Only freshmen and sophomores will walk the halls of Standing Bear High School this fall — and many sports teams will not compete at the varsity level.
Lincoln Public Schools announced Tuesday it would restrict enrollment to the two grade levels after few upperclassmen indicated plans to attend Lincoln's newest high school at 70th Street and Saltillo Road.
There are 219 incoming freshmen who have enrolled in Standing Bear, but just 26 sophomores, 21 juniors and 10 seniors applied to transfer. LPS still expects to have sophomores at the school since freshmen can take sophomore-level classes such as math.
"Opening Standing Bear with freshmen and sophomores only allows us to focus our resources on offering high-quality opportunities and high school experiences where students are attending," Superintendent Paul Gausman said in a statement.Â
"Many have indicated that they don't want to leave" because they're happy with their current high school, Gausman later told Lincoln Board of Education members at Tuesday's meeting.Â
Standing Bear will not field varsity teams in volleyball, basketball, soccer, softball or baseball. Officials previously announced the school would not offer varsity football when enrollment opened in December.
The Class B school is still planning to have varsity teams competing in individual-based sports such as golf, tennis, bowling, and swimming and diving. A One Act play team is also expected to compete at the varsity level.
"The final determination of which opportunities and which levels offered will be based on the number, development and experience of the students that go out for athletics and activities," the district said in a news release. "The intent is to be able to offer as many varsity level programs as possible."
A business-centric focus program offered in partnership with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln will still provide pre-pathway classes.
The latest enrollment change highlights the difficulty of predicting where students will go when opening new schools. Around this time last year, LPS announced it would not accept seniors at Lincoln Northwest, the other high school built with funds from the $290 million bond issue voters passed in 2020.
Northwest opened in August.
Officials previously predicted roughly 580 students would attend Standing Bear this fall. Northwest, which has more than 500 students, is predicted to have just less than 800 students next school year.
Both Northwest and Standing Bear can hold up to 1,000 students, with additions possible to expand capacity.
Lincoln East, which has struggled with overcrowding — an issue Standing Bear was expected to alleviate — is now projected to have more than 2,000 students, up from earlier projections of roughly 1,800.
"The projections are largely based on where students live," said Matt Larson, LPS associate superintendent of instruction. "Over time, East's enrollment is likely to continue to move to that optimal enrollment of around 1,900 or a little less."
LPS has an open enrollment policy at the high school level, meaning students can attend any high school outside of their attendance area. Students in grades 10-12, however, are restricted from transferring to four high schools experiencing overcrowding: Lincoln East, Lincoln High, North Star and Southwest.
LPS still has yet to conduct high school staffing conferences, where officials decide where to allocate resources for the upcoming school year. Asked if staff signed up to teach at Standing Bear will be moved, Larson said "at this time, no."
Freshmen and sophomores still interested in attending Standing Bear are encouraged to turn in their high school choice forms as soon as possible. A list of courses being offered is available online.