Nebraska education commissioner plans to meet with Pillen about antisemitism executive order

Nebraska Department of Education Commissioner Brian Maher said he plans to meet with the governor to further discuss a recent executive order for reporting antisemitism in schools.

Gov. Jim Pillen signed an executive order last week requiring NDE and higher education institutions to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism and report complaints and incidents of antisemitism.

Maher addressed the order at Friday’s State Board of Education meeting.

“I think it's important to state that the NDE is adamantly opposed to discrimination in any form,” Maher said. “Let there be no doubt about that.”

He said schools are already required to send an annual disciplinary report, which covers suspensions and expulsions, but not specifics of what led to those. District officials also sign a Title VI assurance statement if they receive federal funding, agreeing to have anti-discrimination policies in place.

Maher said because there is no discrimination reporting required from schools to NDE, the department does not investigate these kinds of complaints.

“One other point for this portion of the order is that NDE does not investigate Title VI complaints, which are those complaints specific to discrimination, so there may not be anything to report,” Maher said.

The U.S. Department of Education has an Office for Civil Rights that investigates discrimination complaints.

He also said the NDE legal team went through the organization’s code of conduct and found there were already antidiscrimination provisions in place to protect employees, but not definitions specific to the one listed in the order. Maher said they would review further.

The governor also directed NDE to provide public and nonpublic schools with professional development resources and curricula resources for covering the Holocaust, Jewish-American history and Israel.

“Our opinion on that particular topic is that the order does not require, nor does it rely on any authority to require the NDE to perform action in this particular area,” Maher said. “However, the order does make a request for NDE to act.”

Maher added that after discussing with others at NDE, they believe there are ways to work on this particular directive. Maher said he respects the governor’s office and plans to meet with the Pillen to further understand what he is looking for and ways to address his requests.

“We're trying to do our best to not make this a political issue and make this an educational issue,” Maher said. “That'll be how we approach addressing this topic.”

Mental health grants pass on second attempt

Two grants meant to help with recruiting and retaining school psychologists passed on a second try, months after the board deadlocked on dispersing the more than $11 million in funds.

Ahead of approving the grants, board members approved a mandatory assurance statement to pair with any mental health grants going forward. The statement, which must be signed by superintendents of the districts receiving grants, would ensure the district follows state and federal laws, regulations and professional standards in relation to mental health.

It also outlines that failure to follow those guidelines would result in corrective actions needing to be taken, followed by funding being pulled if issues are not corrected. Board member Deborah Neary said the assurance statement emphasizes what’s already in place.

“I spent the last few days running this assurance past lawyers, teachers, mental health professionals, school leaders, school board members — everybody that might be able to give me some insight about this,” Neary said. “What I learned is that it doesn't change anything that we already have in place.That it's for some intentionality.”

Board member Lisa Schonhoff said although the statement is based on state statute, it’s needed.

“The reason why we need it is because the state statute that says involvement of parents, guardians, and educational decision-makers need to be involved in the mental health programming that occurs, we've had many constituents reach out and say that hasn't happened,” Schonhoff said.

Schonhoff asked Maher about how the department will ensure the statement is being followed. He said he would find an answer for the August board meeting.

Board member Sherry Jones said as a former school counselor, she would have appreciated the assurance statement.

“I did not know about these statutes, and I think many counselors are probably in the same boat,” Schonhoff added. “Before we can fulfill the requirements, we have to know they exist. I see this as being very helpful to my fellow…school counselors.”

The statement and the two mental health grants passed unanimously.

Maher received a more than $10,500 raise for the next fiscal year, which board members approved in the consent agenda. He will make an annual salary of $335,807.72. He previously made $325,237.50.

Board members also failed to pass the payment of dues to two organizations on a 4-4 vote, with the four Republicans voting against and four Democrats voting in support. The dues included $59,663 to the Council of Chief State School Officers and $24,630 to the National Association of State Boards of Education.

The board did pass $60,500 in dues to the Education Commission of States. There was no discussion ahead of the votes.

The next board meeting is Aug. 7.

By way of full disclosure, Brian Maher is a commissioner on Nebraska Public Media's governing board, the Nebraska Educational Telecommunications Commission.