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At a special board meeting held Tuesday afternoon, the Lake Pend Oreille School District Board talked with Sen. Jim Woodward, R-Sandpoint, and Debbie Critchfield, president of the Idaho State Board of Education, about upcoming legislative priorities for education.

One question that came up at the meeting was in regards to funding models using enrollment as a determinant for school districts.

Previously, the state Board of Education enacted a temporary rule to allow districts to be funded based on enrollment instead of average daily attendance. However, whether this rule will be written into more long-term legislation is yet to be seen.

“I believe there’s an interest in it,” Woodward said, “[But] I don’t think there’s anyone driving that.”

Critchfield said although there seems to be interest in an enrollment-based funding model from legislators, it might not be a top priority.

“They’re interested in education savings accounts and having the dollars follow the students,” she said.

One area where students, families and educators can expect to see change, Critchfield said, is an increased ability for students to participate in extracurriculars outside of sporting events.

Because of Idaho’s move back to Stage 3 of its reopening plan, schools could petition their local health districts with plans for events such as a play.

Students in programs like drama, choir and other arts would then potentially be able to perform just as their peers in athletics can play games.

“It doesn’t make any sense to say we can have 40% attendance at a sports game but not an auditorium,” Critchfield said. “We’re wanting to come out with something that is specific to these types of activities [at the Idaho State Board of Education]. In the meantime, don’t wait on us.”

Many of the detailed decisions by the Legislature that will determine the future of Idaho schools remained murky. Content standards, for instance, remain a divisive issue for many legislators, Woodward said.

Other areas, such as what regulations will be concerning in-person instruction in the fall, and a proposal of summer school to address learning shortfalls from the past year, are still unclear.

Superintendent Tom Albertson noted that although students did see a disruption in their education, and that the district is working to determine those shortfalls. However, he said, students were also able to attend in-person classes more than many of their peers in the state.

“I see Gov. Little wanting to invest into summer school heavily,” Albertson said. “That’s a big undertaking … [so] we would like to have some flexibility [in how that is run in our district].”