State Board of Education approves legislative proposals including enrollment-based funding

BOISE, Idaho (KIF) - The Idaho State Board of Education approved draft legislation for more than a dozen proposals including permanently shifting to enrollment, rather than daily attendance as the basis for calculating public school funding on Wednesday.

Enrollment-based funding has been in place since spring 2020, when the Board first used its rule-making authority to make the shift in response to the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Enrollment-based funding has proven to be a more accurate and stable method for funding school districts and charter schools, which saw daily attendance fluctuate since the pandemic started. The current temporary rule expires when the legislature adjourns sine die next spring.

The Board also approved draft legislative language that would make two small changes in statute that if approved by lawmakers, would enable the Board to develop an apprenticeship program for teachers.

Board staff will work with education stakeholders to develop the program standards that will maintain current overall quality standards. The program will initially be geared for paraprofessionals (teacher’s aides).

The draft legislation is posted on the State Board of Education’s website under Tab 4 of the Policy, Planning and Governmental Affairs agenda.

Other Board actions included:

• Approved proposed Administrative Code changes.
• Approved FY 2024 line item budget proposals from Idaho’s higher education institutions. The line item requests are unique this year because they are comprised of “collaborative initiatives” to expand health care workforce training, cybersecurity training, improve student retention and degree completion and a create joint nuclear training program.
• Approved Boise State University’s proposed 5-year contract for Men’s Head Basketball Coach Leon Rice. The contract sets an annual base salary of $900,000 per year with annual increases of $50,000 per year not including incentives.
• Approved Idaho State University’s proposed 5-year contract for Women’s Head Basketball Coach Seton Sobolewski. The contract sets a base salary of $139,287 with annual increases of $6,000 not including incentives.

The Board’s agenda included an information item regarding the National Collegiate Athletic Association Academic Progress Rate (APR) for Boise State University, Idaho State University, and University of Idaho and the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Return on Athletics Report for Lewis-Clark State College. The reports highlight student athlete academic performance and graduation rates, and each of Idaho’s four-year institutions is meeting its benchmark, despite challenges of the COVID pandemic.

Some highlights of the most recent reports include:

• Boise State University tied a record for multi-year all-department APR, and its single-year APR is the second highest in school history.
• Four of Idaho State University’s teams had a perfect APR score, and nine teams improved their single-year or multi-year scores from the previous year.
• The University of Idaho multi-year scores have remained consistent, and one program saw significant progress as a result of improvement plan implementation.
• 90-percent of athletes were retained by or graduated from Lewis-Clark State College, and the institution received the silver-level Champions of Character Five-Star Award.

Wednesday’s actions occurred during the Board’s August regular meeting held at the Board office in downtown Boise.