District 93 School Board to attend ISBA Day in Boise

BONNEVILLE COUNTY, Idaho (KIFI)- Idaho state legislators and the Idaho State School Board Association have come together for their annual Day on the Hill, where Idaho school board members from all over the state are invited to the state capital in Boise to discuss with lawmakers how recent laws or future laws may affect the education system of the state.

Chairman of the school board Chad Dance as well as two other board members from Bonneville District 93 plan to make the trip to Boise and attend the two-day activities.

For Dance, this will be the first time he's had a chance to attend the two-day event. He looks forward to meeting with the different Idaho lawmakers and raising some of his concerns with them.

"I have some questions for them about some legislation that is pending," Dance said.

One of the bills he plans to ask about is the recently signed into law, the new state-provided health insurance for teachers. Dance says his main concern is how it will work out financially.

"I'd like to get some assurance of is that the bill that the governor signed provides health benefits to district employees, teachers, and classified workers," Dance said. "I just want to get some assurance that that is going to be funded because you can pass a bill. And as I understand it, until it goes through JFAC and is funded in the budget, you know, we're not sure."

He also plans to ask about the recent changes to how school board bond voting will now work. "Well, one of the bills that I understand passed in the House was House Bill 5:12. And it's a bill that doesn't allow the district to rerun a bond within eleven months," Dance said. "So let's say, for example, we have a bond in March and election in March, a bond election in March, and it doesn't pass. We can't rerun that bond for eleven months. And I'd just like to get a better understanding of that because I don't understand why it's problematic to rerun the bond if we can go to our patrons and work out something that is better."

Dance and the other members of the school board are excited to not only get some answers from state legislators but also work with them to provide a better future to the education of the future of Idaho.