Idaho Bills
40 bills · 2022 Regular Session
Adds to existing law to provide for career exploration courses.
24 – 45
States findings of the Legislature and encourages Idaho schools to teach students the whole and honest history of our nation.
There is concern that the history of the United States being taught in some schools in Idaho are not presenting a balanced view of the actual events that have been documented. This resolution is intended to create awareness of an alternate history curriculum that should be evaluated by school districts in Idaho.
54 – 10
Amends existing law to revise the base salary for school administrators and classified staff and to clarify the use of funds for classroom technology.
This is a FY 2023 appropriation bill for the Public School Support Program. The bill provides clarification to the effective dates for the salary changes related to administrators and classified staff to clarify the new distribution amount is effective July 1, 2022, not upon signature of the Governor. This bill also clarifies some technology-related language for the Operations Division to distribute funds on learning management systems, not instructional management systems.
34 – 0
Adds to existing law to establish the Empowering Parents Grant Program, which provides funds to eligible students for certain education expenses.
The Empowering Parents Grant Program provides funding to parents to help meet their child’s educational needs and to address any learning loss. $1,000 per student or a maximum of $3,000 per family will be available for public and non-public students to address learning loss and provide support for our most at-risk students by providing resources in addition to what is available during the school day. Grants are available first to families whose Adjusted Gross Income is at or below $60,000 per year, then to families earning up to $75,000 and then to everyone else for as long as the funding lasts. Parents will be able to access and spend the grant funds on behalfoftheirchildforapprovededucationalexpensesthroughadigitalplatform. AParentalAdvisoryPanelis established to help with the implementation and administration of the program. The purpose of the emergency clause is to allow the program to be instituted quickly by the State Board of Education and to get funding into the hands of parents as quickly as possible.
67 – 1
States findings of the Legislature and supports the development of civics standards for Idaho students.
Civic engagement is essential to our nation’s form of government. Civic education gives young people the knowledgeandbackgroundtobeengagedcitizenswhoaremorelikelytovoteandparticipateincivicactivities. Inrecentyears, manystatesincludingUtah, GeorgiaandFloridahavestrengthenedtheirstates’civicsstandards and requirements. Idaho’s civics standards are currently embedded in the state’s social studies standards. Separating and enhancing the standards, will highlight the importance of civic education and what we want students to know and be able to do with that education..
63 – 0
Relates to the appropriation to the Public Schools Educational Support Program's Division of Children's Programs, the Office of the State Board of Education, the STEM Action Center, and the Commission for Libraries for fiscal year 2022.
This is a FY 2022 supplemental appropriation that adjusts the current year appropriation from the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER) set-aside portion of the award. The set-aside portion uses and distributions are subject to legislative appropriation, but the State Board of Education directs the use of the funds. This bill reduces a portion of the original appropriation from the Children's Programs Division in the Public School Support Program and provides an appropriation to the following agencies: 1) Office of the State Board of Education (OSBE) to replace the current school data system, create a dyslexia handbook, and summer learning programs; 2) STEM Action Center to provide summer learning STEM programs; and 3) Commission for Libraries to provide summer library reading programs.
44 – 16
Amends and adds to existing law to provide for state support of discretionary spending by school districts.
This bill provides a method for the legislature to appropriate additional funds for K-12 schools and reduce local propertytaxes. Schoolsthathaveasupplementalmaintenanceandoperationlevyarerequiredtouse75%ofthe funds they receive to reduce the levy. After reducing the levy, or if a school has no levy, any funds remaining can be used at the discretion of the School Board. If a school takes the funds one year but does not reduce the levy, the school is ineligible for these funds for two (2) years.
Adds to existing law to establish the Education Savings Account Act.
This legislation creates the Idaho Education Savings Account Act (ESA). By establishing an ESA, parents becomeempoweredtoidentifyandutilizethebestmeansofeducationtheirchildren. Parentswillbeallowedto use ESA funds for tuition to private schools, non public online learning programs, tutoring services, textbooks, curriculum, instructional materials, computers and a host of other education support services. ESA funds are only available to parents of students who are not enrolled in a public school. 90% of average amount of spent by the state and local school districts for each student.
States findings of the Legislature and honors the life and achievements of Ed Cheff, the longtime head baseball coach for Lewis-Clark State College.
This resolution recognizes and honors the life of Coach Ed Cheff for his dedication, drive, and desire to the success of the Lewis-Clark State College (LCSC) Baseball Team and for the contributions to the State of Idaho, the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), United States Baseball, Major League Baseball, LCSC, Nez Perce and surrounding counties, the city of Lewiston, and his family.
Adds to existing law to provide that enrollment shall replace average daily attendance in funding formulas for fiscal years 2023 and 2024 and to provide for a study committee on the public school funding formula.
Thecurrent"FoundationProgram–StateAid–Apportionment"foundinChapter10ofTitle33IdahoCodewas first established in 1980. At that time, the student counts were used to determine Education Support Units. The counts were done by seat time, also referred to as Average Daily Attendance (ADA). In 2016, HCR 33 created an Interim Legislative Committee to study the funding formula within this chapter. The Interim Committee was reauthorized in 2017 and 2018. While the interim committee recommendation to move to a student-based formula was not implemented in 2019, there was strong consensus that the state should move from the current ADA student count to an enrollment-based formula. During the 2019 Session, H 293 was signed into law to require schools to track both ADA and enrollment. This was done to provide a better understanding of the fiscal impact of a singular change to the funding formula. H 293 also mandated a review of the funding formula by July 1, 2024 For the past two school pandemic impacted school years, the State Board of Education has passed temporary rules to use the enrollment counts, rather than the ADA. Schools are well prepared to make a change to enrollment as they have been providing both counts since the Fiscal School year 2020.This bill codifies what has been a temporary rule, with a sunset on July 1, 2025. With the requirement of a review of the funding formula this bill authorizes the legislative council to appoint an interim committee to meet the requirement under Idaho Code 33-1026. An emergency clause to put this change into law upon passage and approval will replace the existing administrative temporary rule, while authorizing the State Board to promulgate rules similar to those that were in place for the past two school years.
39 – 31
Amends existing law to revise eligibility requirements for the Armed Forces and Public Safety Officer Scholarship.
This bill aims to update Idaho code 33-4302 so that if (a) an Idaho parent serves in the military and (b) falls in-service doing what they were ordered to do, then (c) their child or spouse will be eligible for this scholarship, assuming they meet the other prerequisites. Currently, they must fall in combat.
33 – 0
Adds to existing law to provide for the adoption of the content standards prepared by the 2020-2021 content standards review committees.
This bill would establish a new section 33-118B and direct the Idaho State board of education to adopt and incorporate by reference into its administrative rules, the draft Idaho Content Standards for English Language, Arts, Mathematics and Science. These draft documents (dated July 13, 2021) were recommended by the Standards Review committees of 2020 and 2021. After several years of deliberations by the House and Senate Germane Education Committees, letters from the committees were submitted to the Idaho Governor, Idaho State Board of Education and the Idaho Department of Education requesting that the Idaho Content Standards be reviewed and replaced. These requests in 2020 and 2021 initiated various subcommittees of legislators, educators, school administrators, and state department staff. Their work culminated in draft standards dated July 13, 2021. This new section further provides that school districts shall have until June 30, 2024 to adopt curricular materials pursuant to changes provided for in this bill or adopted through the subsequent negotiated administrative rule process. The state requires each content standard to be reviewed on a five-year cycle. The English Language Arts and Mathematics Content Standards were scheduled for 2021, while the Science Standards would be up for review in 2022.
Amends and adds to existing law to establish programs for dyslexia.
Early screening and identification of students with reading difficulties is essential in developing literacy intervention plans to help make sure every student is reading at grade level by the time they leave third grade. The importance of students reading and literacy proficiency has long been recognized by the Idaho legislature as a critical piece of Idaho’s education system. In more recent years the added importance of identifying those student with characteristics of dyslexia and expanding dyslexia awareness has been identified as a pivotal piece in literacy intervention for student with characteristics of dyslexia. The purpose of the proposed legislation is to define dyslexia as used in Chapter 18, Title 33, and recognize the unique influence and challenges students with characteristics of dyslexia face in developing their reading and literacy skills. The proposed legislation, in alignment with existing provisions identified in the Idaho Literacy Achievement and Accountability Act (Chapter 18, Title 33), would require students in kindergarten through grade 5, when they first enroll in a school district or charter school, to be assessed for characteristics of dyslexia and those students that are identified may be administered a second, tier 2 screener, to help identify specific interventions for meeting the student’s needs. The current statewide reading assessments have the capability of serving as the initial, tier 1 screener. Additional provisions would establish a list of evidence-based screening and intervention tools for school districts and charter schools to use and assure educators working with these students receive professional development and technical assistance in the best ways for serving these students. The technical assistance and professional development provisions align with those that already exist in Chapter 18, Title 33, and align with the Idaho Comprehensive Literacy Plan.
33 – 0
Amends existing law to revise provisions regarding the postsecondary credit scholarship.
The proposed amendments to Section 33-4605, Idaho Code, Postsecondary Credit Scholarship would remove the restriction that the required matching industry or business scholarship include an academic merit requirement and add a provision that would prohibit parents who own a business from awarding the scholarship to their child. To be eligible for this scholarship a student must first earn a minimum number of college level credits. Once they have met this advanced achievement requirement the student must them find a matching scholarship from business or industry. Currently, this matching scholarship must also include an academic merit-based scholarship from business or industry to match the state award. Due to the challenge it is for students to find merit based scholarships from business and industry, it has been very difficult for students to qualify for the full amount available based on the dual credits they have earned for this scholarship. The proposed amendment would remove the requirement that the matching scholarship be merit based while retaining the requirement that the matching scholarship be from business or industry.
35 – 0
Amends existing law to provide for full-day kindergarten and to revise provisions regarding certain support units and funding distributions.
Funding for public schools in Idaho is largely driven by the number of students in average daily attendance and the number of support units calculated by grade bands for those students. For kindergarten students the formula is such that a school would not receive more than the equivalent of a half days funding for the student, even if the student attended full time. The proposed legislation would adjust the calculations for support units so that students in kindergarten could be funded for a full day if they attended a full day and a half day if they only attended a half day, similar to how other elementary grade students are funded. Section 33-1002, Idaho Code establishes the tables for calculating kindergarten support units, daily student attendance is used to generate an average daily attendance number, that number is then used to calculate support units. The support unit divisor for kindergarten is 40, while the support unit divisor for other elementary grades ranges between 12 and 23 depending on the size of the school district/charter school or attendance unit, with the majority of school districts having an elementary grade range support unit divisor or 20. The proposed amendments change the kindergarten support unit divisor to 20 and then adjusts the minimum number of support units generated based on size, consolidating the individual size breakouts. Additionally, technical amendments are made, provisions for parent participation are established, and limits on maintenance and operation levies are created for kindergarten programs funded by the state.