Senate panel advances bill easing restrictions on trustee spouses in very small school districts

The Idaho Senate Education Committee voted to send Senate Bill 10-45 to the full Senate with a due-pass recommendation after testimony that small rural districts struggle to recruit and retain staff.

Quinn Perry, deputy director of the Idaho School Boards Association, told the committee the bill would carve out a narrow exception to Idaho Code section 33-507 for districts with a fall enrollment of 400 students or less. "My name is Quinn Perry, and I'm the deputy director for the Idaho School Boards Association," Perry said. She said the measure would allow a trustee's spouse who is a teacher or pupil‑service staff member to be employed under a category 2 contract in those very small districts while preserving limits on trustee involvement.

The bill's supporters said the current statute requires trustees whose spouses work for the district to abstain from any…