Idaho Bills

Adds to existing law to require all Title IX compliance to be vested in the president of each institution of higher education in the state of Idaho.

Amends existing law to revise provisions regarding denial of school attendance and denial of transfer enrollment applications.

Amends and adds to existing law to establish provisions requiring permission for instruction addressing human sexuality.

Amends existing law to transfer responsibility to the State Board of Education for distributing certain moneys to reimburse school districts for the cost of internet and certain other services.

Adds to existing law to provide for human growth and development instruction in public schools.

This legislation requires Idaho public schools to provide human growth and development instruction for students in grades 5 through 12. The instruction will include scientifically accurate materials, such as ultrasound videos and animations, showing fetal development and the stages of human growth. The goal is to ensure students receive accurate and consistent education on human biology and development.

Adds to existing law to provide for a distraction-free learning policy.

Extensive scientific research has identified mobile devices as detrimental to students' learning. This legislation requires that all school districts assess the impact of mobile device use on students and develop policies that promote distraction-free learning. It grants local school districts the flexibility to create policies tailored to their specific needs and circumstances.

Amends existing law to revise provisions regarding advanced opportunities.

The Advanced Opportunities (AO) program provides funds to all Idaho students (public, private, and homeschool) to help pay for CTE fees, dual-credit courses, AP tests, and other academic endeavors to help students “go on” to post-secondary training or education. The longstanding practice has been for homeschool students to use their funds through partnerships with local school districts. However, recent interpretations counter the intent of the Legislature. This law clarifies that homeschool students can also use AO funds to obtain dual credit through community colleges. This bill also provides alignment between public school and private school AO programs for college entrance exams, advising for students who have taken 15 credits through AO, how the state handles a student’s failure on courses or exams, and paying fees for community college dual enrollment.

Amends and repeals existing law to provide for local school boards to require internet filtering and to remove provisions regarding digital and online library resources and wireless technology standards.

There are currently three sections of code that require local school districts and charter schools to have internet filtering policies: 33-132, 33-137, and 33-1025. This legislation follows the intent of the Idaho Code Cleanup Act by consolidating the three sections into one section, 33-132 and repealing 33-137 and 33-1025. Additionally, it amends 33-2508 to correct a code reference to the new consolidated section 33-132.

Amends existing law to revise provisions regarding the Public School Facilities Cooperative Fund and the School District Facilities Fund.

This legislation makes the first significant changes to provisions governing the usage of the Public School Facilities Cooperative Fund since its creation in HB 743 (2006), nearly 20 years ago. By providing a state backstop for remediating unsafe school facilities, should local efforts fail, this legislation helped to end a long-running school facilities lawsuit in the Legislature’s favor. Since 2006, the fund has been used only once, to address an unsafe school facility in the Plummer-Worley School District. The primary reason it has been little-used is the provision requiring the state to appoint a District Supervisor over the school district while the state-funded project is being completed. This legislation removes the requirement for the state to appoint a District Supervisor for smaller projects, which are more commonly needed at smaller schools in rural Idaho. This is important because rural Idaho school districts, which often have large, untaxable tracts of federally owned land within their boundaries, sometimes do not have enough bonding capacity to replace an entire building. For this reason, the legislation expands the use of this fund to allow school districts to access it for a project for which their authorized bond is inadequate to complete the project. This legislation also changes the mechanism by which most of the costs are repaid by school districts into the fund. The law currently provides for a state-imposed plant facilities levy, which runs for the shorter of 20 years or the full repayment of the school district’s share of the project costs. Under this legislation, the school’s share of the costs would instead be repaid from the school district’s Public Schools Facilities Fund distributions, after the usage of such funds for any bonds already issued prior to July 1, 2025.

Amends existing law to remove a provision that limits public comment at school board meetings to items listed on the meeting agenda.

This legislation clarifies Idaho Code 33-510 regarding public comment at School Board meetings. Public comment at School Board meetings should not be limited to agenda items only.

Amends existing law to revise provisions regarding the budget of the Idaho Bureau of Educational Services for the Deaf and the Blind.

This bill requires the Idaho Educational Services for the Deaf and the Blind (IESDB) to submit their annual budget request to the Legislature and the Governor as it was approved by their Board. Current law requires IESDB to go through a public process of budget hearings and public testimony, but then requires IESDB to submit to the State Superintendent of Public Instruction by August 1 for the Superintendent’s review and approval. This bill removes that second step and requires IESDB to submit their budget request consistent with other state agencies. This legislation aligns Idaho Code with the current process of how IESDB submits its budget.

Amends existing law to increase the maximum tuition for community colleges.

This legislation increases the annual tuition cap and limits annual tuition increases at Idaho’s community colleges. The Legislature has not raised the community college tuition cap since 2008. As a result, artificially low tuition rates have had a distorting effect on the higher education marketplace. Demand for community college education has never been greater. Yet colleges are artificially constrained in their ability to meet that demand. They cannot pay faculty competitive salaries, especially in the fields most sought after by prospective students. They cannot acquire the necessary equipment to help students compete in high technology fields or resources to provide and maintain facilities to meet soaring demand. This bill updates the community college tuition cap to meet the realities of 2026. It raises the cap to $3,250 while continuing to limit annual tuition increases to no more than 10%. This will produce modest revenue increases for the colleges while minimizing the impact on students and their families. This legislation balances the pressing needs of community colleges with the Legislature’s desire to keep tuition rates reasonable.

Amends existing law to revise provisions regarding civics instruction.

This legislation updates the existing requirement that all secondary students demonstrate that they have met the state civics and government standards through the successful completion of the civics test as a graduation requirement. Rather than taking a “civics test” determined at the local level and based on the 100-question naturalization assessment, the new “civics test” will be developed by the State Department of Education and approved by the State Board of Education. This legislation outlines the components of the Idaho content standards in American government that must be included in this new test. This requirement would apply to all secondary students beginning in the 2026-2027 school year. Students graduating prior to January 1, 2029 who have satisfied the previous civics requirement prior to the 2026-2027 school year are exempt from completing this new requirement.