Idaho House committee trims size of school safety advisory board to ensure quorum

BOISE — The Idaho House Committee on Education voted 8-4 to send House Bill 42 to the floor with a due-pass recommendation after a lengthy debate over who should have voting seats on the state School Safety and Security Advisory Board.

Representative Ted Hill, R-District 14, said the bill is intended to shrink the board to a smaller, more functional group that can regularly reach quorum while continuing to invite a wide set of experts. "If you get the right people in the right place, good structure, good leadership, leverages resources out there," Hill said. "I like the idea of having a lean, mean fighting machine here that pulls in resources and has the ability."

Supporters and opponents agreed on the board’s purpose but disagreed about losing guaranteed seats for school officials and law enforcement. Matthew Reiber, strategy and planning officer for the State Board of Education, said the board’s invitation list will remain broad. "We…