Joint Finance Committee presses State Board of Education on staffing growth, reviews $15 million workforce grant request

BOISE — The Joint Finance‑Appropriations Committee on Jan. 30 heard a detailed presentation on the Office of the State Board of Education's (OSB) FY2026 budget that prompted lawmakers to press the board's executive director for follow‑up information on IT staffing, program eligibility for a governor‑proposed workforce grant and the scope of the Independent Study Idaho program.

Analyst Kevin Campbell of the Legislative Services Office opened the presentation, identifying the office and its statutory basis: “My name is Kevin Campbell. I am a Budget and Policy Analyst with the Legislative Services Office.” He told the committee OSB is organized into three divisions — administration, IT and data management, and school safety and security — and that the office currently has 84.25 authorized full‑time positions with eight vacancies and a five‑year average authorized count of 55.95.

The questions from committee members focused on why the centralized office has expanded and whether services now performed centrally would be better funded or delivered directly by institutions. Joshua Whitworth, executive director of the State Board of Education, responded that consolidation was intended to reduce duplicated functions across institutions and improve system‑level efficiency, invoking the board's emphasis on “systemness” and centralized risk‑management and audit functions. “Bringing that centrally allows us to focus and make sure that we're doing standard policies across all of those,” Whitworth said.

Why it matters

Committee members said the growth — from roughly 60 FTP in recent years to more than 80 — and multiple new line items warrant further detail before funding decisions. Representative Petzke asked whether OSB is spending money more effectively as a centralized unit or if more of the money should go directly to institutions. Senator Cook and others asked for performance metrics and a plan that ties requested positions to measurable outcomes.

Budget details and proposals

Campbell and Whitworth identified several recent transfers and enhancements that increased OSB's staff or budget: the transfer of IT and data management functions from the State Department of Education; the transfer of a school safety and security program (previously housed in the Division of Building Safety) that receives an annual transfer of $300,000 from the public school income fund; a $30 million ongoing Empowering Parents grant created by the Legislature in FY2024; and a $5 million broadband program moved to OSB in FY2025. OSB's budget has also been affected by federal COVID and ARPA funds in prior years, Campbell said.

The largest single FY2026 enhancement OSB asked the committee to consider is Governor Brad Little's proposed one‑time public‑private workforce capacity grant of $15 million. Campbell summarized the request: the grant “will allow institutions to build infrastructure capacity if it relates to workforce training and in‑demand careers and incentivize institutions to partner with local community members to raise funds for the projects.” Whitworth and Campbell described the matching design: a 1:1 state‑to‑private match for Boise State University, Idaho State University and the University of Idaho; and a 1:2 ratio for Lewis‑Clark State College and the four community colleges. Committee members asked for a refined list of eligible programs and a clearer statement of expected outcomes before funding.

Other requests discussed included five new positions requested for FY2026 (an IT systems and infrastructure engineer, a database engineer, an education effectiveness program manager, an education policy analyst and an Empowering Parents program analyst), behavioral threat assessment teams for K‑12 schools (a request the director said requires enabling legislation), and a revision to the base funding model for Independent Study Idaho. Campbell said Independent Study Idaho is a flexible, largely fee‑supported delivery model used by nontraditional students and noted that fees (about $160 per credit) presently fund most of the program; he added that components of the program’s self‑funding have fallen short as costs rose.

Requests for follow‑up and committee direction

Committee members requested additional information and directed follow‑up from the director and staff: an OSB plan describing long‑term IT staffing and contractor‑to‑employee cost comparisons; a refined eligibility list and outcome metrics for the proposed workforce capacity grant; clarification of which FY2026 requests will require legislation (Whitworth said the behavioral threat assessment request has a sponsor and is in committee); and more detail on Independent Study Idaho, including program size, cost and outcomes. Whitworth agreed to provide the requested materials and noted that many of the services raised are funded through student or user fees rather than direct appropriations.

No formal committee votes were taken during the OSB presentation. The Joint Finance committee will consider statewide budgeting decisions and related program maintenance items later in the week as it proceeds through FY2026 budget work.

Details and context

Campbell told the panel that roughly 90% of appropriated personnel costs have been spent on staff over the past five years and that OSB’s FY2024 enhancements included both the Empowering Parents Grant and transfers of IT and audit staff from institutions. Whitworth said the office supports roughly 300,000 students through its IT and data work and stressed rural districts’ need for centralized IT support. He described the workforce grant as intended to address capacity constraints — “you have to have students, you have to have faculty, and you have to have facilities” — in career areas where demand exceeds institutional capacity.

What the committee asked OSB to provide next

- An IT plan showing current contractor expenditures, proposed in‑house staffing, and expected backlog reductions

- A refined list of programs, degrees and certificates eligible for the $15 million public‑private workforce capacity grant and the outcome measures OSB will use to judge effectiveness

- Clarification of which budget requests require underlying legislation

- More detail on Independent Study Idaho, including participation counts, fee structure, and historical outcomes

Speakers cited

Kevin Campbell, Budget and Policy Analyst, Legislative Services Office (presenter)

Joshua Whitworth, Executive Director, Office of the State Board of Education (respondent)

Dr. Clark, President, State Board of Education (introduced by Whitworth)

Patrick Colson, Chief Financial Officer, Office of the State Board of Education (introduced)

Matthew Reiver, Chief External Engagement Officer, Office of the State Board of Education (introduced)

Representative Petzke (legislator)

Representative Tanner (legislator)

Senator Cook (legislator)

Representative Horman (legislator)

Senator Wintrow (legislator)

Ending

The committee paused OSB deliberations after the question period. Committee members said they will review the additional materials OSB agreed to provide before considering funding the FY2026 requests and the governor’s workforce grant proposal.