Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Education School Funding topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee introduces RS 32448 to modernize school funding formula, directs $14.2 million to small and rural districts
Summary
Rep. Wendy Horman told the committee RS 32448 would convert a discretionary funding amount to a per-pupil allocation and move toward a weighted per-student formula next year; a fiscal note of $14.2 million was reported and the RS was introduced by voice vote.
Representative Wendy Horman (District 32) presented RS 32448, a proposal she described as the first step to modernize Idaho's public-school funding formula, which she said is more than three decades old.
Horman said the bill converts a discretionary portion of school funding to a per-pupil amount but preserves the existing structure for small rural school districts for the current year. She said the RS calls for moving to a weighted per-student funding formula next year and that the fiscal note is $14,200,000, adding that "all of that money will go to small and rural districts to make sure they receive the enhancements they currently receive under the existing funding formula."
Representative Crane moved to introduce RS 32448 and thanked Horman for simplifying a previously complex interim committee product. Representative Birch asked whether the RS would treat charter schools differently; Horman replied it affects "the same way it affects any other school of that same size." Birch also asked about the enrollment cutoff that determines "small rural" status; Horman said it does not change the existing funding formula's rules and offered to walk members through the details later.
The committee voted to introduce RS 32448 by voice vote.
