Questions remain about Idaho’s $2B school facilities bill. Here’s how it could change

School districts across Idaho will soon get hundreds of millions of dollars to help repair and replace their crumbling buildings, an influx of funding that lawmakers said marks the largest investment in school facilities in state history. But lawmakers could still change the amount each district will get and the requirements to receive the funding.

House Bill 521 will provide $1.5 billion and redirect $500 million over 10 years to help schools fix their buildings and pay off their bonds and levies. Concerns over the way the money will be distributed and the requirements it will put on districts with four-day school weeks led to the introduction of a series of supplemental bills. The six bills — known as trailer bills — could make changes to the school facilities bill after it passed.

School districts across the state have struggled for decades to repair and replace their aging, deteriorating facilities and to build new ones to accommodate growth. Over the past year, the Idaho Statesman and ProPublica have reported on how Idaho’s restrictive policies and the state’s reluctance to make significant investments in school facilities have led to students learning in schools with failing heating systems, leaking roofs, discolored drinking water and overcrowded classrooms.

Citing the stories, Gov. Brad Little called to make funding for school facilities “priority No. 1” in his State of the State address in January.

The supplemental bills are now an attempt to “fine-tune” the main bill, Sen. Dave Lent, R-Idaho Falls, told the Statesman, with some of them having competing proposals on how to address the potential concerns.

Each of the supplemental bills would still need support from the full Legislature and the governor to take effect.

Here’s a look at what each of the trailer bills would do.

Bills would add cap that affects West Ada

Under House Bill 521, the facilities funding will be allocated to districts based on average daily attendance, so larger urban districts will get more funding, while smaller rural districts will get less. Superintendents and education stakeholders across the state have said that will leave rural districts without the funding they desperately need to repair and replace their buildings.

The Boundary County School District in North Idaho, for example, will get about $5.2 million from the bill, according to estimates provided to the Statesman from the governor’s office. In August 2022, the school district ran a $16 million bond to build a new elementary school. The bond failed. The West Ada School District, the largest in the state, will receive about $140 million, nearly $100 million more than any other district.

Two of the trailer bills, Senate Bill 1438 and Senate Bill 1440, would create a minimum and maximum amount of money school districts could receive. If either of these trailer bills passed, no district would get below $100,000 or more than $100 million. Proponents said the cap would make the distribution more equitable by giving more money to rural, struggling districts.

West Ada is the only district that would be impacted by the cap, according to the governor’s estimates, prompting some senators to raise concerns that the Meridian district was unfairly targeted. The remaining money would be redistributed to smaller school districts.

“How am I supposed to go back to my school district and say: ‘Hey guys, guess what, they just took $40 million away from you, but I have no idea why. … There’s no metric involved,’” said Sen. Treg Bernt, R-Meridian.

Another bill introduced Monday, House Bill 742, would redirect any funds school districts have misused to rural schools. School districts can use the funds on construction, renovation and maintenance needs. If school districts use the funds for another purpose, they would be returned to the state.

Bills address four-day school week concerns

Several of the supplemental bills have competing proposals to address a controversial clause in House Bill 521 that requires school districts on four-day weeks to attest that they meet a minimum number of instructional days, which have not yet been set.

Districts that operate on four-day weeks and those considering moving to one could risk losing the facilities funding if they don’t meet the mandates. Education stakeholders and superintendents have said tacking additional days onto a school year could be significant burdens on school districts, which would have to find the money to pay for additional days of busing and staffing. Dozens of districts in Idaho operate on four-day weeks to save money and attract educators.

Senate Bill 1438 would delay implementation of the minimum number of instructional days for a year, giving school districts more time to plan for the potential changes to their schedules. Two other bills, Senate Bill 1439 and a trailer bill introduced Tuesday, would repeal the provision altogether.

Senate Bill 1439 would also eliminate the requirement that districts submit 10-year facilities plans and attest they won’t require job applicants to sign diversity statements.

House Bill 742 would amend and simplify the section on four-day weeks, requiring that every district receiving facilities funding attest that it meets the minimum number of days or hours from the State Board of Education. The State Board would determine those requirements by Aug. 1, and school districts would need to comply with them by no sooner than July 1, 2025. The state already established requirements for the minimum number of hours districts must operate for each grade.

During a legislative hearing, several superintendents whose districts are on four-day school weeks testified in support of the bill repealing the provision. They said the four-day week has been successful in their communities and that they meet or exceed the number of instructional hours required under Idaho code.

Rob Sauer, the superintendent of the Homedale School District, said his district has been on a four-day week for nine years.

“By taking away local control and one of our recruiting tools, we face going backwards and not being as competitive for quality teachers,” he said. “Guess who loses in that situation: our students.”

Some senators said they believe local school districts should get to make the decisions that are best for their communities, so long as they meet the minimum hours of instructional time.

“We seem to think sometimes that if we increase the hours in the seat or increase, just a bunch of money to a school, it’s going to do better,” Sen. Kelly Anthon, R-Burley, said during the hearing. “It’s not so simplistic as to say, you force a kid in a seat one more day, they’re going to do better.”

Lawmakers could delay implementation

Senate Bill 1441 would delay the implementation of the school facilities bill for a year, so the distribution to school districts would be calculated in fiscal year 2026 instead of 2025.

Lent told the Statesman the delay would provide lawmakers with time to ensure the money is allocated fairly.

“My preference is we look at this, we come up with a consensus approach to how to spend this money on school facilities across the state,” he said.