By Nick Starling nstarling@nebraska.tv
Facebook / Twitter @NTVNickStarling
A new face will be walking the halls in the Lexington Public School District.
His name is Dr. John Hakonson and comes from the Sidney School District.
He brings over 17 years of experience and he said he wanted a new challenge. There's no doubt he wants to be the one in charge to turn things around in the troubled school district of Lexington.
"Tickled you know it's a special place I'm very honored to be here and work with this very unique student body," said Hakonson.
Hakonsen faces an uphill battle. LPS district has an overly poverty stricken student body.
"Three out of four students in Lexington qualify for free or reduced meals," said Hakonson.
"National trends are very much not in favor of students that come from poverty backgrounds," said Hakonson.
LPS has a high percentage of English Language Learners. There's a high percentage of Hispanics going to school in Lexington, some of them having English as their second language.
"It's very challenging it tough to get students who don't have those deficiencies ready let alone to throw on top of it learning a new language," said Hakonson.
Right now Hakonson says he will have more definite goals in about 6 months when he gets a better feeling about how things are going.
