Joint finance committee reviews public school support budget as attendance-driven funding drops support units

Boise — Lawmakers on the Joint Finance‑Appropriations Committee heard a high‑level briefing on the public school support budget on March 4, when Jared Tetrault of the Legislative Services Office told members the shift back to attendance‑based counting after the COVID period reduced state‑funded support units by roughly 200 for the coming year.

That reduction in support units, Tetrault said, explains much of the year‑over‑year movement in the teachers and student support budget lines even when total dollars have not fallen proportionally. "For every support unit the state will fund 1.55 full time equivalent positions," he said, describing how the state allocates staff allowance funding to districts and charters.

The presentation framed why the change matters to the budget. The state general fund portion of public schools is shown in the committee materials at roughly $2.7 billion for the current year, with dedicated funds and federal grants supplementing that total. Tetrault told the committee the Public Education Stabilization Fund (PSIF) is used to reconcile appropriations and distributions and noted the committee previously repurposed roughly $105 million of one‑time monies into discretionary spending rather than depositing them to PSIF.

Key context: Idaho funding formulas and statutory language in Idaho Code Title 33 determine how many dollars flow to which programs, Tetrault said. The committee materials break the public…