"Grand Island is back and we are stronger than ever.”
Mayor Roger Steele applauded the achievements, growth and optimism of Grand Island at Friday’s “State of the City” address, hosted by Grand Island Young Professionals at Bosselman Enterprises.
Steele attributed this success to his fellow guest speakers, whom he called “great partners for progress for our community.”
He was joined by Hall County Commission Chair Ron Peterson, Grand Island Public Schools Superintendent Tawana Grover and Central Community College President Matt Gotschall.
“Everyone here cares about Grand Island, and works together to help our future,” he said.
City of Grand Island
Grand Island is a city “filled with confidence,” Steele said.
“Businesses are investing millions of dollars in Grand Island because they have confidence in our people, in their employees and in city government,” he said.
Steele applauded Elite Casino Resorts for their planned $100 million casino/hotel project at Fonner Park.
A planned $35 million Central Nebraska Sports Complex also “proves again the can-do attitude we have,” Steele said.
New construction permits in Grand Island have exceeded $100 million for three years in a row, which Steele called “astounding” amid the ongoing pandemic.
An historic amount of public works projects are being completed in Grand Island, including the Old Potash Highway renovation, at $16 million; North Road paving project, at $18 million; and the new Fire Station No. 4 and the 911 Emergency Communications Center, at $3.1 million.
A priority for Steele is attracting new police officers to city to complete staffing needs at Grand Island Police Department “so we remain tough on crime.”
Grand Island Public Schools Kneale administration building sign.
Grand Island Public Schools
GIPS is Grand Island’s second largest employer with 23 locations serving 11,000 students, and is “proudly diverse,” GIPS Superintendent Tawana Grover said Friday.
Investing in early childhood education, career academies, and with businesses for job-training opportunities has benefitted the community, Grover said.
“Through innovation and partnerships with numerous community leaders and companies, we have made (GIPS) better together,” she said.
Grover shared several statistics Friday.
GIPS is outpacing the national average for “kindergarten-to-first grade” students at or above the benchmark for early learning, Grover said.
“We’ve seen a 51% increase in comparison to the national average increase of 21%,” she said.
The number of students who have taken advanced classes for college credit has increased 5.8% since 2020, Grover said.
For 2021, GIPS had 753 students earn dual-credits from 1,500 courses, a 50% increase compared to the last two years.
GIPS is a “champion” for college- and career-readiness, Grover said.
Tawana Grover, superintendent of Grand Island Public Schools, talks about the changes made in the idistrict during Friday's State of the City address at Bosselman Enterprises building.
The number of professional certifications earned by GIPS students has increased 203% in the last five years, from an annual average of 160 certifications to nearly 500.
“The number of those students earning certifications has grown by 214%, as well,” she said.
During the last five years, GISH has graduated more than 2,800 students and is within “striking distance” of its goal of at least 90% of students graduating annually, Grover said.
The graduation rate for Hispanic students was 85% last year, exceeding the state average by 6%.
For English-language learners, the graduation rate increased 14.6% from last year.
Special education students had a 9% graduation rate increase from last year.
And GISH maintained a state graduation rate average of over 91% “for our white students,” Grover said.
“This shows that no matter your race, your socioeconomic status or your background, every student will know they can graduate college- and career-ready in Grand Island,” she said.
Central Community College
Grand Island’s community college is contributing to the success of GIPS students, as well, CCC President Gotschall said.
CCC provides ACE (Access College Early) scholarships for low-income high school students, which pays for their college classes while they’re still in school.
Nebraska has 19 colleges and universities that use this program, Gotschall noted.
“Of those, (CCC) had the largest number of student recipients, at over 400, the largest number of college credits earned, and the largest number of different schools that we worked with in our (CCC) region, and second largest for different subject areas,” he said.
Hall County
Hall County’s Board of Commissioners is actively lobbying for bills in the Nebraska Legislature, Chair Ron Peterson reported.
LB310, submitted by Sen. Robert Clements of Elmwood, will “change inheritance tax rates, inheritance tax exemption amounts, and individuals who are considered relatives of a decedent.”
“While we understand the desire by some to eliminate the inheritance tax, the county would have to substantially increase the property tax levy if they were eliminated in total,” Peterson said Friday.
The bill was passed by the Legislature during the morning’s address.
LB791 will “change population requirements relating to county surveyors, engineers and highway superintendents.”
Hall County is updating its COVID-19 guidance for officials and employees in response to the ongoing surge of new cases resulting from the omicron variant. Several county departments have multiple people out due to COVID, Assistant Hall County Attorney Sarah Carstensen said Tuesday.
The bill, submitted by Sen. John Lowe of Kearney, increases the population base by which a county surveyor serves as the head of the roads department from 60,000 to 100,000.
“The job of the county surveyor is completely different than that of the road superintendent,” Peterson said. “If left unchanged, it would totally change the organizational structure of those two departments.”
Hall County Commissioners oppose LB921, Peterson said, which would sentence Class III and IV felons to county jail.
“This would dramatically increase our corrections budget and reduce our ability to accept outside inmate that we receive revenue from outside sources,” he said. “County jails are not equipped or staffed to handle long-term incarceration.”
The bill was submitted by state Sen. Steve Lathrop of Omaha.
Hall County was awarded $11.8 million total in American Rescue Act Plan funds, Peterson reported.
Half of the funds already has been received with the remainder set to be awarded this year.
The county has entered into an interlocal agreement with the city to replace the sewer system at Central Nebraska Regional Airport, which was built in World War II and on county property.
ARPA funds also will be used for premium pay increases for employees who fall into certain salary ranges, Peterson said, which will serve as a retention tool.
