House Education Committee hears State Board and Department presentations on multiple rule changes including graduation requirements and special education manual

The House Education Committee met in a non-action session to hear presentations from State Board of Education and State Department of Education staff on a series of administrative rule changes affecting K–12 policy, including updated high‑school graduation requirements, revised content standards, changes to teacher certification pathways and apprenticeship recognition, updates to the Idaho Special Education Manual to address federal compliance, and other agency rule cleanups.

The changes carry potentially broad effects for districts, educators and students. Committee members pressed staff for details and data, and staff agreed to provide incorporated‑by‑reference documents and follow‑up figures but the committee took no votes.

State Board staff walking the committee through the docket said the proposed graduation‑requirements updates preserve the statewide minimum of 46 total credits — 29 core academic and 17 elective credits — while adding flexibility intended to make requirements more relevant to students pursuing college, career or military paths. Matthew Reiber, State Board of Education staff, told the committee that the rules package would add a requirement for digital literacy, create “localized pathways” options for districts, and replace the traditional senior project with a “future readiness project.”…