Sami Edge
Legislative roundup 3.11.21: House passes guns-in-schools bill
The House Education Committee also introduced a bill that would fund optional full-day kindergarten, so districts wouldn’t have to rely on supplemental levy funds.
Caldwell requires permission slips for sex ed. Teachers say it might not work everywhere.
“We’ve had to work really hard to make this process go as smoothly as it does,” one teacher told EdNews. She worries that a legislative mandate requiring parental permission could leave some students without necessary information.
Legislative roundup, 3.10.21: House approves bill to withhold funding to schools closed during pandemic
“If you choose to remain closed to the students of Idaho, we have to provide them another option,” bill sponsor, Rep. Codi Galloway said.
Legislative roundup, 3.9.21: House approves scholarship, Strong Students grants bill
In other news, bills relating to vaccine exemption disclosures and state payments to parents that withdraw from remote schools are headed to the floor.
Legislative roundup, 3.8.21: House passes optional union negotiations bill
If the bill passes, districts could implement salaries and benefits without having to negotiate or agree with teachers’ representatives.
Sex education opt-in bill advances to the Senate
The bill would require parents to sign permission slips for their children to discuss human sexuality, including topics like gender identity and sexual orientation.
State hosts stakeholder meetings on behavioral health services
The SDE plans to develop recommendations for Sherri Ybarra by July, then embark on a long-range plan for expanding behavioral health and wellness services.
State Board takes up debate on simplifying student fees
The State Board also made a move toward changing the timeframe for high school students to take standardized tests, and removing the college entrance exam as a high school graduation requirement.
Districts face staff shortages with return to full-time
As kids return to buildings, administrators are looking to rehire — but struggling to fill low-wage positions when staffers could make more at Costco or Amazon.
Boise stays in hybrid learning mode, to discuss opening schools next week
Vaccines, physical distancing, case rates, new virus strains and student mental health are all part of the exceedingly complicated arithmetic of reopening that Boise trustees pondered on Monday night.