State Board of Education approves pending rules for submission to the legislature

BOISE, Idaho (KIFI) - The Idaho State Board of Education approved five education-related pending rules on Monday that will be submitted for consideration by the Idaho Legislature when it convenes in January.

All of the pending rules went through the negotiated rule making process earlier in the year, including a 21-day public comment period.

The Board approved three Omnibus pending rules, one of which includes a provision allowing students to take the state administered college entrance exam either in the 11^th or 12^th grade as part of the state’s comprehensive assessment. Currently, students take the exam in the 11^th grade, and only students who missed taking the test in the 11^th grade can take it during their 12^th grade year.

This rule also removes the college entrance exam as a graduation requirement, making it optional for students to take as part of the state comprehensive assessment system.

The Omnibus pending rule also changes the name of the 8^th Grade Learning Plan to the “8^th Grade Career Pathways Plan,” which is updated annually until a student graduates.

Another change involves the minimum requirements needed for school psychologists to hold an interim certificate. The proposed rule reduced the requirement for practitioners pursuing an interim certificate with a psychologist endorsement to hold a bachelor’s degree instead of a master’s degree, as is currently required. However, comments received during the negotiated rule making process from school leaders throughout the state urged the master’s degree requirement remain in place, which is now reflected in the pending rule.

“The complexities of our special education students, the individual learning plans, the testing, all of that requires someone who has training beyond the bachelor’s degree,” said Board Member Dr. Linda Clark who is a former school superintendent. “There is just a wealth of information and knowledge that is needed that you can’t get as a part of the first (bachelor’s) degree.”

The Board also approved two other pending rules pertaining to the Board’s Postsecondary Credit Scholarship and the Work Study Program, which removes duplicative language from both rules that is now included in statute, and no longer needed in either rule.