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The state’s fund to help school districts repair unsafe buildings has only been used twice since it was set up in 2006 — and not at all in the last decade.
About a decade ago, one school district went to the state for money to fix its crumbling buildings. It got a fraction of what it asked for. Since then, no other district has even applied.
A $25 million loan program was established in 2006 as a way to pay for maintenance and repairs of aging school buildings. But lawmakers made the program “difficult to use” and only two districts have been able to access the aid.
A $25 million Idaho program is intended to help districts that couldn’t pass bonds to repair or replace unsafe schools. But, “It was created to be, frankly, difficult to use.”
Idaho spends less on schools per student than any other state. As a result, students across the state must learn amid dire conditions.