Full-day kindergarten bill clears Idaho Legislature, heads to Gov. Brad Little
A bill to give school districts the option to offer full-day kindergarten in their communities has cleared the Idaho Legislature.
Senate lawmakers on Wednesday passed the bill, which changes the way state literacy funds are allotted and gives districts more flexibility to offer the full-day option. The latest version of the bill that passed also requires that school districts disclose the purpose and amounts of levy funds being used within a school district.
During debate on the Senate floor, some lawmakers raised concerns about whether the bill laid out a sustainable model to fund full-day kindergarten. Others said that although it’s not the bill they were hoping for, it’s a good start. Gov. Brad Little, who has publicly supported the option, is expected to sign the bill.
The state now funds optional half-day kindergarten, and many Idaho school districts use a mix of resources to offer a full-day option. Some school districts charge families an additional cost each month to enroll in the full-day option. Others use funds from supplemental levies or other local or state funds.
Teachers, administrators and literacy experts say full-day kindergarten improves students’ proficiency in reading and writing and helps ensure kids are ready for first grade. It also gives teachers more time to build on kids’ social emotional skills.
Funding based on enrollment, performance
The latest iteration of the bill deals with the distribution of the state’s literacy intervention funds. The bill affirms school districts “have the resources to establish literacy programs to improve the literacy growth of our K-3rd grade students,” according to the statement of purpose.
Under the bill, half of the literacy funds would be distributed to districts and public charter schools based on enrollment of students in kindergarten through third grade, and the other half would be based on performance. School districts where students performed better on the statewide literacy test would receive more funds.
The state now has about $26 million for early literacy spending. Gov. Little proposed increasing that amount by $46.6 million, for a total of about $72 million.
The bill also requires that ballots disclose exactly what supplemental levies would be used for. If a supplemental levy is passed, school district’s boards would also have to publish an annual summary of levy revenues and spending from the levy funds.
The addition comes after some lawmakers had raised concerns that the previous full-day kindergarten bill didn’t include any components of property tax relief.
Several lawmakers have said funding full-day kindergarten was a priority for them this session. There have been several iterations of a full-day kindergarten bill. An earlier version kept funding based on enrollment alone, not performance.
Legislators with concerns support bill
Lawmakers had previously raised some concerns over the way the bill allotted funding to school districts. They said it could mean that additional resources aren’t provided to students with greater needs.
Sen. Janie Ward-Engelking, D-Boise, said earlier this week lawmakers may have to return to the issue of full-day kindergarten again.
“This isn’t the perfect bill. It’s not maybe the bill I wanted to see move forward, but I think it’s a good start,” she said on the Senate floor. “I’m hoping our districts can find a way to provide a uniform system and allow all of our children to have the opportunity if they choose.”
Sen. David Nelson, D-Moscow, said he was “reluctantly” supporting the bill.
“This seems to be our kindergarten bill, and we’ve pretty successfully erased the word kindergarten from the bill,” he said. “It does provide the money through the literacy formula for our schools to implement all-day kindergarten optionally, which I think is great. I don’t think it’s a very sustainable model for funding kindergarten.”
Still, the bill passed with a significant majority, and little debate on the floor.
This story was originally published March 23, 2022 at 11:28 AM.
