“Be prepared for a May 21 election,” Nick Miller, a lawyer and partner at Hawley Troxell, advised trustees in a work session presentation last week. 

But a decision on whether to run a ballot measure, or what kind (a bond or plant facilities levy), will likely have to wait until March, due to “Legislative Actions,” Miller advised. 

The 2024 Legislature is in session for about two more months. A key issue: whether Gov. Brad Little’s proposal to invest $2 billion in school facilities over the next decade has enough support from lawmakers, and if so, at what cost. 

According to Miller’s presentation, House Speaker Mike Moyle, R-Star, might attach the condition that the August school election be killed. That comes after the March school election was slashed last session, a provision included in House Bill 292, which provided schools with $100 million to apply to bonds or levies and lower tax impacts. 

There’s also the possibility — according to Miller — that the state’s bond subsidy (financial assistance that offsets bonds’ costs for qualifying districts) could “transfer over” to the governor’s funding proposal, reducing its impact. 

Another complication: how to communicate with taxpayers about how HB 292 impacts them.

The Pocatello/Chubbuck School District recently opted to use the new law as an opportunity to present its proposed $45 million bond, for improvements at two high schools, as having a “net zero impact.” But a local government watchdog group criticized that messaging as misleading, arguing that it didn’t make clear that taxpayers would save money if the bond measure failed. 

Hawley Troxell counseled Pocatello/Chubbuck on that failed bond attempt, and Miller acknowledged in his presentation that the messaging “arguably backfired.” 

“Better view now is to not refer to HB 292 funds on the Ballot at all,” Miller’s presentation said. “Net … tax burden increases with a bond so be up front and say so.”

Miller advised trustees to keep ballot language to the required minimum. 

Another wrinkle trustees are facing: their two-year, $13.6 million supplemental levy expires in summer 2025. Miller advised they ask for another levy at the May 2025 election. 

Trustees will continue the discussion over how to move forward at the next work session, though it’s unclear when that will take place. 

EdNews reached out to Idaho Falls Board Chair Hillary Radcliffe Tuesday morning for comment on possible next steps, but did not immediately hear back. We will update this story if more information becomes available.

Straightforward answers to those questions are unlikely anytime soon. 

“This feels like a chicken-and-egg scenario,” Pocatello/Chubbuck Trustee Heather Clarke said at a special meeting Tuesday. 

The district’s insurance provider, Idaho Counties Risk Management Program or ICRMP, can’t say exactly how much it will cover until it has plans for the rebuild in hand (a rough estimate is that the total will be over $20 million). But trustees — and some Pocatello voters — want definitive answers from the insurance company before they decide how to move forward. 

Simply put, the parties seem to be at an impasse. 

“We’re as close as we can get until we take this next step of going into the design and planning phase,” Seth McClure, an independent insurance adjuster hired by ICRMP, told trustees Tuesday. 

For their part, trustees have spent months debating whether to ask taxpayers to chip in (again) for the Highland rebuild, to cover upgrades that go beyond what ICRMP will fund. 

Moving forward has become a saga, and it’s far from over. As McClure told trustees: “Pack your patience.”

While there are no hard-and-fast answers yet, McClure did illuminate some new details about the work going on behind the scenes of the catastrophe that caught statewide attention last spring. Here’s what we know.

Insurance after the fire: “What you had is what you get”

The gist of an hours-long presentation McClure gave to Pocatello trustees: “What you had is what you get.”

There’s a phrase that goes along with that, which Pocatello/Chubbuck School District’s director of business operations, Jonathan Balls, has memorized by now: “like, kind and quality.”

It means that the insurance will only pay to restore Highland’s damaged D-wing to the closest approximation of what existed before the fire. Affected gyms and classrooms will remain the same size, be rebuilt with similar materials, and include similar contents — unless doing so would violate code or if the materials are now obsolete. For example, if there were “massive wood ceiling trusses” in place before the fire, those would likely be rebuilt with updated materials. 

Updates and improvements will only be paid for if code requires them. If trustees want to take this opportunity to upgrade and improve the school, that will have to come from district coffers. 

But now’s the time to make changes, McClure advised trustees, “rather than saying, oh we’ll rebuild it as is, but then 10 years from now you knock down to rebuild something completely new.” 

Some good news: the district’s deductible is “insanely small,” at $2,500, McClure said. “You’re really fortunate to have that.”

He anticipates ICRMP will end up covering more than $20 million toward the rebuild. 

Getting these answers, however hazy or incomplete, has taken months of work and oversight from dozens of insurance companies. 

“Big loss, big exposure, lots of dollars:” Behind the scenes of a monumental insurance claim

April 21, 2023. 

McClure will never forget that day, when a 6:30 a.m. phone call informed him of the fire blazing at Highland High: “I knew we were dealing with something big.”

It triggered investigations by a handful of agencies and companies. Ultimately, it was ruled accidental, with no entity held liable. 

From there, ICRMP started working to catalog and assess the losses — efforts which have been overseen by dozens of companies. 

It’s a major claim, with “big loss, big exposure, and lots of dollars.” So ICRMP has a backup: it insures itself with County Reinsurance Limited. And County Reinsurance has its own backup — more than 20 different companies, known as an insurance market. “Each take a piece of the pie” to cover the expenses, McClure said. 

All told, “there’s 20-25 different sets of eyes looking at everything.”

And the insurance company has called in a slew of experts, including:

• A fire investigator
• A structural engineer
• A building consultant
• A contents consultant
• A forensic accountant

It’s a complicated process, but “there’s a rhyme and a reason and a method to the madness,” McClure said. 

At the meeting, Board Chair Deanna Judy pushed for “straightforward answers,” and expressed frustration at having to make decisions without them.

“We have kids that need a place to be,” she said. 

Trustees will have to decide by late March, when ballot language is due, if they will run another bond ask in May. 

Pocatello/Chubbuck trustees are considering running another ballot measure, but want to prove they’ve done all they can to drop the price tag and find other solutions first.

At a board meeting Tuesday, trustees discussed how they could reduce a potential ask, with options ranging from seeking corporate sponsorships to selling unused land.

And they discussed what would happen if a second bond ask failed, or if they tried to rebuild with just insurance monies — an option some taxpayers, including newly-elected Trustee Raymond Knoff, have pushed for. 

But insurance would only cover restoring the 1960s-era school as it was, with the exception of some updates to adhere to modern building codes. The new updates, including incorporating ADA accessibility, are needed but would cause complications — like rendering obsolete a downstairs weight room that could only be accessed via stairs. 

“We’ll just have another Band-aid solution if we just replace with insurance,” Trustee Heather Clarke said. 

Knoff, who has previously advocated for using the insurance money to rebuild and giving taxpayers a break, was silent during the discussion. 

By late March, trustees will have to make a decision about whether to go to voters in May, and how much to ask for if so. They’ll also have to decide whether to request financing for improvements to Century High’s gyms, as they did with the first bond ask. 

Their conversations on how to restore the school come as Gov. Brad Little is pushing for lawmakers to invest $2 billion in school facilities statewide over the next decade. Wednesday, he made an appearance at Highland to tout his ideas and highlights from his State of the State address.

For now, students are learning in a cramped building, and traveling off campus for classes and practices that have been outsourced to churches and Idaho State University. Even if a bond measure passed in May, a restored and improved school would be years away from completion. 

In the foreground of Tuesday’s conversation about a path forward was a recently-released architectural analysis that found Highland to be uninviting and in need of improvement, primarily due to its age. 

The Design West report, which was conducted in August, listed a number of issues, including:

• Uninviting environment: The high school is lacking when it comes to a “vibrant, engaging educational experience,” the report found. “More could be done to create more inspiring learning places especially, in the classrooms, using colors, materials, and finishes to create a more welcoming and engaging environment.”
• Undersized auditorium: The auditorium is undersized and “any attempt to enlarge (it) would probably prove to be impractical.” Plus its stage and control booth needed to be improved. “The design at present is austere, with very old beyond life cycle finishes,” the report found. 
• Lack of ADA accessibility: Certain parts of the building are not ADA accessible which “can expose the district to lawsuits since it is considered a civil right legislation and not simply a code issue.”
• Asbestos risk: Some of the school’s older tile may have asbestos.
• Small, outdated, and ‘extremely old’: The school has limited storage space; small janitorial spaces; an outdated counseling center; and science rooms that are “extremely old with inadequate millwork for a science curriculum”; whiteboards and bulletin boards that are “very old and should be replaced”.
• Questionable roof: A roof that may “become overstressed during a significant snow event,” and “may not survive a seismic event.” 

“There’s a huge need here,” Trustee Deanna Judy said Tuesday. “I feel like this report … shows that need really dramatically.”

To address it, “our first choice is not to tax,” Judy said, before floating the idea of seeking donations and sponsorships. “I want to show that we are doing everything we can” before resorting to another ballot measure.

No decisions were made at the meeting, and trustees plan to continue talks at coming work sessions.

One of state superintendent Debbie Critchfield’s top aides pushed for a well-known in-state finalist.

And in the end, the State Board of Education went its own way.

The Idaho State University president’s job came open on June 12, when Kevin Satterlee abruptly announced his plans to retire on Dec. 31. Eventually, 87 candidates applied for the job — an uncommonly large field. State Board of Education President Linda Clark attributes the interest to Satterlee’s successful five-year run as president — and the university’s “forward momentum.” Working with an outside search firm, a search committee narrowed the field to 12 semifinalists. After virtual interviews, the search committee forwarded five finalists’ names to the State Board.

The State Board hired a relative unknown for the president’s post at Idaho State University: Robert Wagner, a veteran administrator at Utah State University. Wagner got the job over a field of finalists that included C. Shane Hunt, the dean of Idaho State’s College of Business and a professor of marketing, and Cynthia Pemberton, the president of Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston.

In an interview this week, State Board President Linda Clark spoke in general terms about Wagner’s attributes: a broad administrative background; a strong set of references; and, after working 90 minutes south of Idaho State’s main campus in Pocatello, an innate fit with Southeast Idaho.

A month after the hire, Clark says she is comfortable with the decision — and the State Board’s efforts at public outreach. But in the end, the most important discussions and deliberations took place behind closed doors. Many details remain under wraps. And the State Board started negotiating with their hire days before actually making a hire.

The (somewhat) public component

During the week of Dec. 4, Wagner and the other four finalists crisscrossed the state, meeting with staff, students and citizens at Idaho State’s campuses in Pocatello, Idaho Falls and Meridian. They were on a tight and intricate schedule, orchestrated by the State Board and Idaho State.

These kind of site visits aren’t unusual, at the end of a presidential search. But this search included a second public component: an online survey. Idaho State received 1,182 responses — with 714 coming from faculty or staff.

The results remain secret. Responding to an Idaho Education News public records request, the State Board released only two pages of the 111-page document. The remaining pages were redacted, with the State Board citing a far-reaching public records exemption covering an applicant’s personnel information.

The two pages that were released reveal next to nothing.

By far, Hunt was the most talked-about finalist; 351 survey comments referred to him, as opposed to 171 comments about Pemberton and 136 about Wagner. The remaining finalists — Robbyn Wacker, president of St. Cloud State University in Minnesota, and Matt Cecil, provost of Northern Kentucky University — surfaced in 115 and 110 responses, respectively.

But the State Board documents were so heavily redacted that there is no way to know how many of these comments were favorable, or unfavorable.

The board received positive and negative comments about every finalist, said Clark, who downplayed the significance of the tally.

“They’re not votes,” she said. “They’re input.”

Lobbying the State Board

Hunt, the in-house candidate, enjoyed a bit of a home-court advantage.

In a handful of emails to the State Board — obtained by EdNews through a public records request — several of Hunt’s allies pressed for his hire.

“Students absolutely love him and his classes (yes, he insists on teaching even with all of his administrative responsibilities),” John Ney, an Idaho State marketing professor, said in an Aug. 3 email to state superintendent Debbie Critchfield. “His enthusiasm is genuine and infectious!”

“Dr. Hunt is a scholar, a teacher, and a charismatic leader,” former state senator and State Board member Diane Bilyeu said in a Dec. 12 email to the board. “He is like the Energizer Bunny!”

By then, the Idaho State Journal had weighed in as well. In a Dec. 1 editorial, the newspaper took the unusual step of publicly endorsing Hunt’s bid — saying that, in just three years on campus, he had emerged as one of Idaho State’s most prominent cheerleaders.

“He has the skill set to do the job, but in all honesty so do other people,” the Journal wrote. “What no one else has is Hunt’s genuine love and loyalty for ISU and Pocatello and his desire to tell the world how great of a place this is to attend college, live, work and raise a family.”

And for one person, who sent an anonymous Dec. 4 email to State Board chief communications and legislative affairs officer Mike Keckler, it had all become too much. The email said a “lack of impartiality, professionalism, and transparency” had contaminated the presidential search.

Pemberton had at least one prominent backer: Carl Crabtree, a former state senator who now works in Critchfield’s Idaho Department of Education.

“I will tell you no president or their people worked as effectively with the Legislature as Dr. Pemberton did,” Crabtree said in a Dec. 13 email to Critchfield. “If each university had provided that effort in relationship building, the results for their budgets, and their standing with the Legislature, would be very different today.”

‘I could get a read for the room’

One day later, on Dec. 14, the State Board brought the five finalists back to Boise for a string of closed-door interviews.

After the five hours of interviews, the board took no vote and made no decisions behind closed doors, Clark said. (State law allows agencies to discuss personnel matters in executive sessions, but agencies cannot make a decision in these closed meetings.)

Still, State Board executive director Matt Freeman began negotiations with Wagner on Dec. 15. “I could get a read for the room and kind of see where the board was at,” said Freeman, who sat in on the board’s interviews.

Freeman concedes that the board is walking “a fine line,” but he and Clark both defended the behind-the-scenes process.

If the State Board announces that it is negotiating with a finalist, or it telegraphs its intentions privately, other finalists are likely to withdraw from consideration. That could leave the board with few options — or no options — if negotiations hit an impasse.

After an extensive and expensive process — costing more than $200,000, in this case — the goal is to avoid a failed search, Clark said.

On Dec, 21 — a week after the closed-door interviews, and six days after the negotiations started — the State Board voted to approve a $420,000-a-year contract with Wagner. The unanimous vote came just moments before Wagner was formally introduced on the Pocatello campus.

Technically speaking, board members could have changed their mind at any time leading up to the vote. But Freeman concedes it would have been highly unusual for the board to change course at the last minute, with a well-orchestrated public announcement already in the works.

Skeptics have questioned the process. “To pretend that nothing has been decided until a unanimous vote is taken later with no discussion flies in the face of the spirit of the Open Meeting Law,” Betsy Russell, a retired Statehouse reporter and president of Idahoans for Open Government, told Laura Guido of the Idaho Press in a Dec. 22 article.

And questions about the Wagner hire come as the State Board faces a lawsuit challenging its series of closed-door discussions of the University of Idaho’s plans to buy the University of Phoenix. That lawsuit, initiated by Attorney General Raúl Labrador, is scheduled to go to trial Monday.

The high-profile lawsuit did not cause the board to change its approach to the Idaho State search, Clark said.

“I don’t think we had any heightened concern about it, because it’s the process that we do,” she said.

Wagner will start at Idaho State on Jan. 29. On his first day, he will be at the Statehouse, introducing himself to the House and Senate education committees. After a largely private application process, his time as president will be punctuated by a public start.

Kevin Richert writes a weekly analysis on education policy and education politics. Look for his stories each Thursday.

The State Board of Education on Tuesday approved renaming the arena the ICCU Dome, after Idaho Central Credit Union agreed to pay $6 million over 12 years for the naming rights.

Opened in 1970, under the moniker the ASISU Minidome, the arena has been known as Holt Arena for more than 30 years. This name honored former Idaho State athletic director Milton “Dubby” Holt, who was instrumental in developing the arena.

Athletic Director Pauline Thiros said proceeds from the rebrand will support Idaho State student athletics — and she said the name change would have received Holt’s blessing.

“He was shrewd in his business sense, had great passion behind his vision for Idaho State athletics, and was deeply committed to utilizing every avenue available to build the program,” Thiros said in an Idaho State news release. “I know that today, he would be delighted and proud to see this renewed investment in the facility, and in the student athletes.”

Idaho State is planning to install a mural inside the arena, honoring Holt and his contributions to the university, the State Board said in a Tuesday news release.

The dome is the second-oldest facility of its kind in the nation, following only the Houston Astrodome. The ICCU Dome has received a multimillion-dollar renovation over the past two years, funded largely by the credit union.

ICCU has a considerable mark on the state’s college campuses. Idaho State’s alumni center and the University of Idaho’s basketball arena also bear ICCU’s name.

Neal originally said former Idaho Falls superintendent James Shank and district spokesperson Margaret Wimborne violated the public integrity in elections act by using public dollars to promote a $250 million bond (which voters ultimately denied) leading up to the November 2022 election. 

Neal fined both employees a combined $375, but the district fought the complaints. This week, a settlement was reached: the complaint against Wimborne was dismissed, and Shank’s $250 fine was paid (though not with district funds). It was unclear who did pay the fine. 

The complaints were civil, not criminal, and the parties involved were not “required to ‘plead guilty’ or acknowledge they did something wrong,” Neal clarified in a press release. 

It’s a case school leaders across the state have been closely watching, and its outcome will likely impact how they communicate with taxpayers about school funding measures going forward. 

“This has sent quite a shockwave through the districts,” Neal said. “A clear message has been sent that they’ve got to be more careful … especially when they’re using public funds. If that message got across then everything else is gravy.”

In a separate press release on the settlement, the school district said it would “continue to provide its valued parents and patrons with the information needed to make voting decisions in accordance with state statutes.”

“D91 officials and trustees were eager to resolve this matter in recognition of the increasing litigation costs for D91 taxpayers,” the release read.

Although the district could have paid the relatively nominal fines and avoided the monthslong litigation, school leaders chose to fight the complaints on moral grounds. 

According to the district’s records, it has spent nearly $90,000 on legal fees between July and October. (The district was also involved in extended litigation in a second case regarding a plant facilities levy that a judge ruled was invalid). Neal’s complaint was filed on May 18. 

“It’s not about the fines, it’s about what’s right and wrong,” Idaho Falls superintendent Karla LaOrange told EdNews in September.  She saw the complaints as “an attempt to obstruct the district’s efforts to share basic factual information with our parents and patrons.”

The case has sparked a statewide conversation on the difference between information and advocacy, because school employees are not allowed to use public funds to promote school funding measures like a bond or levy.

Neal contends that the district paid for materials like posters, postcards, and bookmarks, with messaging that crossed the line between information and advocacy due to words like “need,” “aged,” and “overcrowding.” 

For example, the district created bookmarks that included statements like: “Our students need modern, safe, and secure schools” and “We need to address growth and crowding in schools.”

And district leaders used that wording against their lawyers’ advice, Neal wrote in his complaint. 

In October, three well-known education organizations — representing Idaho trustees, administrators, and public information officers — penned a column in support of the Idaho Falls School District. They called out legislators for failing to uphold their constitutional duty to “provide safe and conducive learning environments,” and instead shifting that obligation to school boards and local patrons. 

They agreed that public dollars should not be spent on advocacy, but said Idaho Falls’ communications were purely informational. 

“School districts, cities, and counties must be able to communicate their needs to their patrons — especially when the needs are verifiable facts,” they wrote. 

If school districts cannot communicate their needs, the organizations wrote, they may not be able to “sustain their operations or ever build a new school. Perhaps that is the point.”

Lisa Keller, the spokesperson for D91 Taxpayers, a watchdog group that opposed the November 2022 bond, said the case has been frustrating. 

“The real loser is the taxpayers,” she said, pointing out that the public paid for both sides of the litigation — the prosecutor’s and the district’s. “The district should have just paid the fines and said ‘We’ll do better.’”

But Keller said the settlement is a “small win”: “They won’t be spending my tax dollars to lobby people to spend more of my tax dollars.”

Neal said he expects to see districts statewide change their tactics, by either being more careful with their wording or using private donations (as opposed to tax dollars) to pay for materials that could be seen as promotional. 

“And that’s a win-win for everybody,” he said. 

Idaho Education News data analyst Randy Schrader contributed to this report.

Past coverage:

• I.F. officials face civil complaint stemming from bond campaign
• A failed bond landed Idaho Falls in legal trouble, twice
• Prosecutor: “I didn’t pick this fight” with Idaho Falls school leaders

The State Board of Education appointed him at a special meeting Thursday before an audience of dozens of Idaho State staffers and students, journalists, and community leaders. 

“I’m so happy to be part of an undeniably special university, and I will work with you all to make it even more extraordinary,” Wagner said. 

Wagner was selected from a field of more than 80 applicants, which was then whittled down to 12 semifinalists, and finally five finalists, including Lewis-Clark State College President Cynthia Pemberton and C. Shane Hunt, dean of Idaho State’s College of Business and a marketing professor. 

“We had an outstanding group of finalists,” board President Linda Clark said. “Dr. Wagner’s depth of leadership experience in various roles at a larger institution just 90 minutes south of ISU’s main campus and his vision for the institution moving forward helped make him the top candidate.” 

Wagner will take over on Jan. 29 under a 2 1/2-year contract, and will be paid an annual salary of $420,000. 

He’ll be the university’s 14th leader, replacing Kevin Satterlee, who is retiring after five years at the helm. Thursday’s hire, Satterlee said, represents the “last piece of the puzzle” preceding his retirement.

“We have found a leader who values education as a public good for our society, who values our students and what education does for them, and that’s what we needed to do,” Satterlee said. “He is the right person to keep us moving forward.”

Wagner spent the last 16 years at Utah State, where he held a number of roles, overseeing student success, academic programming, fundraising, marketing and student recruiting and retention. He also helped develop the university’s first strategic plan in 20 years, and led its online education programs. 

In a speech held immediately after the meeting, Wagner thanked Satterlee for his contributions to the university, reflected on his own education journey, and expressed his commitment to Idaho State. 

“ISU will continue to be a student-centric university, finding innovative ways of supporting students and providing the highest caliber of education with a focus on affordability, relevance, and impact,” he said. 

Wagner watched Idaho State’s progress and accomplishments across “a very soft and close border between southern Idaho and northern Utah,” and said he wants to continue building on those successes. 

Wagner, who said he’s a “recruiter at heart,” wants the university’s enrollment to grow as Idaho continues to grow — matching the state’s changing demographics. That might mean reaching out to and serving more first-generation students, or at-risk or underserved groups, Wagner said. 

“The public good of education is its ability to transform lives,” he said. 

Wagner reflected on the role of education in his own life, including the challenges he faced while raising small children and earning his bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees. 

“My own experiences as a student instilled in me a compassion for every student who has embarked on the arduous, demanding, and rewarding journey of pursuing a college degree, “ he said. “During my career, I feel honored to have witnessed the grit and success of many students who achieved noble goals while conquering individually unique difficulties.”

Ultimately, Wagner said he hopes to support current and future Bengals on their path to a brighter future. 

“It is about students,” he said. “It is about focusing on them and making sure that as an institution, we’re helping them to make an impact with their education.”

Emma Watts, the president of the Associated Students of Idaho State University, said she was impressed by Wagner’s qualifications and commitment to students: “I think he’ll be a great leader.”

Board member Cindy Siddoway, an ISU alum and search committee co-chair, said she was confident in the board’s selection. 

“Dr. Wagner is a very sincere person,” she said. “He cares deeply about ISU, and its campus community. He’ll work hard to establish strong relationships with alumni and community leaders, and he will build on ISU’s recent momentum and be an outstanding leader and advocate for higher education in Idaho.”

In the brief interim period between Satterlee’s retirement and Wagner’s arrival — from Jan. 1 to Jan. 28 — Idaho State vice president of operations Brian Sagendorf will serve as acting president.

Salmon school trustees unanimously voted to put a bond issue on the May ballot at their regular board meeting Monday. The decision comes after an extraordinary 0-12 record of bond failures since 2006, and amid dire circumstances in Salmon schools —  including a cracked foundation, collapsing sewer lines, and outdoor food storage. 

The details and cost of the bond ask are still being worked out, but Superintendent Troy Easterday said the measure would finance a new Pre-K-8 school. If voters approve the measure, it would be the first to pass in the community since 1978, Easterday said. 

The proposed school would allow students in grades 4-6 to move out of portables and would enable all students to learn in a functional building. It would replace Pioneer Elementary, which has a host of major issues — like its cracked foundation and frost heaves in the flooring. 

“You can walk into a lot of classrooms and actually feel the concrete crunching under the carpet,” Easterday said.

A committee of local parents and community members is driving the effort to pass a bond — which Easterday said is “a different approach.”

A superintendent and district staff usually make the recommendations regarding bond proposals, but Easterday has effectively turned that over to the community group, in hopes of a different result from May’s election.

“Let’s see if we can get community members, parents, and grandparents on board and maybe we can make this happen,” he said. “And it seems like we have better traction than we have had before.”

There’s another advantage to the community group taking the lead — its members aren’t prohibited from advocating for the bond, as district employees are. They can knock on doors and encourage people to vote ‘yes.’

“I think it’s a better approach, especially where our hands are tied with what we can say as a district and do,” Easterday said. 

Representatives from the group seemed hopeful Monday night. 

Breann Green, a parent on the committee, said the group had been traveling throughout the greater Salmon community and talking with stakeholders to answer questions, address concerns, and provide information about the proposed bond. So far, most say the bond “seems reasonable,” she said. 

But in Idaho, school bonds are more likely to fail than succeed. Since 2019, districts have put 64 bonds on the ballot, and 70% of them (or 45) have failed. Bonds require a two-thirds supermajority approval to pass — one of the highest thresholds in the nation. 

Salmon last ran a bond in 2019, but the $25.6 million ask failed with 58% approval. 

Still, Easterday is optimistic: “We have a better chance than we’ve ever had to pass one.”

Salmon’s facility problems — and the lack of funds to address them — are “not unique,” Easterday told trustees Monday.

Idaho’s deteriorating school buildings have made national headlines this year, as the focus of a partnership between ProPublica and the Idaho Statesman. The coverage has helped put facilities funding at the forefront of education conversations. 

“People are listening,” Easterday said. “We’ve definitely got the ear of our Legislature and our governor and the lieutenant governor, so I’m happy to report that.”

Superintendent Debbie Critchfield believes rural communities are highly interested in increasing workforce-ready career technical programs for their students, so she wasn’t surprised by the “sheer demand” of grant applications reaching the Idaho Department of Education.

Thirty-two of 35 proposals went to rural schools, which accounts for a little more than three-fourths of the money awarded so far.

“It’s problem solving. It’s math. It’s science. It’s all of these things captured in work-based learning. I firmly believe that a good, hard day’s work is the answer to a lot of things,” Critchfield said.

During the last legislative session, when lawmakers approved $45 million for Idaho Career Ready Students (ICRS), Critchfield said her critics claimed she’s trying to turn every kid into a welder.

“That was one of the things we heard. If kids don’t want to weld, they still don’t have to. But when I went to Twin Falls High School, I asked the principal to take me to your most popular elective class,” Critchfield recalled. “It was welding.”

She encountered similar stories about career technical education in the farming, food processing, tourism and logging regions.

And applications have poured in. The state has received more in grant requests than it has money to allocate. In the span of four months, approximately $35.9 million of the $45 million ICRS grant money has been set aside for 35 proposal requests. Approximately $111 million was requested, which is 146% more than what they were able to award. About $9.1 million remains unspent.

The Department of Education is administering the program but spending decisions are made by the ICRS council — 11 industry leaders, career technical educators, lawmakers, education leaders and Critchfield.

Grants are intended to create or expand pathways into welding, fabrication, machining, agriculture, forestry, mining, nursing and cyber security. The program incentivizes rural schools to align programs with their community and industry needs. The money should reduce the problem of finding resources needed to sustain high-quality career technical programming.

The high-level of interest is evidence that career technical education is a powerful tool, Critchfield said. “I’m not surprised that our schools are trying to meet career goals for our students. I’m not surprised that there’s more interest in technical programs. I’m not surprised that kids want a jumpstart on their careers.”

But how will the state measure success and provide accountability for the millions promised across Idaho in communities like Middleton and Pocatello, and rural Deary, Malad, Orifino and Wilder? The ICRS council expects school districts to be “good stewards,” submit quarterly reports, a final project completion report and account for spending in district financial reports, according to the state’s website.

The council will consider metrics and evidence to measure success and return on investment at their February meeting. Expanding workforce-ready programs could impact job creation, unemployment, local economic growth, graduation rates, student mental health and career choices.

Districts are required to answer “show us how you’re going to know that this is successful and sustainable” on the the application.

Pocatello-Chubbuck School District’s longtime career technical education instructor Rhonda Naftz was emphatic about the impact in her region: “This is one of the greatest things the state of Idaho has ever offered to students.”

The Idaho Division of Career Technical Education released the following data that demonstrates the growth of high school CTE programs over the last six years.

Where is the ICRS money going?

The ICRS council met three times and committed 79% — or $28.2 million — for 32 rural and remote school district proposals; three proposals were awarded in areas not considered rural.

“It was very clear that we were under-serving local economies,” Critchfield recalled, about her visits around the state. In North Idaho, the forestry, logging and timber industry provided the catalyst “for getting this grant together. I consistently heard about great opportunities for students.”

Four forestry and natural resources proposals received $3.5 million for start-up or expansion of logging and the production of forestry products.

About 65% of all the money awarded ($23.5 million) went to five school districts’ capital projects. The districts receiving the largest awards are: Pocatello-Chubbuck, $6.5 million; Jefferson, $5.3 million; Minidoka, $4.9 million; Blackfoot, $3.9 million; Sugar-Salem, $2.7 million. In total, capital projects received $33.1 million. Existing programs at 13 schools received $391,165. And Potlatch, Firth, Shelley, Orofino and West Bonner districts were approved for new programs, totaling approximately $2.3 million.

“It’s life changing. This grant will change the face of CTE in this whole region,” Naftz said about Pocatello-Chubbuck’s career technical center, which is expected to officially open in 2024.

Hands-on, real-world learning is an answer for students who feel “aimless” or lack “confidence,” Critchfield said. “There is a sense of pride. You develop perseverance and grit.”

Millions were awarded to long- and short-term projects since July but only a small portion has been spent: about $400,000 through requests for reimbursement, a district issued purchase order or vendor invoice to the Department of Education. There is no deadline for when funds are to be spent. Any unused money will be returned to fund proposals not previously accepted.

The ICRS council

The council’s next meeting is Feb. 16. Applications are due by Jan. 31. The council is made up of the following members: 

• Critchfield, who chairs the council.
• Clay Long, administrator, Idaho Division of Career Technical Education.
• Lex Godfrey, secondary CTE instructor, Career Technical Educators of Idaho.
• Brandy Funk, secondary CTE instructor, Career Technical Educators of Idaho.
• Rodney Farrington, associate professor, Career Technical Educators of Idaho.
• Robb Bloem, StanCraft Companies, representing industry.
• Dana Kirkham, Idaho Environmental Coalition, representing industry.
• Angelique Rood, Idaho Power, representing industry.
• Marie Price, Idaho Forest Group, representing the Workforce Development Council.
• Sen. Kevin Cook, Idaho Senate, District 32.
• Rep. Judy Boyle, Idaho House of Representatives, District 9.

“I have just been really just blown away at the level of attention and experience that people” on the council have, Critchfield said.

But rejecting applications is part of the process. Some proposals — particularly those outside the scope of in-demand careers — were rejected outright, but most are placed in the “not yet” category: they will be reconsidered, if money becomes available later.

The council rejected a request for heavy equipment. Additional ineligible expenses include:

• Curriculum for existing programs.
• Instructor travels for professional development, course work and conferences.
• Student travel for general field trips and extra-curricular activities (specific, itemized requests for travel may be considered).
• Soft costs associated with building programming and construction — contractor administration and overhead fees and building permits (architectural and design fees, and contingency fees are allowable expenses).

School districts and charters can apply for the funds here. The ICRS program was approved by the Legislature earlier this year and signed into law by Gov. Brad Little on March 31. Questions can be directed to program coordinator Allison Duman at aduman@sde.idaho.gov.

Pocatello-Chubbuck to offer a regional CTE center

The council awarded the Portneuf Valley Technical Education and Career Campus in Chubbuck $6.5 million to complete a regional CTE center that will serve students from surrounding communities who do not have access to programs. 

A major development was the Pocatello-Chubbuck school board’s decision last year to purchase the old 78,000 square foot Allstate building for around $12 million, using local plant facilities levy and federal money. But without the new grant, Naftz believes it would have taken another six to 10 years to complete the career center in stages.

“For 23 years we’ve been thinking, talking and trying to figure out how it is going to work. We got very serious about seven years ago. So we’ve been at this for a long time,” Naftz said. 

Surrounding school districts who could benefit from the regional CTE center are American Falls, Marsh Valley, Aberdeen, Rockland, Soda Springs, Grace and Malad. The center, expected to open in 2024, will serve between 1,000 to 1,400 students per day.

“We are opening that door for whichever students want to show up. When this building is finished, it’s not going to look like anything in the state. It’s going to be at a different level,” Naftz said. 

Are CTE teacher endorsements increasing?

The approval process for new CTE programs takes place during the spring with the approval cycle ending on Feb. 15.

“We anticipate to see a continued growth during the upcoming application window. (Our agency) has seen significant growth in CTE programs throughout the state over the past six years,” said Megan O’Rourke, director of communications for Career Technical Education.

There were 1,089 teachers teaching CTE courses in the 2022-23 school year. There are 1,083 teachers this school year in classrooms across the state, but the agency says that could increase.

The number of teachers “still has room to increase over the balance of this year,” the agency reports.

There were 338 secondary applications for CTE endorsements last year. So far this year, the number is 171 but “similar to the growth in programming, we anticipate continued growth in applications,” O’Rourke said. 

The following lists detail the $35.9 million approved by the ICRS council

Existing Programs

• Notus School District #135 – Welding Program $27,000
• Hansen School District #415 – Applied Accounting Program $25,530
• Murtaugh School District #418 – Ag Education Program $20,324
• Marsh Valley School District #21 – Automotive Service Technician and Mechanics $5,347
• COSSA #555 – Automotive-Diesel Program Equipment Upgrades $56,721
• Whitepine Joint School District #288 – Multi-Program Equipment Upgrades $47,871
• Mullan School District #392 – Mullan Welding Program Equipment Upgrades $61,248
• Oneida County School District #351 – CNC Plasma System $28,622
• Council School District #013 – Ag Facility Equipment Upgrades $23,000
• Wallace School District #393 – Welding & Wood Shop Equipment Upgrades $23,440
• Castleford School District #417 – Welding Program Upgrades $22,250
• Marsh Valley School District #21 – Welding Program Upgrades $32,617
• Bear Lake School District #033 – Automotive Technology Equipment Upgrades $17,195

New Programs

• Potlatch School District #285 – Forestry and Natural Resources Program $989,198
• Firth School District #59 – Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) Program $25,375
• Shelley School District #60 – Welding Program $55,457
• Orofino Joint School District #171 – Natural Resources & Forestry Pathway $528,100
• West Bonner School District #083 – CTE Natural Resources Pathway $725,240

Capital Projects

• Midvale School District #433 – Ag Education Facility Expansion $1,058,000
• Minidoka School District #331 – CTE Facility $4,900,000
• Pocatello-Chubbuck School District #25 – CTE Campus (PV-TEC) $6,500,000
• Kimberly School District #414 – Ag Education Facility Expansion $1,320,000
• Cassia County School District #151 – Diesel Program Facility $1,659,491
• Wilder School District #133 – Ag Education Facility Expansion $301,487
• Blackfoot School District #55 – CTE Center (BTEC) $3,898,071
• Sugar-Salem School District #322 – Multi-Program CTE Facility $2,700,000
• Soda Springs School District #150 – Multi-Program CTE Facility $370,960
• New Plymouth School District #372 – New Ag Education Building $2,272,799
• Cascade School District #422 – Ag Welding Shop HVAC/Electrical Upgrades $16,361
• Firth School District #59 – Ag Shop Upgrades $103,299
• Hansen School District #415 – Animal Science Pathway Facility $71,309
• Middleton School District #134 – Multi-Program CTE Facility $1,124,800
• Fremont County School District #215 – Greenhouse Facility $253,120
• Jefferson School District #251 – Multi-Program CTE Facility $5,300,000
• St. Maries Joint School District #041 – Multi-Program CTE Facility $1,280,934

And they’re grappling with difficult realities — a return to a fully-functioning school is years away, and Highland’s freshman class will never learn in a fully rebuilt school. 

“No matter what we do, those kids’ entire high school careers will be in a fractured facility and a fractured environment,” Jena Wilcox, an assistant principal at Highland, said. 

Pocatello/Chubbuck trustees and administrators discussed next steps at a special meeting Tuesday, and seemed torn about whether to put another bond on the ballot. On Nov. 7, their $45 million bond failed with 56% support, short of the needed two-thirds supermajority. 

No decisions were made, but the school leaders’ conversation reflected the difficulties of financing major building upgrades through voter-approved bonds, and while navigating laws that hinder their ability to communicate with voters. 

Trustees’ next chance to put a bond on the ballot is in May, and they would have to make a decision and submit ballot language by late March. But at least one trustee opposed the idea. 

“I do not believe that another bond will pass,” Trustee Angie Oliver said. “So if that doesn’t pass, are we going to do another one? I mean, how long are we going to put this off?”

Students need a fully-functioning school as soon as possible, she said. 

But Trustees Deanna Judy and Heather Clarke said they were in favor of another bond election. 

“We have one opportunity from this tragedy to do it right,” Judy said. 

The insurance monies will pay to rebuild the school exactly as it was, as well as some improvements if current building codes call for them. But Judy said the district should build an improved school that reflects today’s needs, as opposed to the needs of Highland students in the 1960s, when the school was built. At that time, the school didn’t serve freshmen, as it does now, or offer women’s sports. 

“We need to change the messaging and educate people on why we need that upgrade. It’s not just to make it bigger and shinier, it’s opportunities for the kids,” she said. 

Wilcox expressed support for a second bond election. 

“I’m in favor of us trying to do this again and do a better job at it,” she said. “But if we can’t get this passed this next go-around, we have to cut our losses … We have to minimize that impact for kids.”

Leaders discussed a few options Tuesday, ranging from rebuilding Highland as it was before the fire, to rebuilding and improving its gym, auditorium and science labs. The price tag for those options range from no cost, to $35.4 million. 

If the district’s proposed $45 million bond had passed in November, a chunk of it would’ve gone to a second school, Century High, to improve its gym facilities. 

Trustees also discussed whether to give voters a chance to fund just Highland’s improvements on the next ballot. 

Results from a recent community survey indicate that the added ask for Century was a primary reason for denying the bond. 

And there was frequent discussion about how to better communicate with stakeholders if trustees run another bond ask. More than 300 stakeholders who took the poll called for more public meetings and information. 

But Courtney Fisher, the district’s director of communications, said laws constrain outreach efforts. 

A law passed last spring, for example, requires districts to post the official ballot language — which is cumbersome legalese — whenever they mention a bond measure or even remind community members to vote. Fisher said the bond language confused constituents. 

District officials are also barred from using school resources to advocate for bond or levy measures, and can only inform or educate. Because of that, Fisher said she opted not to go on radio or television, which kept her from reaching a potentially wider audience. 

“We need to help our legislative delegation understand that these legal ramifications are not helping create a more informed electorate,” Fisher said. “It’s causing confusion. People want simple, straight answers, and some of these legal constraints prevent us from doing that.”