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Idaho Falls finance director briefs Senate committee on school funding: 'funding is attendance‑based, not enrollment‑based'
Summary
Lynelle Farmer, director of finance for Idaho Falls School District, outlined Idaho’s school fund structure (IFAMS), support units and career‑ladder funding. She told senators average daily attendance and insurance costs have pressured districts, and special revenues, levies and protection payments complicate budgets.
Boise — Lynelle Farmer, director of finance for the Idaho Falls School District, told the Senate Education Committee that school funding in Idaho is driven by a “support unit” model and average daily attendance (ADA), and she warned that post‑COVID attendance patterns and rising insurance costs have put new pressure on district budgets.
“Funds stay within a bucket or a ledger and are audited separately,” Farmer said, describing Idaho Financial Accounting Reporting Management System (IFAMS) fund codes and the common categories—general operating fund (IFAMS 100), special revenue funds, debt service and capital funds. Farmer said the general fund covers salaries, benefits and limited capital while federal, state and local revenues feed special revenue programs such as Title funds and CTE.
Why this matters: The session offered a technical primer on how state law converts student counts into support…
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