Open forum meeting held to discuss LCHS returning to the Central State Eight Conference
Part One: An overview of the topic

[May 12, 2021] 

On Monday night the LCHS School Board and Superintendent Dwight Stricklin hosted an open forum meeting in the Roy S. Anderson Gymnasium to discuss the possibility of Lincoln returning to the Central State Eight Conference.

Board members Mark Gordon, Susan Gleason, Alyssa Schmidt, Bo O’Donoghue and Leslie Singleton were in attendance and seated at tables on the gym floor. Board member Joe Ryan was absent due to illness. There will be one more board member appointed at next week’s meeting, bringing the total to seven board members.

Following the Pledge of Allegiance led by LCHS Board President Susan Gleason, Superintendent Stricklin spoke for a few minutes to present an update to the situation that had recently developed.

Basically Lincoln has been invited back into the Central State Eight and it is up to the board to vote. Stricklin noted the final vote on whether or not to rejoin the Central State Eight would take place in next week’s board meeting on Monday, May 17, 2021.

Stricklin said the reason for moving back to the Central State Eight would be based on location. He noted the long distances and driving that comes along with the Apollo Conference is one factor that cannot be changed.

Student-athletes have had to leave class early to ride a bus for an hour and a half to two hours to compete in the Apollo Conference. Much of the time the buses are getting back to Lincoln around midnight and not only does this affect the athletes, but many of the coaches who have to teach the next day.

Stricklin also mentioned that the current board members were not on the board when the decision was made to switch to the Apollo Conference more than four years ago. After Stricklin spoke, he invited members of the public to voice their concerns.

Several members of the community did speak and all were in support of Lincoln returning to the CS8.

Blinn Bates, Landon Hullinger, Lynn Paulus, Judy Lumpp and Jarred Brown all spoke publicly and each brought up valid points with the well-being of the student-athletes at the forefront.

For more on what those community members had to say please check out Wednesday's edition of Lincoln Daily News.

[Teena Lowery]