February 17, 2026
Sen. Dave Murman, Chairperson
Sen. Jana Hughes, Vice Chairperson
Sen. Danielle Conrad
Sen. Megan Hunt
Sen. Margo Juarez
Sen. Dan Lonowski
Sen. Glen Meyer
Sen. Rita Sanders
Chairman Murman and members of the Education Committee:
The Lincoln Public Schools (LPS) opposes the introduced bill LB 1207 which requires that all full-time employees be given five mental health leave days each fiscal year.
While the goals of this bill are admirable in supporting the mental health of school employees and LPS is committed to supporting the mental health of its workforce, this bill would impose significant impacts on LPS’s operations and oversight of its employees.
In terms of operational impacts, LB 1207 would grant full-time employees five days of paid “mental health” leave each fiscal year at full salary without charging it against any other leave we provide at LPS. LPS provides generous paid leave to its employees and complies with the Family and Medical Leave Act, Americans with Disabilities Act, and other legally protected leaves that may apply to employees experiencing mental health conditions. We also support employees experiencing mental health conditions with an employee assistance program.
LB 1207 would also come with a significant cost to LPS: we would not only have to continue salary and benefits for employees on paid mental health leave, but we take on the added cost of finding and paying for substitutes to cover these absences without any financial support from the state to do so. For example, the substitute cost would be $3.7 million if all 3,600 certificated employees took five days of mental health leave.
Some non-certificated employee groups that may already be understaffed also struggle with finding and employing effective substitutes. This, in turn, has a direct impact on students and other staff members in the building, as well as ensuring that there are sufficient staff members to transport students to and from school.
Finally, this bill removes managerial rights and employee oversight from school districts by preventing them from asking for any supporting medical documentation to justify the leave. There is also no qualification other than being employed “full-time”; it’s not tied to FMLA or any other length of service requirement, so employees would qualify upon date of hire for five days of paid leave.
Sincerely,
Brad Jacobsen
Associate Superintendent of Civic Engagement
Lincoln Public Schools
