COEUR d’ALENE — One of the first things Judi Sharrett wondered when she began working in Idaho schools is why there were no services connecting rural schools with specialized professionals.

“Sixteen years later and I still wonder the same thing now,” said Sharrett, the superintendent and special education director for the Plummer-Worley School District.

That may soon be changing for Sharrett and other rural school district officials in Idaho.

A bill that would create a pilot rural education support network in North Idaho passed the Idaho Legislature’s House Education Committee Thursday by unanimous vote. If the legislation clears the House and Senate, $300,000 would be directed toward allowing school districts to collaborate to share access to specialized services for students from professionals like speech-language pathologists and nurses.

“We have a hard time finding people to work one or two days a week for us,” Sharrett said. “This service can connect the dots and make the resources more readily available.” Sharett said she feels confident the bill will pass this legislative session, especially because Idaho Superintendent of Public Instruction Sherri Ybarra has seen the need and is fully supporting the program’s implementation.

Ybarra told The Press Thursday that, although she can’t speak for the legislators in the committee, she felt the hearing went well and yielded positive discussion. Representatives, she added, were interested in the specifics of the bill, and most questions she received began with: “I’m going to support this.”

The committee also discussed what the bill isn’t, Ybarra said.

“It is not another layer of bureaucracy. It’s not a brick-and-mortar center and we’re not busing students anywhere,” she said.

Ybarra said the support network would empower rural school districts in North Idaho to work together to identify which services and resources are needed. The state funds would then be used to hire full-time, specialized employees the districts would share.

“It really sends a message that the state of Idaho recognizes the value of small communities,” Ybarra said.

The proposed network would not just benefit school districts like Plummer-Worley. Other small, less rural districts, such as the Lakeland Joint School District, would also have access to the services.

At Lakeland, Assistant Superintendent Lisa Sexton said they have had an opening the entire school year for a part-time nurse. Like its smaller counterpart, Plummer-Worley, Lakeland also struggles to find speech-language pathologists.

It becomes a problem when a child with special needs has an education plan that calls for 40 minutes a week with a specialist, but one can’t be found. “That doesn’t let you off the hook,” Sexton said. “You’re legally obligated to provide one.”

Being able to share the cost of a full-time speech-language pathologist with multiple districts, Sexton said, would solve the issue. She is hopeful the bill will pass.

The bill will be discussed and voted on by the full House as early as next week. Unlike the 2016 legislative session, when a similar bill passed the House but failed to be heard by the Senate, there is likely enough time for the Senate to hear the bill before the session adjourns at the end of March.

“In Idaho, all students are supposed to be treated equally,” Sharrett said. “This is an opportunity to provide services equally to all students.”