BOISE — Idaho school board members unanimously adopted eight proposals that will guide the Idaho School Boards Association’s priorities for the 2022 legislative session.

The resolutions, adopted during the last day of ISBA’s annual convention Friday, include more flexibility for hiring school counselors, supporting Idaho’s core learning standards and adopting “guiding principles” for K-12 funding.

Trustees adopted the resolutions quickly, wrapping up this year’s three-day conference — a gathering of some 500 Idaho local school officials — before 11 a.m. Friday.

Trustees also selected new leadership for ISBA. Here’s a closer look at Friday’s action.

Legislative priorities

Trustees in the Bonneville School District proposed more flexibility in hiring school counselors, citing heightened need for mental health support for students.

The resolution would require a change to state law allowing licensed professional or clinical counselors to work as school counselors, so long as they meet state standards.

Boise School District trustees drafted a resolution for greater support for Idaho’s K-12 content standards, which “have come under scrutiny based on unfounded accusations that have not been tied to specific standards,” trustees wrote in the resolution.

The standards guide local curriculum. Removing them, the trustees worry, would force districts and charter schools to absorb “a significant financial impact” when they redraft curriculum and retrain teachers.

Boise trustees submitted another resolution calling to establish “guiding principles” to determine Idaho K-12 school funding.

Those values would shape Idaho’s K-12 funding formula. The Resolution includes principles like being able to predict future budgets, having adequate funding to provide students with essentials and offering stable funding without big cuts.

A resolution for the authority of school board members was dropped for consideration after sponsor district Caldwell pulled it, said Catherine Bates, ISBA program and communications manager.

The other five resolutions approved Friday include:

• Career Ladder Placement
• School Age and Accountability Requirements
• Career Ladder Records Storage
• Sale of Public Property in Exec Session
• Streamlining Consistent ISBA Priorities

Read more about the eight adopted resolutions and past ISBA resolutions at this link.

New leadership

Trustees also elected new ISBA officers Friday. These include:

• Jason Knopp, of the Melba School Board, took over as president, after serving for one year as president-elect.
• Nancy Gregory, chair of the Boise School District board, is now president-elect and is slated to become president next year.
• Starr Olson, of south-central Idaho’s Dietrich School District board, takes over as vice president.