My Personal Recap the March 2026 SBOE Meeting: Mental Health Grants

My Views Are My Own

By Lisa Schonhoff, Ed.S.

March 18, 2026

Timeline of Mental Health Grants

In August 2024, the Council of Chief State School Officers highlighted Nebraska's School Mental Health Initiative, funded by approximately $14.6–$15 million in federal ESSER (COVID relief) funds. This supported training for more than 400 educators across 70 schools or districts by July 2022, with surveys showing gains in staff knowledge. However, the student mental health crisis has not improved—and some evidence suggests certain common school-based strategies may have limited impact or even have damaging effects on students.   “Some rigorous studies have found limited or null effects of school-based interventions targeting symptoms of mental illness, including mental health literacy education for teachers and cognitive-behavioral therapy programs,17–20 and concerns have emerged about possible iatrogenic harm in vulnerable youth.”  “Iatrogenic effects refer to any harmful or detrimental consequences that result directly from psychological treatment or intervention. These effects can range from mild discomfort to severe psychological distress, and in some cases, may even exacerbate the very conditions they aim to treat…even the most well-intentioned mental health professionals can inadvertently cause harm. Inexperience, for instance, can lead to missteps in treatment.”

In February 2025, a grant for $250,000 to provide educators with 8 hours of Mental Health First Aid training was voted down. As I stated in my review of the meeting last year, the program is applying a universal approach in an attempt to solve a multitude of issues in our schools.  These approaches have proven to be ineffective.  In a recent study out of Oxford, the authors state that based on their findings, “the field should move away from universal prevention and instead invest our limited resources in the refinement and dissemination of interventions with a stronger evidence base, such as one-to-one, targeted and indirect approaches.”  

Most recently, on March 6, 2026, the Nebraska State Board of Education considered two federal grants totaling approximately $11 million to help recruit and retain school psychologists, build district infrastructure, and support comprehensive mental health programming (including screening, referrals, consultations, and evidence-based interventions). The vote deadlocked 4-4, effectively failing to approve the funding. 

The mental health crisis in Nebraska schools continues to worsen, despite significant past investments and ongoing efforts. Many parents, educators, and community members have raised concerns about the lack of clear statewide policies governing mental health practices in schools—including specific guidelines, evidence-based standards, and measurable outcomes to ensure interventions are safe and effective. “Recent, high-quality trials have revealed that universal interventions can have a range of negative effects, with participants in the intervention group experiencing worsening mental health or other negative outcomes.”  Nebraska needs robust, evidence-based policies with clear standards and accountability measures to protect students and ensure taxpayer-funded efforts truly help rather than risk harm.

$316,000 Subcontracted to ECData Lab Voted Down with a 4:4 Vote

According to the ECData Lab website, their mission is to help “government agencies harness early childhood data to drive stronger programs and policy decisions.  With a mission to strengthen equity and outcomes for children and families, ECDataLab provides people-centered coaching, multi-agency cohort learning, and applied analytics development for early childhood leaders.”  After several discussions with NDE staff, it still remains unclear why Nebraska needs to provide state data to an organization based in California in order to determine our needs here at home.

It is also not evident how this grant will meaningfully benefit Nebraska students beyond identifying childcare deserts—information we are already capable of assessing. As I mentioned in the meeting, Nebraska has highly competent professionals who understand the unique needs of our communities and are fully capable of determining the best use of taxpayer dollars. It is difficult to justify outsourcing this work to an external organization when we have the expertise within our own state.