Joint finance committee hears overview of public school support budget; fewer "support units," end of federal COVID funds cited as drivers

Jared Tetrault, deputy division manager with the Legislative Services Office’s Budget and Policy Analysis Division, and State Superintendent Debbie Critchfield told the Joint Finance‑Appropriations Committee on March 4 that Idaho’s public school support appropriation is being shaped by fewer state funding “support units,” shifts from enrollment to attendance in state counting, changes to career‑ladder calculations and recent reductions in federal COVID relief money.

Tetrault described the public school support program as the state’s funding mechanism for roughly 115 local school districts and about 75 charter schools and said the program operates under the state constitution and Idaho Code Title 33. He summarized the program into divisions that include teachers, student support (a new division), facilities, central services and specialty programs such as the Idaho Digital Learning Academy and services for the deaf and blind.

Why it matters: support units drive most state K‑12 distributions. Tetrault said a support unit funds 1.55 full‑time equivalent positions for staffing allocation purposes and that the state’s per‑support‑unit allocation is roughly $147,000. He told committee members that an estimated drop of about 200 support units next year reduces required appropriations even where enrollment is flat because Idaho now uses average daily attendance (state law) rather than raw enrollment to determine unit counts.