State board budget draws scrutiny over staffing growth, IT transfers and proposed workforce grant

The Joint Finance Committee reviewed the Office of the State Board of Education’s (OSB) budget and asked officials to justify recent staffing increases, transfers of IT and safety programs into OSB, and a one‑time $15 million workforce capacity grant proposed by the governor.

OSB oversight analyst Kevin Campbell told the committee OSB is charged under Idaho law with governance, coordination and administration of state educational institutions and their related programs, and that recent transfers have increased the agency’s size: "OSB currently has 84.25 authorized FTEs with 8 vacancies," Campbell said. He noted the office’s five‑year average authorized FTE count is 55.95, a figure skewed low because of recent transfers into OSB.

The question of why OSB has grown drew most attention. Josh Whitworth, executive director of the State Board of Education, said the board’s work emphasizes "systemness" — centralizing functions where coordination leads to efficiency — and pointed to three main drivers of growth: internal audit staff moved from institutions into OSB, the transfer of IT and data management from the State Department of Education, and the addition of school safety and security work that was moved into OSB in FY 2022. "Bringing that centrally allows us to focus and make sure that we're doing standard policies across all of those," Whitworth told the committee.

Why it matters: OSB…