Upcoming Board Meeting this week: Thursday, October 26th @ 4:00PM

Anyone interested in attending, we accommodate to any parents that want to know more or get involved with what the Coalition does. Feel free to call if you have interest in attending.

Please call Murphy Olmstead at (208) 871-3885 if you're planning to attend.

The meeting will be held at the Idaho Wheat Commission building in downtown Boise near the Capitol.
Address:
821 W. State Street
Boise, ID 83702

SCHOOL FUNDING COMMITTEE GRAPPLES WITH BARRIERS TO CHANGE

Clark Corbin 10/16/2017

The Legislature’s public school funding interim committee got another taste Monday of how difficult it will be to transition to an enrollment-based funding model.

Last month, the committee recommended that Idaho abandon the average daily attendance-based funding model and create an enrollment-based model.

The difference might sound like semantics, but budget and policy experts told committee members the change won’t be easy, or necessarily free.

Public school funding is the state’s largest general fund expense. The 2017 Legislature appropriated about $1.7 billion to distribute among Idaho’s public and charter schools.

With about 300,000 students in the system, that’s complicated enough. But policymakers would likely need to repeal or amend several state laws to facilitate the funding change.

State laws addressing or defining average daily attendance calculations, support units, staff allowances, education support programs and more could require retooling.

State officials would also need to define “full-time enrollment” and overload enrollment.

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They also must consider online courses, dual enrollment, fractional enrollment and student mobility issues that arise when students move from one school to another during the same year.

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October Newsletter

SCHOOL FUNDING COMMITTEE GRAPPLES WITH BARRIERS TO CHANGE