Bill Analyses and Ratings
Bill Information: H0918 – Idaho Digital Learning Academy Restructuring
Bill Summary
House Bill 918 restructures the Idaho Digital Learning Academy (IDLA) by redefining its mission, rebuilding its governance board, and tightening eligibility rules for state-funded enrollments. The bill explicitly repositions IDLA as a gap-filling resource rather than a standalone school-choice vehicle, limiting its purpose to credit recovery, dual credit, courses unavailable in small or rural districts, state-required graduation courses, and overload courses. Students in grades 6 through 8 may only access state-funded IDLA courses for credit recovery and remediation, while students in fully virtual school districts are excluded from state-funded enrollment entirely.
The bill disbands the existing board of directors on July 1, 2026, and replaces it with a nine-member board comprising three regional superintendents, one school principal, two citizen members, the state superintendent of public instruction, one House member appointed by the Speaker, and one Senate member appointed by the President Pro Tempore. Administrative personnel costs are capped at 30% of the total budget. Fees for graduation-required courses are capped at $40, while non-required courses must cost at least $100, with all fees offsetting the $445 per-enrollment state reimbursement. The bill also integrates IDLA into the Advanced Opportunities program, allowing students to use their $4,625 Advanced Opportunities allotment to pay for IDLA courses, and requires the Legislative Services Office to conduct a financial audit of IDLA every three years.
Overall Assessment
House Bill 918 primarily affects Idaho’s public education delivery system by narrowing the scope of the Idaho Digital Learning Academy and restructuring its governance. The bill’s most significant policy impact falls under the Education metric, where it receives a negative rating. While the bill improves access to online coursework for students in rural and small districts who lack local course offerings, it simultaneously restricts access for middle school students seeking non-remedial courses and entirely excludes students enrolled in fully virtual school districts from state-funded IDLA enrollment. These restrictions reduce the overall breadth of educational opportunity available to Idaho students through state-funded digital learning.
The remaining metrics are unaffected by this legislation, as the bill is narrowly focused on the operational and governance structure of a single state educational entity. The restructured board—now including two sitting legislators—gives the Legislature direct ongoing influence over IDLA operations, and the 30% administrative cost cap along with mandatory Legislative Services Office audits impose new fiscal discipline, but these governance changes do not rise to the level of impacting the broader principles measured by the other articles. The net effect of the bill is a modest negative impact on education access, reflected in its total score of -1.
Rating Breakdown
ARTICLE I. Responsibility in Government (0)
The bill caps administrative personnel costs at 30% of IDLA's total budget (Section 4), requires an annual CPA audit, and adds a Legislative Services Office financial audit every three years (Section 4, subsection 16). These are meaningful accountability measures, but they apply exclusively to one narrowly scoped state-created entity and do not reflect broader fiscal reform, spending reduction, or government transparency policy.
ARTICLE II. Citizen Involvement in Government (0)
The bill restructures the governance and funding of an online education program and has no provisions touching elections, voting procedures, open primaries, or mechanisms for citizen political participation. The two citizen-at-large seats on the new board are appointed by existing board members rather than elected, which does not meaningfully expand public engagement in government.
ARTICLE III. Education (-1)
The bill expands access to online courses for rural and small-district students and integrates IDLA into the Advanced Opportunities program, which supports student choice. However, it simultaneously restricts IDLA's role by prohibiting it from supplanting local school programs, excluding fully virtual school students from state funding, and limiting middle schoolers to remediation courses only—creating tradeoffs between expanded access and reduced flexibility that prevent a clear positive or negative net effect on education values.
ARTICLE IV. Agriculture (0)
This bill addresses the structure, governance, and funding of an online K-12 education program. It contains no provisions related to agricultural education, farm policy, water rights for agricultural use, or rural farming and ranching interests beyond the incidental benefit rural students may receive from expanded course access.
ARTICLE V. Water (0)
The bill is entirely focused on digital education delivery and governance. It contains no language addressing water rights, water appropriation, inter-basin transfers, reservoir management, or federal interference in state water policy.
ARTICLE VI. Natural Resources and Environment (0)
The bill restructures an online learning academy and has no connection to natural resource management, environmental regulation, federal land policy, or stewardship of Idaho's natural environment.
ARTICLE VII. Energy (0)
The bill addresses K-12 online education governance and funding exclusively. It contains no provisions related to energy production, energy independence, utility regulation, hydropower, or energy research and development.
ARTICLE VIII. Idaho National Laboratories (0)
The bill makes no reference to the Idaho National Laboratory, nuclear energy research, technology transfer, or any related federal research mission. Its scope is limited to restructuring a state online education program.
ARTICLE IX. Private Property Rights (0)
The bill creates no new government authority over private property, imposes no land use restrictions, and does not implicate eminent domain or regulatory takings. Its provisions are confined to the governance and funding of a public online education program.
ARTICLE X. State and Federal Lands (0)
The bill does not address federal land ownership, state land management, or the transfer of federal lands to state control. Its subject matter is entirely limited to online K-12 education delivery.
ARTICLE XI. Wildlife Management (0)
The bill has no provisions related to fish and game management, hunting and fishing rights, predator control, or federal wildlife designations. It is an education governance and funding bill with no connection to wildlife policy.
ARTICLE XII. Economy (0)
While expanded access to dual credit and career-pathway courses through IDLA could marginally benefit workforce development, the bill does not directly regulate commerce, reduce business regulatory burdens, address taxation, or affect labor markets. Its economic effects are indirect and secondary to its primary purpose of restructuring an education program.
ARTICLE XIII. Health and Welfare (0)
The bill addresses online K-12 education and contains no provisions related to healthcare delivery, health insurance, Medicaid, public health programs, or welfare policy. Its scope does not intersect with health and welfare concerns.
ARTICLE XIV. American Family (0)
The bill does not directly address parental rights, family structure, or parental authority over curriculum. While Section 33-4602 allows parents to enroll children in Advanced Opportunities courses without school permission, this provision predates the bill; the bill's primary changes centralize IDLA governance in a state-appointed board rather than expanding parental control.
ARTICLE XV. Older Americans (0)
The bill explicitly limits IDLA's student population to grades 6 through 12 and removes prior statutory language that had allowed adult learners to participate. This change eliminates a pathway for older Idahoans to access IDLA courses, but the bill does not otherwise address retirement, senior services, or workforce policies affecting older Americans.
ARTICLE XVI. Law and Order with Justice (0)
The bill is an education governance measure with no provisions touching criminal justice, firearms rights, law enforcement, the court system, or state sovereignty in law enforcement matters.
ARTICLE XVII. National Defense - Securing the Border (0)
The bill addresses online K-12 education in Idaho and contains no provisions related to national defense, military readiness, veterans' services, border security, or immigration policy.
ARTICLE XVIII. Election of Judges and Idaho Supreme Court Justices (0)
The bill does not address judicial selection, judicial elections, or constitutional interpretation. Its provisions are confined to the structure and funding of a state online education program.
ARTICLE XIX. Religious Liberty (0)
The bill contains no provisions affecting religious exercise, religious schools, or government interference with faith-based institutions. Its scope is limited to restructuring a public online education delivery program for Idaho K-12 students.