Nebraska school tip line law

Does Nebraska require a school tip line?

Yes, but the duty is on the state. Nebraska law requires the State Department of Education to establish the Safe2HelpNE report line as a statewide anonymous reporting system. The line must let students, school staff, parents and community members report anonymously and free of charge by phone, mobile app, website or email. The law sits in the School Safety and Security Reporting System Act, sections 79-3101 to 79-3107. The Act defines the "department" that runs the line as the State Department of Education or the state school security director. The state school security director's duties include carrying out the department's responsibilities under the Act. NDE (Nebraska Department of Education) guidance says school participation is voluntary and opt-in. NDE guidance describes the program as a partnership between NDE School Safety and Boys Town, and says Boys Town employs the crisis counselors who receive reports. NDE's school safety page lists the Safe2Help NE number as 833-980-7233.

Which schools can use Safe2HelpNE?

The line is available to any public or nonpublic school that has a threat assessment team and keeps a current contact list of at least five team members who receive alerts at any hour. A threat assessment team is a school-based team of at least five trained members, including the principal or the principal's designee, a mental health professional and a member of the school staff. A mental health professional here means a school psychologist, a social worker or a licensed mental health professional. The department must provide training for members of any threat assessment team serving a public or nonpublic school. NDE guidance says Safe2Help NE costs nothing for any public or nonpublic K-12 school in Nebraska.

What can students report?

"Concerning behavior" under the Act includes suicide, bullying, stalking, cyber harassment, bomb threats, family violence, physical or sexual abuse, threats to property, terrorism, assault or attack, inappropriate weapons use, mental health or substance use concerns, sexual exploitation, and any threatening statement.

How are tips routed and answered?

The line must be staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by trained professionals who alert the appropriate threat assessment team. Those staff must have round-the-clock access to clinical consultation from a licensed mental health professional. Staff must immediately alert the appropriate threat assessment team about any concern that involves, or is likely to affect, a student, staff member or school property. When there is an immediate life-safety concern, emergency services are contacted before any threat assessment team. NDE guidance says crisis counselors answer reports 24/7/365 by phone, app or website. NDE guidance says that when a report concerns a district that has not joined, law enforcement is contacted to investigate or follow up.

What must a school's team do with a tip?

The receiving threat assessment team must assess every alert that is not referred to emergency services, law enforcement or child protective services. When the team finds a report about a student credible, a school administration representative must try to notify a parent or guardian within a reasonable period of time, unless notifying them could endanger the student or others.

Are tips anonymous and confidential?

The identity of anyone who contacts the line is confidential, except as otherwise required by law. Information held by the threat assessment team must be kept separate from educational records and is treated as security records.

What about false reports?

The Act itself sets no penalty for false reports to the Safe2HelpNE line; none of its seven sections mentions false reports or penalties. Nebraska's general false reporting law makes it an offense to knowingly give false information about an emergency in which life or property is in jeopardy to any person or government agency. It does not name the Safe2HelpNE line. Giving false information about an explosive's location in a building is also an offense under that law, and both offenses are Class I misdemeanors.

What data does the state track?

The department must track and evaluate the line's effectiveness and usage, and report line staff must report call counts, call dispositions, referrals and other metrics the department prescribes. The Commissioner of Education had to report data, a cost-benefit analysis and a funding recommendation on the line to the Legislature's Appropriations and Education Committees by January 5, 2024.

How is the line funded?

The law states the intent that federal funds pay for the Act in fiscal years 2021-22, 2022-23 and 2023-24. It states the Legislature's intent to appropriate $870,000 from the General Fund for fiscal year 2024-25 and each year after that for the Department of Education to carry out the Act. This is a statement of intent, not an appropriation. Applications for the state's security-infrastructure grants must include a needs assessment that asks whether each school takes part in Safe2HelpNE or another anonymous report line.

What changed recently?

Section 79-3104, which creates the line, was enacted by LB322 in 2021 and has not been amended since, through the 2026 session. Section 79-3106, the funding section, has been amended only once, by LB705 in 2023; the Governor approved LB705 on June 1, 2023. Section 79-3105, the team training duty, was last amended in 2024 by LB1329; no 2025 or 2026 law changed it. The Act lets the Department of Education adopt rules but does not require it to. LB463 (2025-2026), which would have amended the Act mainly to add cardiac emergency response plans, was indefinitely postponed on April 17, 2026, and did not become law.