Committee advances bill requiring districts to provide parents online education about school-issued devices

Senate Bill 10 70, introduced by Senator Kevin Cook, advanced from the Senate Education Committee after a public hearing and extended discussion about school-issued devices and online safety.

"There is no way to make that Chromebook or laptop completely, safe for children," Senator Kevin Cook told the committee while describing the bill's purpose: require school districts to make a free online parent education program available and to obtain a signed acknowledgement that the parent received the URL. The bill text, as explained in the hearing, lists four required topics for the program: the potential dangers, the nature of online threats, the ways children participate online that create risk, and best practices for parents to keep children safe.

Multiple witnesses and stakeholders testified in favor. Quinn Perry, deputy director of the Idaho School Boards Association, said the bill was written to produce minimal impact on districts and to help districts engage parents. "We believe how the bill is written is minimal impact on the school district itself," Perry said. Matt Todd, who testified that he developed the online program in collaboration with the Idaho Internet Crimes Against Children Coalition and local ICAC detectives, told the committee, "The program will be provided free of charge." Todd said districts would receive a district-wide login and that no personal data would be collected by the program; the acknowledgement form is intended only to document that a district provided the URL to parents.

Victor Dominguez, executive director of the Idaho Internet Crimes Against Children Coalition, urged the committee to treat awareness as prevention: "The only effective tool to make an impact on the abuse of children on the Internet is to prevent them from becoming victims to begin with," he said, and described sexting, cyberbullying and AI-altered images as part of the problem. Alexis Morgan, representing Idaho PTA, also supported the bill, saying, "The reality is is that no piece of technology is 100% safe when we're talking about the safety parameters for our kids."

Committee members probed implementation details. Senator Zito asked why legislation was needed if similar programs already exist; sponsors and witnesses replied that the program is not universally used and that the bill would standardize distribution and require districts to obtain an acknowledgement. Senator Simoroff asked how the program would serve parents with limited English skills; witnesses said the program's translation capabilities depend on the third-party platform and that districts could assist with translations locally. Senator Nichols asked where signed acknowledgement forms would be kept; sponsors said districts would maintain them if districts choose to treat the form as part of their records. Several committee members raised concerns that home Internet filters and parental capacity vary and that the training cannot fully replace parental oversight.

After public testimony and committee discussion, a motion to send Senate Bill 10 70 to the Senate floor with a due pass recommendation was moved and seconded and carried by voice vote. The transcript records the motion as carried without a roll-call tally; Senator Cook indicated he would carry the bill on the Senate floor.