Senate Education Committee advances bill to restore school staffing flexibility

The Senate Education Committee voted to send House Bill 305 to the Senate floor with a due-pass recommendation, advancing a proposal to restore a 9.5% staff-allowance flexibility for Idaho school districts.

Representative Galaviz, sponsor of House Bill 305, told the committee the bill would reverse a 2016 change that permanently reduced districts’ ability to hire fewer full-time-equivalent staff than their funding would otherwise allow. "If they had 1 more student than the statewide average, it would shrink that flexibility from 9 and a half percent to 8 and a half, 7 and a half and on," Representative Galaviz said, describing the statute’s one-way penalty.

Supporters said the flexibility lets districts direct funds to local priorities such as curriculum, transportation or special education rather than being forced to hire additional teachers solely to avoid losing funding. "Without this flexibility, the only way we could do that is on the back of our classified staff," said Scott Wolstead Hume, superintendent of Bonneville School District. Wolstead Hume told the committee Bonneville faces a roughly $4,000,000 shortfall under current rules and said cuts likely would fall to paraprofessionals, custodians and other classified positions.

Deputy Superintendent Spencer Barzee, State Department of Education, presented data explaining how districts are compared to peer groups under Idaho Code §33-1002 and how the penalty works. For example, Barzee said group 1’s statewide average classroom size was 16.77; any district above 17.77 in that group would lose 1% of its flexibility and never regain it. Barzee also said some districts have lost multiple percentage points since 2016 and that last year 25 districts were penalized.

Jason Moss, superintendent of Grace School District, described the local impact in a small district: losing about 3% of flexibility reduced discretionary funds by roughly $21,000, he said, affecting nonreimbursed transportation costs and funding for preschool special-education paraprofessionals. "We urge you to pass this and give us the flexibility back to pay these vital employees," Moss said.

Committee members asked whether restoring the flexibility would increase class sizes. Barzee said restoring the 9.5% allowance would raise the effective staffing cap by roughly 10% and, using current averages, would not drive class sizes to levels the committee considered problematic. Committee members also discussed parity with charter schools; Barzee said the statutory limit does not apply to charters and that 46 of 76 charters currently take advantage of broader flexibility.

Representative Galaviz and multiple senators signaled support for restoring the 9.5% flexibility while some members urged caution about broader changes this year and asked the sponsor to consult stakeholders before expanding the proposal beyond the restoration. "If there needs to be an adjustment we bring that back in another year," said Senator Burton Shaw.

Senator Woodward moved that the committee send House Bill 305 to the Senate floor with a due-pass recommendation. The motion was seconded, the committee voted "aye," and the chair declared the motion carried; no roll-call tally was recorded in the hearing transcript.

The committee then adjourned. The chair announced the committee’s schedule for the following day.