Little calls for project to replace aging schools

Idaho Gov. Brad Little put forth a 10-year, $2 billion plan to address Idaho’s aging, crumbling public school buildings during his State of the State address Monday at the Idaho State Capitol in Boise.

Little and his aides said the proposal would represent the largest investment in school facilities in state history. Little’s recommendation follows a 2022 Office of Performance Evaluations report that estimated it would take $847 million to get all of the state’s school buildings up to good condition. The report noted that nearly 60% of school district leaders who responded to a state survey described the condition of the school buildings as “fair” or “poor.”

During the State of the State address, Little told legislators he visited a school in Salmon that had sewage leaking seeping into a space under the school cafeteria. It’s time, Little said, to stop kicking the can down the road.

“Folks, we can do better,” Little said in his speech. “The can we are kicking is getting heavier, and we are running out of road.”

Little: Education, literacy, teacher pay remain top priorities

Little used his speech to tout some of the state’s accomplishments in public school education since he was first elected in 2018, including increasing teacher pay, prioritizing a literacy initiative for students in kindergarten through third grade and putting forward his Idaho Launch program that provides $8,000 grants for Idaho high school graduates and home school graduates who pursue workforce training for an in-demand career in Idaho.

But Little said in his State of the State address that Idaho is not meeting the requirement in the Idaho Constitution to “establish and maintain a general, uniform and thorough system of public, free common schools.”

“One area in particular needs work, and that’s school facilities,” Little said in Monday’s speech.

“We’ve all seen the pictures and videos from some Idaho schools that are neglected — crumbing, leaking, falling apart,” Little added.

As he promised in a meeting with reporters last week, Little made education, schools, and workforce training a major focal point of the State of the State address. 

In the areas of education, Little made several recommendations for the fiscal year 2025 budget that legislators will set.

$75 million in funding to pay for workforce training grants for up to 10,000 Idaho graduates through the Idaho Launch program. 

$40 million in so-called outcome-based funding for public schools that meet literacy or math goals, or that meet goals for the number of high school graduates who earn workforce or postsecondary education credentials. 

$32 million in funding for university infrastructure projects.

$9 million for college and career advisers for high school students.

Idaho governor touts Idaho Works plan

Overall, Little described his fiscal year 2025 budget recommendations as the Idaho Works plan. In conjunction with his State of the State address and budget recommendations, Little and his staff also reduced the state’s revenue projections down to $5.3 billion. With federal COVID-19 stimulus funds expiring or being exhausted and state revenue growth slowing, Little’s staff said the governor focused his budget recommendations on bolstering a few priorities instead of being able to address all of the state’s wants and needs.

In addition to his education initiatives, Little also called for an increase in transportation funding to replace and address maintenance backlogs among the state’s aging local bridges.

Little called for spending an additional $200 million in the fiscal year 2025 budget to improve local bridges. If the Idaho Legislature approves the funding, it would add to $400 million in funding that legislators approved for bridge repair and replacement projects over the previous two years. Little also asked for an additional $50 million in bonding authority for the Idaho Transportation Department. 

During Monday’s speech, Little said Idaho is home to 900 bridges that are rated as poor or pre-date the 1969 moon landing.

“Our Idaho Works plan also calls for the repair or replacement of the last one-third of dilapidated bridges throughout our state,” Little said in his State of the State speech.

“Let’s prioritize the transportation projects that will benefit generations of Idahoans so we can keep Idahoans safe and enjoy more of what we love,” Little added.

Little’s speech lasted for about 39 minutes. About half of the speech was a prerecorded video message that was broadcast on television screens in the House chambers.

Officials react to schools facilities proposal

Moments after Little finished delivering his speech, Superintendent of Public Instruction Debbie Critchfield said she is very excited about what the state could accomplish with $2 billion for school facilities needs.

“Many of our communities have struggled getting bonds passed, we have aging facilities, a rather recent report came out a year or so ago saying that there was a billion-dollar deficit and things are more expensive,” Critchfield said in an interview at the Idaho State Capitol. 

“I am thrilled that we now have the attention of our legislators, our governor and I’m excited,” Critchfield added. “I will be at the first of the line to support and promote this as it moves its way through the Legislature."

Later Monday, legislative leaders from both major parties express interest in Little’s school facilities proposal.

House Minority Leader Ilana Rubel, D-Boise, said the funding is sorely needed, but still would not be enough to take care of all of the state’s aging and damaged school buildings.

“We need a billion dollars today for our school facilities, and that is just to repair the ones we’ve got, that’s not to build new schools for all the influx of new people coming here. That’s not accounting for the things that are going to break next year, or the year after or the year after” Rubel told reporters. “Ten years from now, we are probably going to need $6 billion to fix our schools.”

Also Monday, House Speaker Mike Moyle, R-Star, said Republicans in the Idaho House agree on the need for facilities work, but he said the detail of the proposal will matter to legislators and determine their support. Moyle voiced an interest in using the property tax reduction package in House Bill 292 from 2023 to direct additional funding for facilities to schools.

But Moyle also criticized Little’s budget proposal for including what he called budget gimmicks. Moyle and House Republicans released a chart from the Legislative Services Office on Monday afternoon that challenged Little’s bottom line on the fiscal year 2025 budget, which House Republicans said calls for a 7.8% increase in state general fund spending, not the 2.2% spending increase Little described. Moyle and House Republicans said the difference comes down to Little requesting to shifting funding and revenue within the budgets.

“(There is) a lot of concern about his budget — it’s a little higher than I think what we’re being told it is,” Moyle told reporters.

This story was originally published by the Idaho Capital Sun on Monday, Jan. 8, 2024.