February 11, 2026
Sen. Robert Clements, Chairperson
Sen. Christy Armendariz, Vice Chairperson
Sen. Loren Lippincott
Sen. Jason Prokop
Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh
Sen. Ashlei Spivey
Sen. Myron Dorn
Sen. Paul Strommen
Sen. Robert Dover
Chairman Robert Clements and members of the Appropriations Committee:
The Lincoln Public Schools (LPS) is concerned regarding the proposed cuts to Agency 78 or
Community Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice.
- LPS partners closely with the Lincoln Police Department to support students and families.
Currently, LPS has 5 social workers that are partially funded with Community Based Aid
(CBA) This funding, directed to the County, supports the Lancaster County Truancy
Diversion Program. LPS receives $105,000 from CBA as part of braided funding between
CBA/LPS to fund those social workers. We anticipate a 10%-20% cut to these funds. - The Tipping Point program is a partnership between the Lincoln Police Department and
Lincoln Public Schools aimed at keeping at-risk youth out of gangs, and instead helping
them and their families connect to positive adults through school. The program is centered
on building positive relationships with the Tipping Point mentors, who support the students
and their families by connecting them to resources, and helping them recognize the value of
school. Tipping Point is designed to serve as proactive prevention, with students eligible to
be referred to the program as early as fourth grade, all the way through high school. Not
only does this help provide them with positive role models to support good choices, but it
also supports other positive outcomes, such as avoiding truancy, maintaining good grades,
engaging in positive behavior and connecting to school based activities and clubs. - Tipping Point is a small, but intensive program that has created tangible, positive outcomes
for students who accept the referral and maintain their participation in the program. The
ultimate goal is to help students successfully graduate from high school and students who
have remained in the program through twelfth grade have all successfully graduated from
high school. We see this as adhering to the old adage that an ounce of prevention is worth a
pound of cure. The more that we can do up front, before kids get entangled in gang
affiliations, the better our chances are that they will experience positive outcomes in school,
and subsequently avoid future or recurring involvement with the criminal justice system. - It is important to remember that the true success of a prevention program is often found in
what doesn’t happen. When a student graduates instead of entering the justice system,
there is no data to record, but the positive impact on the community is immeasurable.
The Lincoln Public Schools urges the Appropriations Committee to take these thoughts into consideration when deliberating your decisions.
Sincerely,
Brad Jacobsen
Associate Superintendent of Civic Engagement
Lincoln Public Schools
