LPS says it’s losing federal Department of Education grant for mental health services

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — Lincoln Public Schools said the U.S. Department of Education is canceling one of its grants.

In an email to district staff on Thursday, Superintendent John Skretta said LPS received a notice of non-continuation for the $7 million grant.

The grant was for school-based mental health services, and LPS used that money to add 18 elementary counselor positions at schools across the district.

According to LPD, the Department of Education said the grant will expire when the current budget period ends on Dec. 31.

The five-year grant started on Jan. 1, 2023, and was scheduled to end in January 2028.

LPS said it can sustain the current program for the 2025-2026 school year.

There is an appeal process, and the district said it plans to exhaust all efforts to appeal the decision.

The notice of discontinuation was not limited to LPS.

The district said it appears to be one of a broad swath of notices sent to school districts across the nation.

The Department of Education asserted that the funding is not consistent with the priorities of the current administration, LPS said.

According to LPS, it has reached out directly to the teachers in these positions.

Regardless of the outcome of the appeal, LPS said these positions are not changing at this time.

“It has been a long-standing goal to provide a counselor in every school,” Skretta wrote. “That remains unchanged, and we will continue to work through annual budgetary processes towards this outcome.”

LPS does not think it will need to eliminate any positions in the counseling program, and Skretta said if it is necessary, the district will “find a way to place the staff.”