State board OKs enrollment-based funding plan

The Idaho State Board of Education approved a temporary change Wednesday to the way K-12 public school funding is allocated.

Instead of using daily attendance averages to calculate the distribution of funds, the board unanimously voted to use full-time student enrollment to determine where state funding goes this school year.

“I think we’ll have a lot of relieved superintendents and business managers,” board President Kurt Liebich said after the vote.

The board made the same decision last year with the hopes of providing stability to school districts dealing with low attendance rates from COVID-19 as students exhibiting symptoms of the illness are encouraged to stay home.

Included in Wednesday’s meeting documents was a letter from the Idaho Association of School Business officials urging the board to make the temporary change once again. The business officials stated recent drops in attendance rates will otherwise have negative impacts across the state in the form of direct reductions to funding.

Most school districts in Idaho have seen attendance rates 5 percent to 10 percent lower than in prepandemic years, according to the letter. “While school operations are more normal this year than last year, the impacts of COVID-19 continue to be felt by all Idaho School Districts,” the letter stated. “From the start of this school year it has been clear that student attendance would not reach pre-covid levels.” Another letter from the Idaho Charter School network shared similar concerns.

The charter school leaders stated students and faculty were advised by government officials and the health care community to act responsibly and remain home if they exhibited symptoms indicative of COVID-19.

“An intersection of the Delta Variant and unusually high rates of RSV and strep throat caused many students to forgo school while they recovered or awaited COVID test results,” the letter stated. “At the same time, many areas of Idaho had insufficient access to rapid tests. Students turned to more widely available PCR tests, but were made to wait an average of 2-3 days for results.”

While school districts and charter schools will still be required to report attendance numbers, the temporary funding formula allows them to continue encouraging sick kids to stay home during the pandemic without putting funding at risk.

Preliminary data from October and November indicates a significant reduction in funding of more than $65 million with the average daily attendance method.

“I think it comes down to the fact that the impact on school districts is real and it’s severe,” board member Linda Clark said.

The temporary rule expires when the Idaho Legislature adjourns at the end of the upcoming session. It will need to be approved by Idaho Gov. Brad Little before it becomes effective.

The rule also isn’t required to go before the Legislature for approval unless the board requests the change be extended.

“Perceiving at some point we come out of COVID-19, maybe this board won’t be doing this action but the Legislature, at some point, will make a decision,” board member Shawn Keough said. “That’s been an ongoing discussion for a couple of years.”

Palermo can be reached at apalermo@dnews.com or on Twitter @apalermotweets.