Lincoln Public Schools awarded $7 million federal grant to hire school counselors

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – The U.S. Department of Education awarded Lincoln Public Schools a multimillion-dollar grant to ensure schools have counselors.

Right now, only 30 of 40 LPS elementary schools have full-time counselors.

Early in the school year, LPS Supervisor Lori Hemmett realized that there was a need for more school counselors in the district.

“It’s a $7 million grant over five years,” she said.

Robin Mickle Middle School Counselor Nicki Henseling said the acknowledgment they receive is “essential” as LPS celebrates National School Counselor Week

“We kind of see the things that parents can’t, and teachers are fantastic but they have 20 to 30 plus kids,” she said. “So we’re here to just support teachers and help students as much as we can.”

Several schools in the district are set to receive school counselors, Hemmitt says LPS will partner with principals to develop an implementation plan.

“That will start in the first year and then we’ll implement various meetings to kind of, review and see how things are going,” she said.

Hanseling added that counselors are a great resource for students to connect to achieve academic success.

“We can help them find success here at school so that their teachers can continue teaching in the classroom,” she said.