Idaho Bills

Amends existing law to revise provisions regarding the issuance of school bonds.

The cost of constructing a new high school has increased by 43.25% over the past six years. Unfortunately, the current bonding capacity of many rural school districts is insufficient to cover the costs of building or replacing their schools, specifically a high school, even when voters approve a bond. This legislation addresses this issue by increasing the bonding capacity from 5% to 8% of the market value for assessment purposes, as outlined in current code. Importantly, this legislation does not alter the process required to pass a bond. Instead, it empowers rural school districts to propose bonds that align with their actual construction needs, providing a realistic path to meet their educational infrastructure requirements.

Amends existing law to revise provisions regarding the math and science requirement.

This legislation amends Idaho Code 33-1021 and provides additional funds to small schools. These funds provided to small schools supports them in hiring additional high school math and science teachers or cover related costs for supporting students in those subjects. It is updating the allocation for schools with a student enrollment between 100 and 319, as current law only provides a fraction of a classified position (1/9 or 2/7) and is insufficient for hiring additional teachers or covering course expenses.

Adds to existing law to require public schools to develop sudden cardiac arrest prevention training and to require school districts to establish certain policies for the discipline of coaches.

This Legislation directs school districts to make use of existing resources to provide awareness & prevention training to parents and coaches regarding sudden cardiac arrest in student athletes. It provides guidelines for training and policy development.

Adds to existing law to establish provisions regarding student immigration status and nationality in Idaho public educational institutions.

The landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision Plyler v Doe (1982) ruled that public schools cannot deny any student enrollment based on immigration status. Like many other states, Idaho has seen a recent surge of undocumented immigrants. In order to estimate the cost of educating children of undocumented immigrants, the purpose of this bill is to require public schools to collect and report the immigration status and nationality of each enrolled student. These data are need to inform public policy concerning the use of public tax dollars.

Amends existing law to reduce the number of members of the Idaho School Safety and Security Advisory Board.

Section 33-5905, Idaho Code establishes a School Safety and Security Advisory Board. Currently that board consists of thirteen (13) individuals appointed by various officials. The size of the board has been problematic. It has not been possible to fill of the appointments and the board has struggled to establish a quorum for its required meetings. This proposed legislative amendment would reduce the size of the board, while still ensuring broad stakeholder representation.

Amends and adds to existing law to establish the Public Education Facilities Fund and to provide for the transfer of certain moneys.

This bill would create a fund to support public education facilities. Moneys in the fund shall be distributed as a need-based grant to school districts for the purposes of financing construction, remodel, and maintenance of school facilities. An application for such grant funds shall include a detailed plan for the school facility project, details concerning facilities conditions, projected costs and bids related to the project, previous bond levy requests, and financial condition report of the school district. Priority will be given to rural school districts. The Office of the State Board of Education shall review and approve applications in consultation with the Idaho State Department of Education and the Division of Public Works within the Department of Administration.

Amends existing law to revise provisions regarding instruction in sex education and to provide for restrictions on instruction in human sexuality.

This legislation requires an affirmative action from parents or guardians to opt in to all sexually explicit material. This legislation provides a definition of human sexuality. It provides direction as to the notification of parents at least two weeks before instruction is given. The notification shall provide a brief description of the content of the instruction along with an opportunity to review the material to be taught. This further requires that alternative educational instruction be provided to any child that does not participate. Finally, this provides direction should a child receive instruction without the permission of the parent.

Adds to existing law to establish the Mobile Device Policy Fund.

Extensive scientific research has identified mobile devices as detrimental to students' learning. This legislation incentivizes school districts to develop evidence-based policies that promote distraction-free learning. To ensure implementation costs are not an obstacle to adoption by interested districts, this proposed legislation would create a small fund for school districts to use for implementation (in the form of up to $1500.00 grants).

Amends existing law to revise provisions regarding school transfer enrollment options.

Currently, many students who transfer between Idaho schools during the school year are prevented from participating in sports at their new school, during the school year in which they transfer, because of their status as a transfer student. This legislation provides that these students are immediately eligible to participate in extracurricular activities, unless the sport's season has already started, and the transfer was not caused by a bona fide relocation to a new residence.

Adds to existing law to provide for the display of the Ten Commandments in public schools.

The purpose of this bill is to display the Ten Commandments in public school buildings. This bill will affirm for students, staff and the general public the historical, traditional and ongoing significance of the values held in the document. It shall be in all educational institutions under the general supervision, governance or control of the State Board of Education or the Board of Regents of the University of Idaho in a conspicuous place in the school or institution. It shall be in the form of a durable poster or a framed copy paid for by private donations.

Amends and repeals existing law to move up the sunset date of the Idaho Launch program and the In-Demand Careers Fund.

This bill amends senate bill 1167 passed in 2023. It brings down the sunset of section 72-1204 and 72-1205 of Idaho code and will take effect on July, 1 2025. It repeals section 72-1206 of Idaho code and also amends section 63-3638 of Idaho code and will take effect on June, 30 2026. This removes In-Demand Careers Fund Language; the bill deletes any language related to the In-Demand Careers Fund from the sales tax distribution provisions, ensuring that tax revenue allocations are no longer tied to a fund that no longer exists.

Amends existing law to revise provisions regarding the public charter school facilities program.

Charter schools are public schools funded by taxpayers. To help established charter schools secure lower interest rates on bonds, the state created the charter school credit enhancement. Twenty-one charter schools have used the tool, resulting in annual interest savings of $11.8m, or a projected $112m over a fifteen-year period. However, this tool has hit its statutory cap. This bill would raise the cap on the overall capacity of the tool so more qualifying schools may apply to participate.

Amends existing law to revise provisions regarding requirements for operating a public charter school.

This legislation would provide admission preference to families with at least one (1) parent or legal guardian on active duty or active guard and reserve duty, as defined in 10 U.S.C. 101. The intent is to support military families by giving their children priority access to charter schools, recognizing the unique challenges these families face while their loved ones serve and move due to Permanent Change of Station (PCS) orders.