Senators hear $250,000 proposal to coordinate K–12 cybersecurity, proponents cite recent costly incidents
Summary
Senators considered LB 10 54, a targeted $250,000 request to assess K–12 cybersecurity posture, create statewide coordination and seed a grant program; proponents including ESU coordinators, the CIO and school leaders argued modest upfront spending will reduce the higher costs of ransomware and phishing incidents.
Senator Wendy DeBoer told the Appropriations Committee that LB 10 54 would provide a modest, targeted investment to assess the cybersecurity posture of K–12 schools, establish statewide coordination and create a grant program to help smaller districts and nonpublic schools adopt vetted cybersecurity products and services.
Proponents from the Educational Service Unit Coordinating Council, the Department of Education, the statewide CIO’s office and school associations said Nebraska schools face a range of cyber threats — from phishing that can redirect payments to ransomware that requires network rebuilds — and that a coordinated approach can reduce duplication, improve purchasing power and lower long‑term costs. Scott Isaacson (ESUCC) and Tim Royers (NSEA) described recent local incidents and lost instructional time, and noted that email‑filtering infrastructure has blocked millions of messages but identified thousands with malicious content.
Advocates emphasized this first step focuses on assessment, coordination and a competitive grant program rather than buying products for all districts immediately; the goal is to create a shared framework, leverage OCIO vetting and scale cooperative purchasing.
Next steps: committee staff and proponents agreed to clarify fiscal connections among related bills and to ensure the $250,000 request does not duplicate other pending appropriations while enabling the statewide vetting and coordination work to continue.
