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Committee advances permissive constitutional amendment allowing multi‑county school boards
Summary
The committee gave a favorable report to HB 380, which would allow contiguous counties to form permissive multi‑county school boards while preserving each system and requiring local approval and impact studies; supporters said the change could reduce administrative costs and shift funds to classrooms.
Representative Collins presented House Bill 380 as a permissive constitutional amendment to allow contiguous counties to form a multi‑county school board if local voters and boards approve the change. Collins said the proposal is voluntary, would not force school closures, and aims to achieve economies of scale so more funding reaches classrooms.
"It is completely permissive...every system would still have their county board," Collins said, adding that participating counties would negotiate membership, indebtedness and operational details and that the State Board would perform an impact study before implementation.
Members asked for clarity on how elected board representation and indebtedness would be handled; Collins responded that those details would be worked out by the participating counties and the state board would establish rules. Representative Gidley moved a favorable report and Representative Pascal seconded; the committee advanced HB 380 by voice vote.
Supporters said multi‑county boards could help smaller rural districts (some with fewer than 1,000 students) reduce administrative costs and put more resources into classrooms; opponents or cautious members asked for protections to ensure fair representation.
