Important Message From Westside

Westside staff, families, and valued stakeholders,

In the late Spring of 2022, we learned that millions of dollars that Westside Community Schools should have received from Douglas County under Nebraska law were instead paid to the City of Omaha, Douglas County and Omaha Public Schools for many years. We understand the importance of this lost revenue to our patrons, community, students, and staff. We are trying to secure $10 million+ of lost revenue that was overpaid to the City of Omaha, Douglas County, and Omaha Public Schools.

In July 2022, under advice from legal experts, we filed a lawsuit in the District Court of Douglas County against the Douglas County Treasurer. In the months since, we have worked closely with the City of Omaha and Douglas County to resolve this matter in a positive and timely manner. We feel good about where we are today, but still have a little work to do with these two important entities.

While our joint work to resolve this matter with the City of Omaha and Douglas County has yielded positive momentum, we have not yet had the same success with Omaha Public Schools. As a result, based on recommendations from our expert legal counsel, we have now filed a formal lawsuit against Omaha Public Schools to help expedite a solution and recover the money due to Westside and improperly paid to OPS over the course of multiple years.

While we value our relationship with Omaha Public Schools, ultimately, our responsibility is to you, our stakeholders and taxpayers, as well as our students and staff. That money is imperative in our mission to promote student achievement and success, to fairly compensate our dedicated teachers and staff, and to improve the safety and infrastructure of our schools and facilities.

We wanted you to hear this update from us as we try to be as transparent as possible with a very difficult and unfortunate situation. We are grateful for your ongoing support of Westside Community Schools.

Dr. Mike Lucas

Superintendent