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Superintendent: Idaho schools face near-$100 million special‑education shortfall; department seeks one‑time high‑needs bridge and regional supports
Summary
State Superintendent Debbie Critchfield told JFAC that districts are covering roughly a $100 million special‑education gap and proposed one-time funding including a $5 million high‑needs fund (largely from interest transfers) and a $1 million regional pilot to pool specialized personnel for rural districts.
Debbie Critchfield, Idaho's superintendent of public instruction, framed the policy context behind the budget numbers and urged the committee to consider both immediate supports and longer-term distribution changes.
"As we look at all the trends...we are seeing a decrease overall in the numbers of students statewide," Critchfield said, explaining why support-unit forecasts and funding formulas must be understood alongside enrollment and demographic changes. She pointed to declining births and shifting family choices as drivers of enrollment variation across districts.
On specia…
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