Amends existing law to provide that instructional hours in school districts' and public charter schools' academic year shall not begin prior to the Tuesday following Labor Day.

LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO Sixty-eighth Legislature Second Regular Session - 2026 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES HOUSE BILL NO. 710 BY EDUCATION COMMITTEE AN ACT1 RELATING TO EDUCATION; AMENDING SECTION 33-512, IDAHO CODE, TO PROVIDE THAT2 INSTRUCTIONAL HOURS IN A SCHOOL DISTRICT'S ACADEMIC YEAR SHALL NOT BE-3 GIN PRIOR TO THE TUESDAY FOLLOWING LABOR DAY; AMENDING SECTION 33-5206,4 IDAHO CODE, TO PROVIDE THAT INSTRUCTIONAL HOURS IN A PUBLIC CHARTER5 SCHOOL'S ACADEMIC YEAR SHALL NOT BEGIN PRIOR TO THE TUESDAY FOLLOWING6 LABOR DAY; AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.7

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho:8

SECTION 1. That Section 33-512, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby9 amended to read as follows:10 33-512. GOVERNANCE OF SCHOOLS. The board of trustees of each school11 district shall have the following powers and duties:12 (1) To fix the days of the year and the hours of the day when schools13 shall be in session. However:14 (a) Each school district shall annually adopt and implement a school15 calendar that provides its students at each grade level with the follow-16 ing minimum number of instructional hours:17 Grades18 Hours 9-1219 990 4-820 900 1-321 810 K22 450 Alternative schools23 (any grades)24 900 (b) School assemblies, testing and other instructionally related ac-25 tivities involving students directly may be included in the required26 instructional hours.27 (c) When approved by a local school board, annual instructional hour28 requirements stated in paragraph (a) of this subsection may be reduced29 as follows:30 (i) Up to a total of twenty-two (22) hours to accommodate staff31 development activities conducted on such days as the local school32 board deems appropriate.33 (ii) Up to a total of eleven (11) hours of emergency school clo-34 sures due to adverse weather conditions and facility failures.35 However, transportation to and from school, passing times between36 classes, recess and lunch periods shall not be included.37 (d) Student and staff activities related to the opening and closing of38 the school year, grade reporting, program planning, staff meetings, and39 other classroom and building management activities shall not be counted40

2 as instructional time or in the reductions provided in paragraph (c)(i)1 of this subsection.2 (e) For multiple shift programs, this rule applies to each shift (i.e.,3 each student must have access to the minimum annual required hours of4 instruction).5 (f) The instructional time requirement for grade 12 students may be re-6 duced by action of a local school board for an amount of time not to ex-7 ceed eleven (11) hours of instructional time.8 (g) The state superintendent of public instruction may grant an ex-9 emption from the provisions of this section for an individual building10 within a district, when the closure of that building, for unforeseen11 circumstances, does not affect the attendance of other buildings within12 the district.13 (h) The state board of education may grant a waiver of the minimum14 number of instructional hours for a school district when districtwide15 school closures are necessary as a result of natural occurrences cre-16 ating unsafe conditions for students. A county or state disaster17 declaration must have been issued for one (1) or more of the counties18 in which the school district is located. A waiver request to the state19 board of education must describe the efforts by the school district to20 make up lost instructional hours, the range of grades impacted, and the21 number of hours the school district is requesting be waived.22 (i) The reduction of instructional hours allowed in paragraphs (f)23 through (h) of this subsection may not be combined in a single school24 year.25 (j) Instructional hours shall not begin prior to the Tuesday following26 Labor Day in any academic year.27 (2) To adopt and carry on and to provide for the financing of a total ed-28 ucational program for the district. Such programs in other than elementary29 school districts may include education programs for out-of-school youth and30 adults, and such districts may provide classes in kindergarten;31 (3) To provide, or require pupils to be provided with, suitable text-32 books and supplies and, for advice on textbook selections, may appoint a cur-33 ricular materials adoption committee as provided in section 33-512A, Idaho34 Code;35 (4) To protect the morals and health of the pupils;36 (5) To exclude from school children not of school age;37 (6) To prescribe rules for the disciplining of unruly or insubordinate38 pupils, including rules on student harassment, intimidation and bullying,39 such rules to be included in a district discipline code adopted by the board40 of trustees and a summarized version thereof to be provided in writing at the41 beginning of each school year to the teachers and students in the district42 in a manner consistent with the student's age, grade and level of academic43 achievement;44 (7) To exclude from school pupils with contagious or infectious dis-45 eases who are diagnosed or suspected as having a contagious or infectious46 disease or those who are not immune and have been exposed to a contagious or47 infectious disease; and to close school if the board determines that condi-48 tions warrant such closure, based on consultation with the district health49

3 department of the public health district in which the school district is lo-1 cated;2 (8) To equip and maintain a suitable library or libraries in the school3 or schools and to exclude therefrom, and from the schools, all books, tracts,4 papers, and catechisms of sectarian nature;5 (9) To determine school holidays. Any listing of school holidays shall6 include not less than the following: New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Indepen-7 dence Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day. Other days listed in section8 73-108, Idaho Code, if the same shall fall on a school day, shall be observed9 with appropriate ceremonies; and any days the state board of education may10 designate, following the proclamation by the governor, shall be school holi-11 days;12 (10) To erect and maintain on each schoolhouse or school grounds a suit-13 able flagstaff or flagpole and display thereon the flag of the United States14 of America on all days, except during inclement weather, when the school is15 in session; and for each Veterans Day, each school in session shall conduct16 and observe an appropriate program of at least one (1) class period remember-17 ing and honoring American veterans;18 (11) To prohibit entrance to each schoolhouse or school grounds, to pro-19 hibit loitering in schoolhouses or on school grounds and to provide for the20 removal from each schoolhouse or school grounds of any individual or indi-21 viduals who disrupt the educational processes or whose presence is detrimen-22 tal to the morals, health, safety, academic learning or discipline of the23 pupils. A person who disrupts the educational process or whose presence is24 detrimental to the morals, health, safety, academic learning or discipline25 of the pupils, or who loiters in schoolhouses or on school grounds, is guilty26 of a misdemeanor;27 (12) To supervise and regulate, including by contract with established28 entities, those extracurricular activities that are by definition outside29 of or in addition to the regular academic courses or curriculum of a public30 school, and which extracurricular activities shall not be considered to be a31 property, liberty or contract right of any student, and such extracurricular32 activities shall not be deemed a necessary element of a public school educa-33 tion but shall be considered to be a privilege. For the purposes of extracur-34 ricular activities, any secondary school located in this state that is ac-35 credited by an organization approved through a process defined by the state36 department of education shall be able to fully participate in all extracur-37 ricular activities described in and governed by the provisions of this sub-38 section;39 (13) To govern the school district in compliance with state law and40 rules of the state board of education;41 (14) To submit to the superintendent of public instruction not later42 than July 1 of each year documentation that meets the reporting requirements43 of the federal gun-free schools act of 1994 as contained within the federal44 improving America's schools act of 1994;45 (15) To require that all certificated and noncertificated employees46 hired on or after July 1, 2008, and other individuals who are required by47 the provisions of section 33-130, Idaho Code, to undergo a criminal history48 check shall submit a completed ten (10) finger fingerprint card or scan to49 the department of education no later than five (5) days following the first50

4 day of employment or unsupervised contact with students in a K-12 setting,1 whichever is sooner. Such employees and other individuals shall pay the cost2 of the criminal history check. If the criminal history check shows that the3 employee has been convicted of a felony crime enumerated in section 33-1208,4 Idaho Code, it shall be grounds for immediate termination, dismissal or5 other personnel action of the district, except that it shall be the right6 of the school district to evaluate whether an individual convicted of one7 of these crimes and having been incarcerated for that crime shall be hired.8 Provided however, that any individual convicted of any felony offense listed9 in section 33-1208(2), Idaho Code, shall not be hired. For the purposes of10 criminal history checks, a substitute teacher is any individual who tem-11 porarily replaces a certificated classroom educator and is paid a substitute12 teacher wage for one (1) day or more during a school year. A substitute13 teacher who has undergone a criminal history check at the request of one (1)14 district in which he has been employed as a substitute shall not be required15 to undergo an additional criminal history check at the request of any other16 district in which he is employed as a substitute if the teacher has obtained17 a criminal history check within the previous five (5) years. If the district18 next employing the substitute still elects to require another criminal his-19 tory check within the five (5) year period, that district shall pay the cost20 of the criminal history check or reimburse the substitute teacher for such21 cost. To remain on the statewide substitute teacher list maintained by the22 state department of education, the substitute teacher shall undergo a crimi-23 nal history check every five (5) years;24 (16) To develop and maintain a safe environment for students and employ-25 ees by:26 (a) Developing a system of background checks for all persons who have27 unsupervised contact with students in a kindergarten through grade 1228 setting, which shall include but shall not be limited to a check of the29 Idaho sex offender central registry provided in chapter 83, title 18,30 Idaho Code;31 (b) Requiring each school in the school district to create and maintain32 an emergency operations plan for each school that is approved by the33 board. The board shall ensure plans are developed in coordination with34 local school staff and local emergency response agencies and reviewed35 at least annually for updates and changes. Plans shall meet the guide-36 lines adopted by the Idaho school safety and security advisory board;37 and38 (c) Requiring all school district staff to receive initial and an-39 nual emergency operations training that provides instruction on how to40 conduct exercises in order to respond to emergencies according to the41 guidelines established by the Idaho school safety and security advisory42 board; and43 (17) To provide support for teachers in their first two (2) years in the44 profession in the areas of: administrative and supervisory support, mentor-45 ing, peer assistance and professional development.46

SECTION 2. That Section 33-5206, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby47 amended to read as follows:48

5 33-5206. REQUIREMENTS FOR OPERATING A PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL. (1) A1 public charter school shall be nonsectarian in its programs, affiliations,2 admission policies, employment practices, and all other operations, shall3 not charge tuition, levy taxes, or issue bonds, and shall not discriminate4 against any student on any basis prohibited by the federal or state consti-5 tution or any federal, state, or local law. Public charter schools shall6 comply with the federal individuals with disabilities education act. Ad-7 mission to a public charter school shall not be determined according to the8 place of residence of the student or of the student's parent or guardian9 within the district.10 (2) No board of trustees of a public school district may require:11 (a) Any employee of the school district to be involuntarily assigned to12 work in a public charter school; or13 (b) Any student enrolled in the school district to attend a public char-14 ter school.15 (3) Employment of charter school teachers and administrators shall be16 on written contract.17 (4) Administrators may be certified pursuant to the requirements set18 forth in chapter 12, title 33, Idaho Code, pertaining to traditional public19 schools or may hold a charter school administrator certificate, which re-20 quires that the administrator:21 (a) Holds a bachelor's degree from an accredited four (4) year institu-22 tion;23 (b) Submits to a criminal history check as described in section 33-130,24 Idaho Code;25 (c) Completes a course consisting of a minimum of three (3) semester26 credits in the statewide framework for teacher evaluations, which shall27 include a laboratory component;28 (d) Submits a letter of support from a charter holder; and29 (e) Has one (1) or more of the following:30 (i) Four (4) or more years of experience administering a public31 charter school;32 (ii) A postbaccalaureate degree and a minimum of five (5) years33 of experience in school administration, public administration,34 business administration, or military administration;35 (iii) Successful completion of a nationally recognized charter36 school leaders fellowship; or37 (iv) Four (4) or more years of teaching experience and a commit-38 ment from an administrator at a charter school in academic, op-39 erational, and financial good standing, according to its autho-40 rizer's most recent review, to mentor the applicant for a minimum41 of one (1) year.42 (5) A charter school administrator certificate is valid for five (5)43 years and renewable thereafter. Administrators shall be subject to over-44 sight by the professional standards commission. Certificates may be revoked45 pursuant to the provisions of section 33-1208, Idaho Code. Issuance of a46 certificate to any applicant may be refused for such reason as would have47 constituted grounds for revocation.48 (6) Certified teachers in a public charter school shall be considered49 public school teachers. Educational experience shall accrue for service in50

6 a public charter school and be counted by any school district for any teacher1 who has been employed in a public charter school. The staff of the public2 charter school shall be considered a separate unit for the purposes of col-3 lective bargaining.4 (7) Charter school teachers may be certified pursuant to the require-5 ments set forth in chapter 12, title 33, Idaho Code, pertaining to tradi-6 tional public school districts or may hold a charter school-specific teach-7 ing certificate.8 (a) Criteria for a charter school-specific teaching certificate shall9 be in writing and require that teachers satisfy the provisions set forth10 in section 33-1202 1., 3., and 4., Idaho Code, and meet the following11 minimum educational or professional qualifications:12 (i) Hold a bachelor's degree from an accredited institution; or13 (ii) If instructing students in the fields of career technical14 education, satisfy the provisions of section 33-2205(6)(a), Idaho15 Code. Career technical education programs taught by teachers16 with a charter school-specific teaching certificate shall receive17 added-cost funding set forth in section 33-2215, Idaho Code, in an18 amount equal to programs taught by teachers with an occupational19 specialist teaching certificate.20 (b) Teachers with a charter school-specific teaching certificate shall21 receive mentoring and professional development as approved by the char-22 ter holder.23 (c) The state board of education shall issue charter school-specific24 teaching certificates to teachers upon recommendation of the individ-25 ual charter school, unless denied on the grounds set forth in section26 33-1208, Idaho Code.27 (d) For teachers holding a charter school-specific teaching certifi-28 cate, a charter school may substitute its own ongoing education and pro-29 fessional development requirements in place of those set forth in rule30 by the state board of education if the same number of credit hours is31 required as that of teachers holding a standard instructional certifi-32 cate.33 (8) Public charter schools may contract with educational services34 providers subject to the following provisions:35 (a) Educational services providers shall be third-party entities sepa-36 rate from the public charter schools with which they contract and shall37 not be considered governmental entities, provided that such contracts38 may be evaluated by the authorizer;39 (b) No more than one-third (1/3) of the public charter school's board40 membership may be comprised of nonprofit educational services provider41 representatives. Nonprofit educational services provider repre-42 sentatives may not be employees of the public charter school or the43 educational services provider and may not hold office as president or44 treasurer on the public charter school's board. For-profit educational45 services providers may not have representatives on the public charter46 school's board of directors;47 (c) Charter holders shall annually disclose any existing and potential48 conflicts of interest, pecuniary or otherwise, with affiliated educa-49 tional services providers;50

7 (d) Charter holders shall retain accountability for academic, fiscal,1 and organizational operations and outcomes of the school and may not re-2 linquish this responsibility to any other entity;3 (e) Contracts must ensure that school boards retain the right to termi-4 nate the contract for failure to meet defined performance standards af-5 ter notice and a reasonable cure period has expired and if material de-6 ficiencies have not been cured prior to that time period expiring;7 (f) Contracts must ensure that assets purchased by educational ser-8 vices providers on behalf of the school, using public funds, shall9 remain assets of the school. The provisions of this paragraph shall10 not prevent educational services providers from acquiring assets using11 revenue acquired through management fees;12 (g) Charter holders shall consult legal counsel independent of the13 party with whom they are contracting for purposes of reviewing the14 school's management contract and facility lease or purchase agreements15 to ensure compliance with applicable state and federal law, including16 requirements that state entities not enter into contracts that obligate17 them beyond the terms of any appropriation of funds by the state legis-18 lature;19 (h) Charter holders must ensure that their facility contracts are sepa-20 rate from management contracts; and21 (i) A virtual school shall be deemed financially sufficient if there is22 an agreement that requires an educational services provider to assume23 the virtual school's financial risk when it does not have sufficient24 residual funds to pay the educational services provider. Where this25 paragraph is applicable, the educational services provider shall make26 its audited financial statements available, unless the educational27 services provider already makes such audited financial statements pub-28 licly available for compliance with other federal or state laws.29 (9) Admission procedures, including provision for over-enrollment,30 shall provide that the initial admission procedures for a public charter31 school will be determined by lottery or other random method, except as oth-32 erwise provided in this section. A charter holder shall strive to ensure33 that citizens in the primary attendance area are made aware of the enrollment34 opportunities and deadline. The public notice must include the enrollment35 deadline, the public charter school's total enrollment capacity for the next36 school year, and an advisory that all prospective students will be given37 the opportunity to enroll in the public charter school regardless of race,38 color, national origin, ethnicity, religion, gender, socioeconomic status,39 or special needs.40 (a) If initial capacity is insufficient to enroll all pupils who submit41 a timely application, then the admission procedures may provide that42 preference shall be given in the following order: first, to children43 of founders, provided that this admission preference shall be limited44 to not more than ten percent (10%) of the capacity of the public charter45 school; second, to siblings of pupils already selected by the lottery46 or other random method; third, to pupils seeking to transfer from an-47 other Idaho public charter school or authorizer at which they have been48 enrolled for at least one (1) year, provided that this admission prefer-49 ence shall be subject to an existing written agreement for such prefer-50

8 ence between the subject charter schools or authorizer; fourth, to stu-1 dents residing within the primary attendance area of the public charter2 school; and fifth, by an equitable selection process such as a lottery3 or other random method. A public charter school may weight the school's4 lottery to preference admission for the following educationally dis-5 advantaged students: students living at or below one hundred eighty-6 five percent (185%) of the federal poverty level, students who are home-7 less or in foster care, children with disabilities as defined in sec-8 tion 33-2001, Idaho Code, students with limited English proficiency,9 and students who are at-risk as defined in section 33-1001, Idaho Code.10 A public charter school may include the children of full-time employees11 of the public charter school within the first priority group, subject to12 the limitations therein.13 (b) If capacity is insufficient to enroll all pupils who submit a timely14 application for subsequent school terms, then the admission procedures15 may provide that preference shall be given in the following order:16 first, to pupils returning to the public charter school in the second17 or any subsequent year of its operation; and then as provided in para-18 graph (a) of this subsection. The sibling preference in subsequent19 school years applies to siblings of a returning pupil and of a pupil20 selected by the lottery or other random method. A new lottery shall be21 conducted each year to fill vacancies that become available. A public22 charter school may weight the school's lottery to preference admission23 as provided in this paragraph and paragraph (a) of this subsection and24 for children who attended the public charter school within the previous25 three (3) school years but withdrew as a result of the relocation of a26 parent or guardian due to an academic sabbatical or an employer or mili-27 tary transfer or reassignment.28 (c) Each public charter school shall establish a process under which a29 child may apply for enrollment or register for courses, regardless of30 where such child resides at the time of application or registration, if31 the child is a dependent of a member of the United States armed forces32 who has received transfer orders to a location in Idaho and will, upon33 such transfer, reside in an area served by the public charter school.34 If capacity is insufficient as described in paragraph (a) or (b) of this35 subsection, a child described in this paragraph shall be treated as a36 student residing within the primary attendance area of the public char-37 ter school for purposes of preference. Otherwise, such children shall38 be included in the highest priority group for which they would otherwise39 be eligible.40 (d) Admission to a public charter school shall be determined by a selec-41 tion process held within seven (7) days of the enrollment deadlines es-42 tablished by the charter holder. The selection process must take place43 in a public setting, the date and time of which must be noticed to the44 public at least forty-eight (48) hours in advance.45 (e) Within seven (7) days after conducting the selection process, the46 charter holder shall send an offer to the legal guardian who submitted a47 written request for admission on behalf of a student notifying such per-48 son that the student has been selected for admission to the public char-49 ter school. An offer must be signed by such student's parent or guardian50

9 and returned to the public charter school by the date designated in such1 offer letter. Remaining students shall be notified that they may be el-2 igible for admission at a later date if a seat becomes available.3 (f) If a school exceeds its projected student count in a lottery and4 a sufficient wait list exists, the school may increase enrollment by5 adding additional students per grade, not to exceed the total amount of6 students authorized by the charter.7 (10) Instructional hours for a public charter school shall not begin8 prior to the Tuesday following Labor Day in any academic year.9

SECTION 3. An emergency existing therefor, which emergency is hereby10 declared to exist, this act shall be in full force and effect on and after11 July 1, 2026.12