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Board approves remote psychologist and other mental‑health contracts to bolster special education support
Summary
LPS moved to continue remote psychologist services (reduced to 6 remote FTEs) and approved an agreement with New Direction Solutions while pursuing a braided approach pairing remote and in‑person psychologists; Blue Valley Behavioral Health contract presented for follow‑up.
Lincoln Public Schools presented several mental‑health service agreements and the board approved a reduced contract for remote school psychologists to support special education teams.
Mike (presenter) described last year’s pilot with remote psychologists and said the district retained 7.5 FTE this cycle, allowing the district to reduce remote coverage from nine to six contract positions and pair remote psychologists with in‑person staff in a braided model. "So no school will be relying on a fully remote psychologist," he said, adding that buildings will have some FTE based on student numbers and needs.
Board member Barb moved to waive second reading and approve the agreement with New Direction Solutions, LLC (the motion passed on roll call). Mike also presented a separate contract with Blue Valley Behavioral Health that provides on‑site therapy and crisis response—staff noted that Blue Valley provided roughly 700 hours of service last year and that the Blue Valley item can follow the standard second‑reading process and return on Aug. 11.
Board members praised the move to ensure some in‑person coverage and urged continued recruitment of school psychologists. "I'm glad to hear that we have some real live people on the other end in every school, that this has relieved some of the workload," one board member said after voting to approve the contract.
