Business Session

ALIGNING IDAHO’S SCHOOL AGE AND PUBLIC SCHOOL ACCOUNTABILITY REQUIREMENTS

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED,

that the Idaho School Boards Association shall draft legislation to align Idaho Code Section 33-202, Idaho Code, with the state’s accountability requirements for public schools by changing the required school age from 16 to 18, unless the pupil has graduated early or has received their GED.

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

Idaho’s accountability measures for high schools rely upon students completing academic requirements, participating in college level work, and mastering industry level skills during a four-year window. Two of those four years occur in the final two years of high school, when most students are older than 16. Section 33-202, Idaho Code, should be amended to support state accountability expectations for schools by changing the required school age from 16 to 18, unless the pupil has graduated early or has received their GED.

RECOMMENDATION OF THE ISBA EXECUTIVE BOARD: DO PASS

K-12 FUNDING FORMULA PRINCIPLES

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED,

that the Idaho School Boards Association shall work with the Idaho Legislature to adopt a funding formula that is based upon the following principles:

• Predictability: It should have the ability to accurately predict and budgets in coming years;
• Adequacy: It should provide sufficient funding for districts and charter schools to provide essentials needs to all students, pay competitive wages with neighboring states and the private sector, and keep pace with inflation and cost of living;
• Transparency: The process should be clear where the money is coming from, how it is being spent, and easy to understand by all stakeholders;
• Stability: There should be no cliffs from year to year;
• Uniform and Thorough: It should provide support for students so they can demonstrate growth, fund the additional needs of special populations, and address facility and safety needs;
• Quality Staffing: Honors the experience of staff, honors the education of staff, and provides funding to recruit and retain qualified staff.
• Holds harmless: No LEA should lose funding, i.e., the cost per pupil is not lower than the current funding model; and the new model should take into account growing enrollment;
• Enrollment: Maintain enrollment-based funding recognizing that districts must staff, maintain adequate facilities, and purchase materials based on the number of students enrolled, and not based on the number of students that are present on a given day;
• Accountable: Tied to the LEA’s documented goals, and that all recipients of public funding are held to the same requirements.

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

For years, a K-12 public school funding formula legislative interim committee worked to develop a proposal for a new K-12 funding formula. While the proposed model was not approved, the 2019 Legislature did approve HB 293, which established definitions to be used in a Student-Based Funding Formula (SBFF) model that was to be considered by the 2020 Legislature. During the 2021 Legislative Session, the SBFF model was not addressed, leaving the issue unresolved for Idaho’s students, educators, and taxpayers.  We believe that having a standard of fundamental guiding principles provides a measure against which ideas can be weighed and evaluated. During the 2023 Legislative session funding formula ideas were discussed and a bill produced. These guiding principles represent a philosophical direction for funding public schools and reflect some of the concerns identified with the proposed models. 

RECOMMENDATION OF THE ISBA EXECUTIVE BOARD: DO PASS

OPEN ENROLLMENT PROGRAM AND BUILDING CAPACITY LIMITS

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED,

• that the Idaho School Boards Association supports modifying Idaho Code 33-1402 to allow districts to make open enrollment decisions based on the current allowable exceptions and include both building capacity and special program capacity in those exceptions. Also, that Idaho Code 33-1402 be modified to allow districts to list both building capacity and special program capacity in the required reporting sections.
• that Idaho Code 33-1403 be modified to allow districts to consider the enrollment requirements of special programs as an exception to the requirement.
• that Idaho Code 33-1403 section 4 be modified to add an exception that allows districts to transfer students to another school when the current school has reached or exceed capacity without parent consent while still requiring parent notification.

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

Open enrollment can be an important component of school choice. While we support the use of open enrollment to allow parents to make decisions about which school their student attends, the solo capacity exception being tied to grade level enrollment makes the process problematic for providing students with the best opportunities.

Many districts have special programs for Career Technical Education (CTE), gifted and talented programs, and self-contained special education. Those programs require specialized equipment, uniquely certified staff that are hard to fill positions, and often large, specialized locations. The programs also have students from multiple grade levels and/or schools enrolled in the programs. Those programs often have to be accredited and reported under an existing traditional school. The traditional school may have capacity at a given grade level, but the special program may be at capacity. The district cannot easily add additional capacity due to the unique needs and requirements of the programs. As written, the law may not allow districts to deny enrollment to a special program if the school/grade level which the program is housed under has capacity. An exception to the law that allows capacity within a special program will alleviate this issue.

Currently it is possible that multiple grade levels in a building may be above capacity with in-district students while one grade level is below capacity. As the law is written a district would have to take open enrolled students into the one grade level that is below capacity even though it may cause the building to exceed its capacity. That can cause the district issues with fire code, staffing, lunch programs, etc. In addition to grade level capacity, districts should be able to consider the building capacity when considering open enrollment. If a building has reached capacity a district needs the ability to limit open enrollment.

Many special programs have legal, age, proficiency, or skill level requirements for entry into a special program. Gifted and talented programs often require that a student score at a certain level on entry exams to be eligible for the program. Special education programs can have age and/or legal requirements before services can be provided to the student. When these programs are also stand-alone schools, districts need the ability to verify the open enrolling students have met the same legal or skill requirements that in-district students must meet before allowing enrollment into the school/program. Districts need an exception that allows schools/programs to require open enrolling students to meet the same requirements as in-district students when being considered for enrollment.

RECOMMENDATION OF THE ISBA EXECUTIVE BOARD: DO PASS

REQUIREMENTS FOR PARAPROFESSIONAL EMPLOYMENT IN IDAHO

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED,

that the Idaho School Boards Association requests that IDAPA 08.02.02.10 be amended to allow districts to use an Idaho State Board of Education approved local assessment to allow paraprofessionals to demonstrate their knowledge and ability to assist students and teachers, or use existing Idaho State Board of Education approved paraprofessional subject matter competency tests.

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

One of the most common employment needs in education across the state of Idaho is the paraprofessional. The paraprofessional shortage across our state continues to have a detrimental impact on Idaho’s schools and students. There are many causes for this shortage, however the current ETS-ParaPro (PRAXIS) requirement is one of the main barriers. As of December 23, 2022, local districts are no longer able to administer the PRAXIS. Instead, prospective employees are required to go to a testing site where they are required to pay an increased $80 fee up front prior to testing. The testing system is already backlogged nearly one month for scheduling the test, and should the prospective employee fail the test by even a single point, they would need to wait at least another month to retest. In an effort to resolve this issue, Human Resource Directors from various districts recently got together to propose changes to the current language as indicated below. These changes would still fulfill the federal requirements regarding paraprofessional employment and put Idaho’s requirements in line with several other states. This added flexibility would allow greater local control but still provide the State Board of Education with oversight of any exam that is developed and administered in lieu of the PRAXIS.

RECOMMENDATION OF THE ISBA EXECUTIVE BOARD: DO PASS

CAREER LADDER PLACEMENT FOR SCHOOL NURSE AND SPEECH/LANGUAGE PERSONNEL

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED,

that the Idaho School Boards Association work with the Idaho Legislature to amend Idaho Code 33-1004B to create a mechanism to attract nurses, speech/language pathologists, and other licensed individuals to work in Idaho public schools and to place them appropriately on the career ladder based on professional, out of school, and in school experiences. This could include but is not limited to utilizing the method used for CTE teachers in Idaho Code 33-1004B(6)(a) in which specific number of years of industry experience equates to specific placement on the career ladder.

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

The intent of the resolution is to develop a system for paying school nurse and speech/language personnel a salary that is commensurate with their professional and/or in-school experiences and to assist school districts in the recruitment and retention of such professional staff.

RECOMMENDATION OF THE ISBA EXECUTIVE BOARD: DO PASS

STREAMLINING CONSISTENT ISBA LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED,

that the Idaho School Boards Association continues these legislative priorities if they may again be legislatively reviewed in advance of the 2024 Legislative session.

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

ISBA members have consistently brought ISBA Resolutions on these matters. Some of these priorities may never be fully accomplished (such as opposing school vouchers), and others may take more time to accomplish. Instead of asking each resolution to be renewed, this streamlines the process and provides an avenue for other consistent priorities to be included in one Resolution.

RECOMMENDATION OF THE ISBA EXECUTIVE BOARD: DO PASS

BOND AND LEVY ELECTION COMMUNICATIONS

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED,

that the Idaho School Boards Association work with the Idaho Legislature to amend Idaho Code § 34-913 and § 34-913 to move the requirements of § 34-913.1.5 and § 34-914.1.4 to Idaho Code § 74-604, which is more commensurate with the intent of this language, and to provide more flexibility to taxing districts to permit brief messages reminding voters of elections or directing voters to websites or communications with more in depth information about elections that also include the required disclosure language.

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

This resolution directs the Idaho School Boards Association (ISBA) to work with the Legislature to amend existing statute to allow school districts and other taxing districts more flexibility in communicating brief messages and reminders about public elections.

RECOMMENDATION OF THE ISBA EXECUTIVE BOARD:  DO PASS