What will change in Idaho schools as new laws take effect July 1?
Idaho school districts are preparing for a host of new laws taking effect July 1 on issues ranging from social transitions to moments of silence and teacher unions.
After each legislative session, school districts must update their policies and implement new practices to comply with the new laws.
Sometimes, the new laws are simple to implement, while other times, they require major changes. This year, districts in the Treasure Valley have the added challenge of dealing with stagnant budgets, combined with inflation and declining enrollment.
Here are some changes students, teachers and parents can expect when they head back to school.
Here are the laws that will take effect in July
Social transitions: Schools and healthcare providers are now required to inform a parent within 72 hours if a child requests to take steps to socially transition. That can include a child asking to use pronouns that don’t align with their sex assigned at birth or go by a name that is different from their birth name. Schools and healthcare providers are also barred from aiding or abetting a child’s effort to socially transition without written consent from a parent.
The law, House Bill 822, also comes with high penalties. Parents are entitled to relief if a school or provider violates the law, and the Idaho attorney general has the authority to investigate allegations and seek penalties of up to $100,000.
During the session, supporters of the bill argued that parents had a right to know what was going on with their children. Opponents said it would put teachers and healthcare providers in difficult situations, balancing trying to protect children and abide by the law.
Special education fund: Schools will now have access to more funds to meet the needs of students with disabilities who require costlier services, such as a full-time nurse or ASL interpreter. Under the new law, schools can tap into the $5 million fund when costs for educating a student exceed $30,000 and they have applied other resources, such as Medicaid. The Legislature appropriated $5 million in one-time funding, so next year, lawmakers will have to decide whether to allocate additional money.
State Superintendent Debbie Critchfield championed the bill as a step to start to address an estimated $100 million gap between what school districts spend on special education and what they receive from the state.
Federal education law requires that all students with disabilities have access to a free and appropriate public education. Idaho has long struggled to adequately fund special education.
Although officials and school administrators have said this won’t solve the problem, they have acknowledged it is a step toward addressing some of these challenges in a difficult budget year.
Moment of silence: Students will now be required to participate in at least a 60-second moment of silence at or near the start of their school days.
The law provides no mandates for how children must spend that time, but some options listed in the law include meditation, reflection and prayer.
Lawmakers said this pause at the start of the day would give students a chance to reset, and get ready to learn after coming into the classroom. But those who opposed the bill said it represented government overreach and an attempt to insert religion into schools. Others worried it could result in unfair discipline for students who struggle to remain silent or still for a full minute.
Teacher unions: Teacher unions will have to adjust to new limitations. In a last-ditch effort in the waning days of the session, the Idaho Legislature passed a bill legislators said was intended to bar teacher unions from using taxpayer money for union activities.
Under the new law, school districts are barred from deducting dues or fees from employees’ paychecks; requiring or “coercing” an employee to meet, communicate or interact with a teachers union; distributing communications on behalf of the union; providing employee contact information to a union beyond what public record law requires; or providing any kind of compensation or paid leave to employees to engage with the teachers union.
Districts are also blocked from providing compensation or paid leave to employees to participate in a number of other activities, including supporting or opposing candidates for public office, promoting or soliciting membership in the union, preparing and filing grievances, distributing union communication, representing employees in investigatory interviews and administering a negotiation agreement.
Gov. Brad Little acknowledged in his transmittal letter when he signed the law that it may have a “chilling effect” on school districts’ willingness to work collaboratively with unions on professional development and charitable work in their communities.
Idaho Education Association spokesperson Mike Journee said the union has been working to inform members about what the bill does and how it will affect them day to day. He said the law is an attempt to “short-circuit” the ability of members to organize their workplaces. With planning, members can adjust to many of the provisions in the bill, but Journee said the ability of local unions to work with their school district’s administration is the “casualty.”
“Those districts that were eager to collaborate with their educators on creating better learning environments and getting resources where they needed to be,” he told the Statesman, “those are the kinds of things that are really going to suffer, and those are the things that are really going to hurt schoolchildren.”
Bullying and harassment: School districts must now develop a procedure to report to parents if their children were involved in serious incidents of bullying, harassment or intimidation that resulted in a suspension. The law requires notification to the families of both the victim and the alleged offender.
“Schools are safer and more conducive to learning when bullying incidents are firmly addressed,” the legislation’s statement of purpose said.
AI framework: Students and teachers will have to comply with new policies on how they can use generative artificial intelligence in schools. School districts without an AI policy are required to develop one that dictates how students and teachers can use the technology at school and on school devices, under the new law.
The State Department of Education must also develop a framework on AI, with an emphasis on responsible use of AI, instructional integration and academic integrity.
The bill comes as people grow increasingly reliant on AI. Sen. Kevin Cook, who sponsored the bill, said during the session it was an attempt to be proactive as the new technology grows more prominent in classrooms across the nation.
“It’s not this big, scary science-fiction thing, or robots or machines that are going to come after you or take away your jobs, or anything like that,” Cook told committee members earlier this year. “It’s a tool. It’s a tool to enhance the human life.”
IDLA cuts: Fewer students may have access to courses from the Idaho Digital Learning Alliance after the Legislature slashed the group’s budget.
Lawmakers also approved a policy bill that implemented mandatory course fees for students ranging from $40 to $100, depending on whether the courses are required for graduation. The bill also cut certain programs like driver’s education and eliminated options for elementary school students.
IDLA Superintendent Jeff Simmons said the alliance was already seeing the impacts. IDLA’s dual-credit enrollment this summer is down by 50%, he said. The only difference is the course fees, which were reflected in the summer courses, as they run through July and end in August, Simmons said. Prior to this summer, IDLA had waived the fees for dual-credit courses.
IDLA is planning to use one-time funds from its reserve, which will help to serve more students this coming school year, but Simmons said without those funds, IDLA would have had to turn away over 2,000 enrollments, reflecting a greater demand than the appropriation supports.
“These impacts affect both rural and urban students; however, due to the lack of opportunities in rural areas, they will have a greater impact on our rural students,” he said in an email to the Statesman.
Virtual schools: Families enrolled in virtual schools will now have more accountability measures, after a report last year found gaps in oversight that led to families using public funds for costs such as Disney+ subscriptions and trampoline parks.
The law requires that curricular materials meet state content standards and that teachers hold a certificate. It also provides more accountability and restrictions around the use of supplemental learning funds, which some of Idaho’s virtual schools provide for families to buy enrichment materials and other learning resources, such as technology, art and science supplies and books.
The report released last year from the Office of Performance Evaluations found the money’s use wasn’t addressed in state law, which led to inconsistencies and ambiguity on what it can be used for.
School districts focus on updating policies
School districts are working on updating their policies ahead of the school year to align with new state policies.
Nampa School District spokesperson Matthew Sizemore said the district reviews new laws each year and “makes adjustments based on the degree and scope of the changes required.”
Different laws require varying amounts of change. For example, he said, the district already didn’t allow payroll deduction for union dues, but it still must work with its union to figure out issues like communication and rental of district facilities once the law takes effect.
“Other legislation, such as HB 623, has prompted the district to work with schools and school leaders for several months to prepare for implementation of the required moment of silence this fall,” he said in an email to the Statesman. “Overall, we don’t see this year being any different from years past.”
The Boise school board was presented with and approved a number of policy revisions at its June board meeting in response to the new laws. The district will also be reviewing the new laws with administrators during a July administration meeting, spokesperson Dan Hollar told the Statesman.
“Our focus has primarily been on ensuring we are prepared to implement the laws as adopted,” Hollar said in an email. “Our efforts have centered on reviewing the legislation and updating district policies and procedures to remain in compliance.”
