House education committee holds bill on school safety records, training after debate on public-disclosure exemption

BOISE, Idaho — The Idaho House Committee on Education voted 7-6 Jan. 30, 2025, to hold House Bill 43 in committee at the call of the chair after a hearing on a measure that would clarify background-check requirements for people with unsupervised contact with students, require districts to develop and annually review emergency operations plans, require initial and annual staff emergency training, and exempt records and information generated under those requirements from public disclosure.

Representative Chris Mathias, R‑District 19, introduced the bill and told the committee the provisions mostly formalize practices already in use. "This is something schools are already doing," Mathias said, adding the change to the Public Records Act exemption aims to limit access by bad actors while preserving parents' ability to see relevant information. "I think this provision strikes the perfect balance."

Mathias said the language clarifies a long statute that has tried to do multiple unrelated things and moves language already used in other code sections into clearer subsections. He listed three principal components: universal background checks for anyone who has unsupervised contact with students, a…