“It’s been blurred, and so what’s a female and what’s a female locker room?” Penner said. “That is the reason.”
That amendment failed on a 4-4 vote, with Penner, Elizabeth Tegtmeier, Sherry Jones and Lisa Schonhoff voting in favor of the amendment and Deborah Neary, Maggie Douglas, Kristin Christensen and Liz Renner against.
Neary introduced a new amendment keeping the clarification that products only be placed in female restrooms and locker rooms, and she added nurse and health offices. Neary did not include the male and female definitions Penner initially wanted.
“I just come back to, what is the scope of our job and what is the scope of this legislation? And to me, those are the priorities,” Neary said. “When we get into legal definitions of things, I think we’re in somebody else’s area. We’re not lawyers, and it concerns me when we try to go outside our scope.”
Neary also said she didn’t like adding “only,” but was willing to compromise.
The board narrowly passed the policy with Neary’s amendment in place, with Renner, Christensen, Douglas, Neary and Tegtmeier voting for the new amendment, and Jones, Penner and Schonhoff voting against. Tegtmeier said she voted for it because her concerns had been addressed.
“As a mom of boys, I’m really all in favor of not making a product that would be thrown into toilets and used to clog toilets [available],” Tegtmeier said. “I mean boys — it’s a joke to boys — and to girls, it’s a necessary product, and so I do appreciate Deb’s suggestion.”
The Nebraska Department of Education is partnering with the Educational Service Unit Coordinating Council to implement the program in schools.
Isanti Elementary School stays under NDE eye
In other business, board members decided to take no action on removing Isanti Elementary School from priority status, postponing the vote for the time being. Schools on priority status receive support from the Nebraska Department of Education to improve things like test scores and student attendance. NDE officials identified the elementary school as ready to progress on its own because it had reached set goals in the 2023-24 school year, while the middle and high schools would stay on priority status because they had not reached set goals.
Board members shared concerns at their Thursday work session that they thought the elementary school had not progressed enough to be removed and felt they couldn’t ask their questions because Isanti school officials were not present.
“This doesn’t look like progress to me,” Jones said at the Thursday work session. “I mean, there’s progress, but it’s not where they need to be. I don’t know. I just, it’s a heart-hurting situation.”
State Auditor Mike Foley called out the Isanti school district last week for potential misuse of more than $300,000. In his report, he pointed out several instances of spending that lacked proper documentation, as well as sums that had no clarifications on how they were spent.
All three schools in the district will stay on priority status. Board members are planning to take a deeper look at the process behind priority schools over the next few months.
School members concerned on lost mental health teacher training funds
Two public comment speakers shared concerns with how the board failed to pass teacher mental health training grants back in February. The state legislature had allocated $200,000 to implement Mental Health First Aid training for teachers and school staff.
NDE Commissioner Brian Maher last updated the board on the funds at the March meeting. He said he was working with school districts to find the best solution to use this money.
Sheila Turbes taught at Omaha Public Schools for 33 years and currently teaches in a private school. She said preventing gun violence in schools starts with ensuring educators have the tools to help students in crisis.
“Training educators to recognize signs of emotional distress and provide appropriate support is critical,” Turbes said. “It’s a critical and proven step toward preventing school violence, including shootings. These grants were designed specifically for that purpose, to equip teachers with the skills, knowledge and resources to connect students with help before it’s too late.”
Associate Superintendent of Grand Island Public Schools Summer Stephens asked the board to continue to find ways to support mental health in schools, especially as those conversations become more prevalent.
“I also think about the support that we got at school, and I don’t think that came from school, but I don’t know that it came from the community either,” Stephens said. “I think people just secretly holed up and didn’t talk about things, but now we know that people talk about things because it’s okay to talk about the needs that you have, and we want to continue to support that.”
Theater and speech on track to have own degree programs
Theater teachers, students and other advocates learned their efforts to change the endorsement level for speech and theater are heading in a successful direction.
Those currently wanting to teach in theater or speech have to get a supplemental endorsement in addition to a degree in another subject. Now, the department is moving forward to change that so theater and speech are subject endorsements, allowing those wanting to teach theater and speech to get a degree specifically in those areas, according to Brad Dirksen, administrator for the NDE office of accountability, accreditation and program approval.
NDE Commissioner gets raise, extends contract
NDE Commissioner Brian Maher received a pay raise and contract extension through June 30, 2027. Board members unanimously approved his new salary of $325,237.50.
“I mean, it’s never been an easy job, but it’s really not easy today, and to make eight people on a board all trust in you and to have all the superintendents who support you, we really are grateful to have your leadership of the education sector in Nebraska at this time,” Neary said.
Tegtmeier added that Maher’s 3.25% pay raise is in line with what NDE staff received.
The State Board of Education’s next meeting is in August.
By way of full disclosure, Brian Maher is a commissioner on Nebraska Public Media’s governing board, NETC.