State Board budget grows as lawmakers press for details on IT, workforce grants and independent study funding

The Idaho Joint Finance Committee heard a presentation on the Office of the State Board of Education’s (OSB) FY2026 budget request and probed several large new items, including a proposed $15 million one‑time public–private workforce capacity grant, continued growth in centrally managed IT and audit functions, and base funding questions for Independent Study Idaho.

Kevin Campbell, budget and policy analyst with the Legislative Services Office, told the committee that “Idaho Code section 33‑101 creates the Board for the general supervision, governance, and control of all state educational institutions,” and that the Board has centralized several functions in recent years, including IT, auditing and a school safety program moved into OSB in FY2022.

The nut of the discussion was growth in authorized full‑time positions and several large enhancements. Campbell said OSB currently has 84.25 authorized full‑time positions with eight vacancies and a five‑year average authorized count of 55.95, noting recent transfers from other agencies skew that five‑year average downward. He outlined prior-large items that have become part of OSB’s budget, including a $30 million ongoing Empowering Parents grant enacted in FY2024 and a $5 million broadband program transferred in FY2025.

OSB Executive Director Joshua Whitworth described the board’s rationale for centralizing services such as internal audit, risk management and IT, saying the approach is intended to reduce duplication across institutions and…