Idaho Education Department asks legislature for staff, testing funds and higher drivers-education reimbursements

The State Department of Education asked the Joint Finance-Appropriations Preparation Committee on Oct. 29 for a package of ongoing and one-time dollars to address growing workloads in special education, improve services for tribal students, support career-ready programs and to transition to a new statewide student assessment platform.

Those requests, summarized by Jared Tetro, deputy division manager with the Legislative Services Office, and State Superintendent Debbie Critchfield, were driven by higher workloads and a mix of federal, state and one-time funds the department oversees. The department asked for new staff for dispute resolution and charter special-education support, a second Indian education coordinator, $2.7 million to pilot and transition to a new statewide assessment platform, and an increase in drivers-education reimbursement from $150 to $300 per student.

Why it matters: committee members flagged that special-education caseloads, pandemic-era grant timing and long-standing auditor concerns are producing operational stress for districts and for the department. Lawmakers pressed for detail on how federal dollars were spent and how proposed ongoing requests would be sustained, and they sought clarity on fund balances before approving new continuous appropriations.

Tetro opened the hearing with the department’s budget snapshot and fund detail, telling the committee the Department of Education is organized into two program areas with roughly 126.5 authorized full‑time equivalents and about 9.5 vacancies at the time of the budget submission. He highlighted that several dedicated funds — including the driver-training fund and a career-ready students fund — contain cash balances that reflect multi-year…