Public District, ESU

2026-2027 MOE Eligibility – Due 7.15.2026

Contact Information: MOE Eligibility Support (NDE.SPEDHelp@nebraska.gov)

Public Districts

The Nebraska Education Profile (NEP) Information application is now open in the New NDE Portal. This application is due June 30, 2026 and has an audit window from July 1-15, 2026.

The Nebraska Education Profile (NEP) Information application collects district information, graduation requirement information, and NAI grade levels for Nebraska Public Districts. The information collected will be displayed on the Nebraska Education Profile (NEP) website (nep.education.ne.gov) this fall.

• The following New Portal Roles automatically have access to the application: District Admin-Public, Proxy Admin-Public, Data Steward-Public
• To request access, once logged in to the New Portal, go to Profile>Requests and request the “Nebraska Education Profile (NEP) Information-District” role. (Superintendents and Proxies can also assign this role to district staff, from their Admin Portal accounts.)

Contact Information: NDE Service Desk (NDE.ServiceDesk@Nebraska.gov)

Public Districts

The Enrollment Option Rejection Report application is now open in the New Portal. This application collects the number of option applications received, approved, denied, and the reason(s) for denial.  Applications received between June 1, 2025 and May 31, 2026 should be reported. All Public Districts are required to submit this information to NDE, with a final report submitted to the Legislature.

• The following New Portal Roles automatically have access to the application: District Admin-Public, Proxy Admin-Public, Business Manager-Public.
• If you do not have access, you will need to request access by logging into the New Portal, go to Profile > Requests and then request the “Enrollment Option Rejection Report-District” role (or your Superintendent/Proxy can assign it to you directly).

Instructions on how to complete the application can be found by clicking the “Instructions” button within.

Important Dates:
Opens: June 1
Closes: July 31
Audit Period: August 1 -15

Program Contacts:
Kelsey Larsen  at kelsey.larsen@nebraska.gov
Michelle Cartwright at michelle.cartwright@nebraska.gov

Contact Information: Kelsey Larsen / kelsey.larsen@nebraska.gov / 402.450.1418 Michelle Cartwright / michelle.cartwright@nebraska.gov / 402.450.0867

Public Districts

We will be moving the DHHS Superintendent Letter collection from the Legacy Portal into the New NDE Portal next week. This means the collection will not be available in Legacy Portal as of Monday, June 1. It will open in New Portal toward the end of the week.

The DHHS Superintendent Letter application contains letters to Public District Superintendents, notifying them of DHHS State Ward status.

• The following New Portal Roles will automatically have access to the application upon its move: District Admin-Public, Proxy Admin-Public
• To request access, once logged in to the New Portal, go to Profile>Requests and request the “DHHS Superintendent-District” or “DHHS Superintendent – School” role. (Superintendents and Proxies can also assign either of these roles to district staff, from their Admin Portal accounts.)

New Portal Resources: https://www.education.ne.gov/portal/

Need Help?
DHHS Superintendent Letter Questions: Contact the Director of NDE Systems Involved Youth (Wendy.Schardt@Nebraska.gov )
Technical Questions or Portal Support: Contact the NDE Service Desk (NDE.ServiceDesk@Nebraska.gov)

Contact Information: NDE Service Desk (NDE.ServiceDesk@Nebraska.gov)

Public, Nonpublic, Special Purpose, Rule 18

Affidavit for Instructional Hours (79-213): 2025-2026 School Year

NE Rev Statute 79-213 states; “At the discretion of the State Board of Education, the closing of a school shall not prevent a district from being accredited or receiving its proper share of state funds when epidemic sickness or severe storm conditions prevail to such an extent that the school board in any district deems it advisable to close any or all schools within the district or when the destruction of the schoolhouse makes it impossible to continue the school. Such sickness, storm conditions, or destruction of the schoolhouse shall be sworn to by the secretary of the school board and the oath filed with the State Board of Education if the school board of the school district is proposing to offer fewer hours than required by law.”

The 2025-2026 Affidavit announcement and form will be available starting May 29, 2026, on the Accreditation website. School systems have until June 30th, 2026, to submit the form to nde.accreditation@nebraska.gov. Efforts to meet the required hours of instruction, 1080 for secondary, 1032 for elementary, 400 for kindergarten, and 450 for prekindergarten, will be a required component of the submission. “That the contextual and decision-making evidence showing why these school days were cancelled, as well as efforts made to meet the required thresholds of instructional hours is attached hereto, and numbers _____ pages in total.”

Direct Link to the affidavit form: https://www.education.ne.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/2025.2026-AFFIDAVIT-FOR-INSTRUCTIONAL-HOUR-…

Questions may be routed to: nde.accreditation@nebraska.gov

Please NOTE: This message is only for school districts/systems that have not met the required instructional hours. School districts/systems meeting the required instructional hours may ignore this message.

Contact Information: NDE Accreditation (nde.accreditation@nebraska.gov)

Public Districts

In ADVISER Validation, within the Legacy Portal, the “ELPA Assessment Download” and “AQuESTT English Learner Progress Counts” student verification reports are now available with 2025-2026 results. Please be aware that these reports may be subject to change based on late corrections made through the assessment vendor.

While these assessment results may be available before the school year officially ends on June 30th, it is important that the students who have just tested as English proficient are not reported to NDE as Redesignated English Fluent until the 2026-2027 school year. For Title III reporting and funding it is expected that all students who received English Learner language instruction in the 2025-2026 school year remain reported as participants in the Year End collection in ADVISER. Depending on your Student Information System vendor’s requirements you may need to wait to update your redesignated students’ EL status until after July 1st and/or changing your SIS over to the new school year.

Contact Information: NDE Service Desk (NDE.ServiceDesk@Nebraska.gov)

Public, Nonpublic, ESU 3, ESU 13

Information: 

The 2025-2026 Reading Improvement Act application will be available in the New NDE Portal May 1, 2026 and is due June 15, 2026. 

This application supports compliance with the Nebraska Reading Improvement Act (NRS 79‑2601 through 79‑2607) and Nebraska Revised Statute 79‑11,157.01.

Who is required to report?

• Each public school building in all Nebraska public school districts
• Approved and/or accredited nonpublic school buildings serving children ages 4 through grade 3
• State Board of Education–approved early childhood education programs operated by ESUs (i.e., only early childhood programs at ESU 3 and ESU 13)

Reporting Overview:

• Public school buildings report data related to: Students evaluated due to a suspected Specific Learning Disability in reading; Individualized Reading Improvement Plan identification and growth for students in kindergarten through grade 3; and Teachers of children ages 4 through grade 3 who are adequately trained in evidence‑based reading instruction, as defined by the Nebraska Literacy Project Evidence‑Based Reading Instruction Professional Learning Rubric.
• Approved/accredited nonpublic schools and Rule 11-approved early childhood programs (i.e., ESUs 3 & 13) only report data for teachers of children ages 4 through grade 3 who are adequately trained in evidence‑based reading instruction per the the Nebraska Literacy Project Evidence‑Based Reading Instruction Professional Learning Rubric, as required under NRS 79‑2607.

Resources:

Detailed reporting requirements for each entity are outlined in the applicable Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) documents: 

• Public Schools- Reading Improvement Act FAQ 
  • Read More › – 2025-2026 Reading Improvement Act Application Open May 1st (Formerly titled: Nebraska Revised Statute 79-11,157.01 Collection)
    

    Contact Information: IDEA Part B Specialist: Tara Korshoj (tara.korshoj@nebraska.gov) and Reading Specialist: Olivia Alberts (olivia.alberts@nebraska.gov)

Public, Nonpublic

Contact Information: NDE Service Desk (NDE.ServiceDesk@Nebraska.gov)

The purpose of this bulletin item is to provide information on how to request a conditional, temporary or alternative permit for teachers who have been hired to start in SUMMER/FALL 2026 and may not have all their necessary documentation prior to the first day of school with students.

Conditional Permits:

• • A Conditional Permit allows someone to sign a contract and work as a certified staff member with a location (school system) limitation and deficiencies that have not been met to be issued a regular teaching certificate such as a content test.

• • A Conditional Permit can also be requested for someone who has applied for a local substitute permit and has not completed the human relations training course and/or is waiting on fingerprint clearances from the Nebraska State Patrol.  

Alternative Permits:

• • An Alternative Permit is designed for an applicant to complete a program before applying for a regular certificate while being employed as a contracted teacher. Filling out this form verifies that applicant is hired as a teacher for your district. 

Temporary Certificates:

• • A Temporary Certificate is designed for an applicant that is currently a para in a Nebraska school system but is being hired as a teacher on a full-time basis and has taken and passed the appropriate Praxis Content Test. This form does not verify the paraprofessional status of the applicant. You will need to include a letter and/or contract to nde.tcertweb@nebraska.gov. 

Conditional Permits, Alternative Permits and Temporary Certificates can only be requested for employment in a Nebraska school system.  If an applicant has not been a continuous resident of Nebraska for the last five years, fingerprint cards will need to be sent to the certification office before any permits can be issued….Read More › – Conditional, Alternative and Temporary Certificate/Permit Request Form Summer/Fall 2026

Contact Information: NDE Educator Certification (nde.tcertweb@nebraska.gov or 402-471-0739)

2026-2027 Course Codes and Clearing Endorsements are now available: https://coursecodes.education.ne.gov/

The website features several helpful tools including:
1. A Changes tab in the Menu bar at the top of the page – lists all changes from the prior year
2. Search Fields – search by specific key words, a Course Code number, a specific Endorsement Code or grade levels
3. Select Subject – select only Math, Special Education or any other subject specific courses
4. Download – download selected courses into either Excel or PDF

Contact Information: NDE Service Desk (NDE.ServiceDesk@Nebraska.gov)

Public Districts, Special Purpose Schools

The ADVISER Data Elements guidance document has been updated for the 2025-2026 school year, including two key changes for data being collected in 2025-2026 (see Appendix A for a list of all changes).

First, due to the recent adoption of the updated Rule 15 statute regarding regulations for English Learner programs, students may no longer be dismissed from English Learner testing via an IEP team review. As a result, the “Dismissed Via IEP” flag in ADVISER should no longer be used in the 2025-2026 school year. The NDE will conduct a check to identify any students with that flag set before the end of the year.

Second, the NDE is introducing a new data collection for instances of emergency exclusions (as defined in Nebraska Revised Statute 79-264), and several new data elements have been created in ADVISER to support this collection. The NDE would like to begin collecting emergency exclusion data for the 2025-2026 school year beginning 7/1/2025. However, please be aware that your Student Information System vendors will first need to make changes to their software to allow reporting of this data. The tentative goal for vendors to add support for the new emergency exclusion data elements in ADVISER is March 2026, so please watch for any communications from your vendors about their updates.

Contact Information: NDE Service Desk (NDE.ServiceDesk@Nebraska.gov)