Study Committee Likely For School Facility Woes Structure Would Be Same As Panel Used Last Summer

Lawmakers and school officials say an interim study committee may be the only way the Legislature will address Idaho’s school facilities problems for now.

“We had a whole bunch of people working on it this year but it was a circus. They were all doing their own thing and we didn’t really work together,” Senate Education Chairman Gary Schroeder said Friday.

It has not been finalized, but the Moscow Republican has talked with House Education Chairman Fred Tilman of Boise and agreed a committee is needed to address several education issues raised this session.

The committee structure would be the same one used last summer to develop the current charter school legislation expected to gain legislative approval. Schroeder and Tilman said they hope to build on that success and deal with other divisive issues.

The session started with several bills addressing the state’s crumbling schools. Many, like a proposal to reduce the two-thirds school bond supermajority requirement to 60 percent in exchange for consolidation of bond election dates, failed to make it out of committee. A few more are still alive but neither educators nor politicians believe anything substantial will happen this year.

“We were hoping, but we knew it was probably going to be a multiyear effort,” Genesee Superintendent David Neumann said.

About 30 school districts, including all in Latah County, have sued the state, claiming education and in particular school facilities are under-funded. The case was dismissed and while the schools are appealing that ruling, Neumann said he thought it helped take the pressure off lawmakers to address the issue.