State Board of Education budget pitch centers on IT, school safety and $15 million workforce grant

Kevin Campbell, Budget and Policy Analyst with the Legislative Services Office, presented the Office of the State Board of Education (OSB) FY2026 request and described the office’s responsibilities under Idaho Code §33‑101 and its three divisions: OSB administration, IT and data management, and school safety and security.

Campbell said the office “currently has 84.25 authorized FTPs with 8 vacancies” and showed that OSB’s largest division is administration; IT and data management was described as the next largest with roughly 27 FTEs and the school safety program was described in the presentation as having a smaller complement (presented as 7.5 FTP and a base budget of $1,300,000). Campbell explained the office relies on a mix of funds, including indirect cost recovery (SWICAP), miscellaneous revenue from registration of private postsecondary institutions and, per statute and presentation, an annual $300,000 transfer from the public school income fund to the School Safety and Security Assessment Fund.

The presentation listed recent transfers and enhancements that have driven growth in the OSB budget: a $30 million ongoing Empowering Parents grant created by the Legislature in FY2024; the FY2025 transfer of a $5,000,000…