end the unification at the conclusion of this 2023-24 school year. This will require using this year to ready each new district (Lawrence-Nelson & Sandy Creek) for their independence in the fall of 2024. There are many things to complete as we begin this transformation. We are fortunate, the original unification agreement was designed for this eventuality. In essence, the district resources are to be divided with Lawrence-Nelson receiving 35% and Sandy Creek receiving 65%. The board of education has maintained a strong sense of cooperation and wants nothing but success for each district as this unification sunsets in August of 2024.
While this will be a year of major change. We maintain the belief that our students develop the skills to be lifelong learners and future leaders for our community!
We welcome you to SCNUSD #5!
Click the links to access the student accident insurance forms for the 23-24 school year. This is a voluntary program.
SC, L-N School Boards vote to not reunify in 2024
By Rita Brhel-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 LN 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 LN High School immediately following the adjournment of LN’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.
SC’s Board also discussed closing the Highway 14 pedestrian underpass at the Clay Center school site. South Central Nebraska Unified School District #5 (SCNUSD) superintendent Julie Otero explained that the Nebraska Department of Transportation recently contacted SC, 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.
SCNUSD’s Board of Education, which consists of both the SC and LN individual school boards, met at LN High School immediately following the close of the SC Board meeting.
The SCNUSD Board 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.
Each month, our administration team gives the school board an update of things happening. You can click on the month to view all of the board reports given to the school board.
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