School boards: ‘An unprecedented move, and one we cannot support’

Karen Echeverria, executive director of the Idaho School Boards Association, joked, “This is a warning that by having me testify first, there might be dire consequences. That’s not a threat.” That was an allusion to news reports over the past two days about an email she sent to school trustees across the state warning that working against SB 1184 would bring “consequences,” including forced consolidation and cuts in funding.

The first “stakeholder” scheduled to testify today, Echeverria said her group wants flexiblity. “School districts have been through some very tough financial times for the last two years,” she said. “We believe that we have proven to you that we can handle the responsibility that was given to us through the financial emergency statute. … Unfortunately, we believe that this legislation as written takes some of that flexibility away from school districts by putting some of the funding into line items over which school districts have very little say and may not be needed due to … technology already in place.” She said trustees want a survey of existing technology in use in Idaho schools before purchasing more. And, she said, “A law that forces a reduction in funding over a five-year period” is “an unprecedented move, and one that we cannot support.”