One of the most common questions I get from people outside the education world is “What is an ESU?” When we have new staff join our team, they frequently share that they had no idea the number of services that are available through ESUs. Our board will often refer to us as the best kept secret in the panhandle. Educational Service Unit 13 (ESU 13) serves the education community in the Nebraska Panhandle and beyond. Across our 8 departments, we continue to grow and innovate in order to fulfill our mission to serve, support and empower. Each fall we share our highlights from the previous year. Here are some of the great things that happened through the work of the ESU 13 team in the 2022-23 school year:
● ESU 13 coordinated $8.6 Million through 30 grants and projects for supplemental services, at no cost, to students, families, school staff and childcare providers. Through the Educational Service Unit Coordinating Council (ESUCC) Cooperative Purchasing process, our area schools saved more than $472,000. These savings allow school districts to continue to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars.
● We believe that high quality early childhood education is essential for communities to thrive. To support this, we added two new positions to support early childhood teachers and providers, and added 14 child care providers to our Rooted in Relationships work. We continue to run the Head Start and Early Head Start programs in the central and southern panhandle.
● 27 High School Students graduated from the Valley Alternative Learning and Transitioning School (VALTS) program throughout the year, earning their high school diploma from their local school district.
● Our psychological and Behavioral Health team continued to support schools as they work to meet the mental health needs of their students and staff. The Western Nebraska School Mental Health Conference was held last spring in Chadron in partnership with Chadron State College and the Chadron Public Schools AWARE grant.
● Extending from the panhandle into central Nebraska, the Title IC Education Program provided support services to 537 students from migrant families.
● Our Special Education programs and specialists work in partnership with all the schools in the panhandle to provide the support needed for children with disabilities. We had four graduates from our programs.
● Teachers are learners too! Last year we had 6,208 registrations from administrators, principals, and support personnel participating in ESU 13 learning opportunities.
● Technology continues to evolve and our staff works to ensure that students have safe access to the latest advances in technology. Nearly 1,000 staff in our member districts utilized a variety of IT services.
These are just a few of the highlights from our year. We are excited to continue our work this year and expand on the work that has already been done. Education is the key to a brighter tomorrow and here at ESU 13, we will continue to serve, support and empower our students and educators as they create that future.