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Read. Follow. Verify.Idaho Reorganizes Digital Learning Academy Board, Updates Funding and Sets New Distance Student Distributions
Last action · March 5, 2026: Reported Printed and Referred to Education
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What This Bill Proposed
Idaho House Bill 827 disbands and reestablishes the Idaho Digital Learning Academy board of directors into a 9-member body, creates a dedicated academy fund, and establishes a $400 per-student distribution for eligible schools serving s effective July 1, 2026.
Changes governance structures for online education delivery, alters user fee approvals through the state board, and introduces direct supplemental funding of $400 per student for qualifying small, rural, or alternative high school distance learners.
Who It Would Have Affected
Groups the bill's text would have affected, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Idaho Digital Learning Academy
Its board composition, audit requirements, funding mechanisms, and administrative exemptions are completely reorganized by the legislation.
Public school districts and charter schools
Eligible schools enrolling distance students receive a $400 per-student distribution, and districts are subject to revised course user fees.
Distance students in grades 9 through 12
Their enrollment status directly triggers per-student financial distributions to their respective schools.
Academy instructional staff
Key Facts
- Reestablishes the academy board of directors into a nine-member voting body effective July 1, 2026, featuring representatives appointed by the governor, legislative leadership, and the state superintendent.
- Creates the Idaho digital learning academy fund in the state treasury consisting of appropriations, fees, grants, and gifts with interest retained by the fund.
- Establishes a $400 per-student distribution for eligible schools enrolling distance students in grades 9 through 12, such as those in small cities or remote areas.
- Requires the academy board to meet in person at least three times annually without conducting those meetings by telephone or video conferencing.
Show all 8 facts
- Mandates that eligible schools receiving distance student funds report expenditure details to the state department of education beginning September 1, 2027.
- Directs the state department of education to report annual distribution totals, enrollment counts, and expenditure information to the legislature by December 31 of each year.
- Requires the academy to contract with a certified public accounting firm for an annual audit and with the legislative services office for a financial audit every three years.
- Authorizes the board to set fees charged to school districts, private schools, individual students, and other users for academy courses and summer school, subject to state board of education approval.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much funding do eligible schools receive for distance students?
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News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
This bill did not become law - Died at adjournment · in House committee.
Procedural history
2 actions- Mar 5, 2026CommitteeReported Printed and Referred to Education
- Mar 4, 2026IntroducedIntroduced, read first time, referred to JRA for Printing
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Comprehensive Board and Funding Restructuring
The legislation repeals old board and funding statutes to institute a consolidated 9-member board structure and a dedicated treasury fund for the digital learning academy.
Connected Entities
Sources
legislature.idaho.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance20Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 75)
- Controversy15Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz20Current news / social attention level
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