School board training bill rejected

COEUR d'ALENE - Lawmakers in Boise rejected a measure on Thursday that would have required new members on Idaho's local school boards to complete training in public education law and financial management.

The Associated Press reports that the Republican-led House Education Committee balked at the legislation, saying the state shouldn't interfere with local school boards and require training when many trustees already take voluntary steps to sharpen their leadership skills.

Some Coeur d'Alene School District trustees were in the Capitol building Thursday listening to the testimony.

Edie Brooks, chair of the Coeur d'Alene school board, said she believes it is unnecessary to legally mandate that trustees receive training.

"I think we get enough. We're always trying to get more," Brooks told The Press by telephone. "We got on the school board because we care about education. Why wouldn't we educate ourselves?"

Rep. Wendy Jaquet's bill would have required newly elected trustees to complete the training within one year of taking office.

Jaquet, D-Ketchum, says the position of school board members is getting more complicated and the state needs to ensure they are prepared, particularly as Idaho considers a proposed public education overhaul that aims to give trustees more control.

Opponents of the measure feared it could deter potential candidates from running for office.

Coeur d'Alene Trustee Bill Hemenway, also speaking by telephone from Boise, said he is a strong advocate of training. A legal requirement for school board member training would not necessarily have been a bad thing, he said, especially in light of the changes that would occur if education reform legislation is enacted.

"I don't think there was anything to be lost," Hemenway said. "I think we need all the training we can get."

Sid Fredrickson, another Coeur d'Alene school board trustee, who did not travel to Boise, also believes everyone needs training, but "it depends on the opportunities that are available and the cost."

Fredrickson doesn't think it would be right for the state to require trustees to receive training and expect cash-strapped school districts to pay for it.

The Coeur d'Alene School District already provides funding for training for new members through the Idaho School Boards Association, a nonprofit advocacy and board development organization that claims more than 500 locally-elected Idaho school board trustees as members.

School board members are able to attend various workshops on leadership, education law and school finance at the ISBA's annual state convention last held in November in Boise.

"It's very valuable training," Fredrickson said.

Due to the school budget woes felt in the last few years, trustees in Coeur d'Alene have placed "very serious restrictions on travel and training costs for staff," and for themselves, Fredrickson said. They now limit the number of trustees they send to the convention, and stopped sending trustees to the national convention in 2007.

The Coeur d'Alene school board sent chair Brooks and newest trustee Stephanie Powers for the training in Boise last fall. For each trustee, the district paid the $395 convention fee, $160 round trip airfare, and $90 for a hotel room.

Fredrickson said there are always additional out-of-pocket expenses that go un-reimbursed during these trips.

Idaho's locally-elected school board trustees serve as volunteers and receive no compensation for their service.