What the board approved (select actions from the Sept. 5 meeting)

- Attendance awareness resolution (Agenda item 2.2): The board adopted a resolution proclaiming September as Attendance Awareness Month and commencing the Nebraska Every Day Counts campaign. The motion passed on a roll call vote with seven affirmative votes and one absence. The resolution cites chronic absenteeism as missing 10% of membership time and noted the Department’s commitment to halving chronic absenteeism by 2030.

- McKinney-Vento grants (Agenda item 7.2.d): The board authorized the commissioner to approve McKinney-Vento grant allocations for the 2025–26 school year. NDE’s McKinney-Vento state coordinator, Anne Carmoney, explained districts commonly use funds for a dedicated liaison for homeless students and for transportation; districts must match awards with Title I funds. The motion passed by roll call (seven yes, one absence).

- Rule waivers and pilots (Agenda items 7.3.a and 7.3.b): The board approved Rule 11 teacher waiver requests for Bloomfield, Stapleton and Umen Han Nation public schools, and approved a three-year pilot allowing University of Nebraska at Kearney early childhood inclusive teaching candidates to complete clinical practice in Head Start classrooms not in formal partnership with an approved school. The pilot was approved as a three‑year trial; board members asked for a metrics-based review at the pilot’s conclusion. Both motions passed (seven yes, one absence).

- Rule revisions (Agenda items 7.4.b and 7.4.c): The board adopted proposed revisions to Rule 8 (school finance and budgeting, state funding of ESUs and learning communities) and Rule 86 (public school breakfast program reimbursement) after the public hearing process and committee review. Both adopted revisions passed by roll call (seven yes, one absence).

- Consent agenda (Agenda item 6): The consent agenda, which included routine approvals and a staff-recommended appointment to the Nebraska Assistive Technology Partnership Advisory Council, was adopted by roll call (seven yes, one absence).

Other contract authorizations
- Nebraska Literacy Leadership Network (Agenda item 7.2.c): The board authorized the commissioner to approve a contract (see separate coverage). Vote: seven yes, one absence.

- SLDS grant activities (Agenda item 7.2.e): The board authorized the commissioner to approve contracts for Statewide Longitudinal Data System activities; discussion included student-data privacy and the department’s plan to update its data access and use manual. Vote: seven yes, one absence.

How votes were recorded
Most motions were moved and seconded at the meeting and finalized by roll call. Where a specific mover/second was not captured in the on-the-record transcript excerpt, the board’s roll call was recorded by the recording secretary. For the listed motions the roll call recorded seven affirmative votes and one absence.

What the board asked staff to do
Board members repeatedly asked staff to provide implementation details, metrics and follow-up reporting, including monthly and outcomes-based reporting for large contracts, documented evaluation criteria for McKinney-Vento awards, and a revised NDE data access and use manual addressing parental notification and privacy protections.