State Board Report
January 2020
State Board of Education Elects Leadership for 2020
The Nebraska State Board of Education elected Maureen Nickels as president and Patsy Koch Johns as vice president during the January board meeting.
Maureen Nickels was first elected to the State Board of Education in 2014 to represent District 6. She served as vice president in 2019. Patsy Koch Johns was first elected to the State Board of Education in 2016 to represent District 1.
Professional Development for Reading Project Funded
To help prepare teachers to implement the Nebraska Reading Improvement Act, the Nebraska Department of Education (NDE) has launched the NebraskaREADS initiative, focusing
on high-quality literacy instruction for all students, as well as early identification of students who may need extra support in kindergarten through third grade. To support this initiative, the NDE is developing multiple resources for schools and districts. The Practice-Based Professional Development for Reading Project will develop a professional development workshop series that can be used throughout Nebraska, helping teachers access NDE resources, learn to interpret reading assessments, and implement high-quality reading instruction for all students.
Practice-Based Professional Development for Reading Project
Suicide Prevention Grant
The NDE will partner with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to help schools prevent suicide through a $774,390 grant. As part of the grant the NDE will hire a school suicide prevention specialist, coordinate suicide prevention activities for K-12 public schools, identify and disseminate evidence-based suicide prevention programs, provide technical assistance to K-12 schools in the area of suicide prevention, work with Educational Service Units to implement suicide prevention screening, and convene workshops to integrate suicide prevention in coordinated school health plans.
Revision to Student Transportation Rules Adopted
Changes made to Rule 91 involving student transportation adjust the level of training and adjusts the Department of Transportation physical requirements for small vehicle drivers for activity purposes only.
The next regularly scheduled meeting of the State Board of Education will be held on
Friday, February 7, 2020 at 9:00 a.m. at the Nebraska State Office Building.
A work session will be held on Thursday, February 6, 2020 at 2:00 p.m.
For detailed information about the work session or business meeting,
visit www.education.ne.gov/StateBoard/Agendas.html.