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Committee advances bill allowing traditional public schools or buildings to convert to charter status
Summary
Senator Janie Ward Engelking’s bill to allow traditional public schools or individual buildings to convert to charter status without a 60% public patron vote passed the Senate Education Committee and will move to the floor with a due‑pass recommendation.
The Senate Education Committee voted to send Senate Bill 1097 to the Senate floor with a due‑pass recommendation after a committee debate about allowing traditional public schools or single buildings to convert to charter status.
Sponsor Senator Janie Ward Engelking, R‑District 18, told the committee the bill would let local school districts choose to convert any configuration — from a single school building to a full district — to charter status if the district elects to do so and approves a board‑adopted plan that must be in place before conversion. "I thought, wow. There's some things that they can do that wouldn't it be great if a traditional public school could do those same things?" Ward Engelking said, describing charter flexibility on curriculum, scheduling and resource allocation.
The bill removes language that required a 60% patron vote to convert; under the proposed change, conversion would proceed by majority vote of the local school board and only if a plan is approved. Ward Engelking said nothing in the bill is mandatory: "It’s only an option."
Committee members asked procedural and funding questions. Senator Cook asked how state funding streams would be handled; Ward Engelking replied funding details would likely be set in rule and that existing code already differentiates funding for charter schools and traditional districts. Senator Whiting said she had discussed interest with the Boise School District and that a district might consider converting a single building rather than an entire district.
Senator Nichols moved that the committee send SB 1097 to the floor with a due‑pass recommendation; the motion was moved and seconded and carried by voice vote.
The bill’s sponsor indicated she will carry the measure to the full Senate.
Key provisions stated by the sponsor and on the bill’s first page include allowing conversion of any configuration of schools, maintaining that the change is optional rather than mandatory, and requiring an approved plan before conversion could occur.
