Order To Let Workers Help Schools Expires

Gov. Phil Batt has decided against renewing a 1992 executive order that allowed state workers to take an hour a week off to help out in their children’s schools.

Spokeswoman Amy Kleiner said the governor’s decision to let the order expire today was prompted by both his concern over taxpayers financing the time-off policy and by the apparent threat from the American Civil Liberties Union to challenge the order on grounds that private and religious schools as well as public one benefited.

“We indicated there were constitutional problems with this order,” ACLU Director Jack Van Valkenburgh. “You don’t have the state funding people to help religious schools, to assist in religious schools. I assume he was also concerned for policy reasons.”

The order was issued by former Gov. Cecil Andrus in January 1992 in conjunction with his Strong Start initiative for public education. And while the Idaho Association of School Administrators indicated few districts seemed to have really taken advantage of it, Sharon McEwan of the Boise School District said the state’s largest district definitely felt the benefit.