State Board of Education seeks $15 million workforce grant, adds staff and IT after program transfers

The Office of the State Board of Education asked the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee to consider a FY2026 budget that includes continued staff growth, new information-technology positions and a one-time $15 million workforce capacity grant proposed by Governor Little.

The request was presented by Kevin Campbell, a budget and policy analyst with the Legislative Services Office, and discussed with Josh Whitworth, executive director of the State Board of Education (OSB). Campbell told the committee that OSB’s budget is organized into three divisions — OSB Administration, IT and Data Administration, and School Safety and Security — and that the office currently has 84.25 authorized full-time positions with eight vacancies. He said the office’s five-year average authorized full-time position count is 55.95, which he described as “skewed low” because several functions have been recently transferred into OSB.

Campbell said the OSB administration division has a base budget of about $45.1 million and 49.75 FTP; IT and Data Management has 27 FTP and an $8.9 million base; School Safety and Security has 7.5 FTP and a $1.3 million base. He noted that trustee and benefit payments — including transfers such as the Empowering Parents grant and transfers to higher education institutions — are the largest spending category, representing about 86.7 percent…