Thirty people, including library staff, board members and patrons testified in person and virtually at a Senate State Affairs Committee hearing Wednesday morning to voice their opinions on the Legislature’s most recent library bill — .

However, the committee did not vote on any motion related to the bill because of time constraints. Committee chairman Sen. Jim Guthrie, R-McCammon, said the committee will continue its discussion at a later time.

An affirmative vote in the committee would secure the bill a spot on the Senate floor, making the bill one step closer to becoming law after the Idaho House of Representatives last week in a 47-23 vote.

House Bill 710 is an amended version of a previous bill introduced earlier this year. The bill would rely on Idaho’s , which includes “any act of … homosexuality” under its definition of sexual conduct.

It would require libraries to have a form for people to request review of materials. The bill grants county prosecuting attorneys or the attorney general the authority to seek injunctive relief against schools or public libraries found violating the law on promoting, giving, or making available material deemed harmful to minors.

Sen. Cindy Carlson, R-Riggins, the sponsor of the bill, said she believes the bill is a great solution.

“Parents and citizens of the state of Idaho and the rest of the country are angry and want access to this harmful material to children be removed,” she said.

House Bill 710 was the only piece of legislation on the committee’s agenda Wednesday morning, and public testimony took nearly all two hours of the committee’s allotted time.

Most of the librarians who testified said the legislation is confusing, unnecessary and demoralizing to their professions. Many said this year marks the third year they have had to testify in opposition to a library bill, and they expressed frustration that the bill is targeting the LGBTQ+ community under its definition of materials harmful to minors.

Megan Cafferty, a Meridian librarian, said her main concern was the costs that this bill would create for Idaho libraries, noting that the $250 fine in damages would disproportionately hurt small libraries, and requiring an adults-only section would create challenges for libraries with limited staff and space in their building.

“Currently we are having issues even retaining our current staff because we can’t compete with the rising cost of living,” she said. “We can’t afford to live in the city where we work. I personally can’t have a studio apartment and afford to eat in Meridian, so we definitely can’t afford to remodel and add all of these extra costs.”

Huda Shaltry, a Boise librarian and the legislative co-chair for the Idaho Librarian Association, said that library-related legislation has created challenges in her career. But for each negative encounter, she said she experiences hundreds of positive interactions with library patrons.

“Every week somebody has thanked me for the existence of libraries and what we do and the resources that we provide the tech support, the printing, helping people find a home or escape their domestic violence situation,” she said. “This is what we do. This is what I was trained to do.”

Grace Howat, a representative for the conservative organization, Idaho Family Policy Center, was the only person to testify in favor of the legislation. In her testimony, she said the policy center is excited to support the bill as it would protect children.

Recap of library bills during 2024 session

House Bill 710 was brought to the Legislature after the Idaho Senate Senate Bill 1289, of previous legislation brought by Rep. Jaron Crane, R-Nampa, and Sen. Geoff Schroeder, R-Mountain Home.

At least four bills have been brought to the Idaho Legislature to regulate library materials for minors, including

House Bill 384, which library patrons to sue libraries if they provide “harmful materials” to minors. It would have also created a policy that requires community members fill out a written notice asking libraries to relocate a library item that they deem “harmful” to an adult’s only section. If a library failed to relocate the item within 30 days, then one could have sued the library for $250, as well as “actual damages and any other relief.” , which would have required school boards establish a “library materials review committee,” or a group of parents, educators and administrators who review requests for reconsideration of school library items, the Idaho Capital Sun . It did not advance to a hearing.Senate Bill 1289, which according to bill sponsors, combined House Bill 384 and Senate Bill 1221. It died in a 18-17 vote in the Senate, the Sun . House Bill 710, of House Bill 384.

While regulating library materials is at the top of the agenda for some Republican legislators, a Boise State University survey showed that most Idahoans trust library staff with book selection. According to the university’s ninth annual , 69% of respondents said they trust library staff with book selection, while 23% of Idahoans said they do not trust libraries and library staff.

At the end of the committee hearing Monday, Senate President Pro Tempore Chuck Winder, R-Boise, addressed the librarians in the room, some of whom came from Idaho Falls, Ketchum and across the Treasure Valley.

“Please don’t think this is out of disrespect to any of you as librarians, any of you as teachers,” Winder said. “That’s not what this is about. We’ve got parents that have concerns we’re trying to deal with, and remember, our Constitution is set up to protect the minority, not the majority.”

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Idaho Capital Sun maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Christina Lords for questions: info@idahocapitalsun.com. Follow Idaho Capital Sun on and .

CALDWELL — Idaho families will soon no longer have to send their children out of state to get their children mental health care inside a residential facility.

The Idaho Youth Ranch is opening a treatment facility called the Residential Center for Healing & Resilience that has 64 beds, all with their own room, and a charter school on a scenic campus only a short drive from downtown Caldwell.

The center will provide 24-hour nursing, psychiatric care, therapy and year-round schooling for over 100 children ages 11-17 years old each year, according to a press release.

Most children who receive treatment at the Youth Ranch facility will be on Medicaid, said Jeff Myers, vice president of marketing and communication, in a Monday interview at the facility. But children on private insurance will also be treated, and the facility, which is under construction, will offer scholarships to kids whose coverage doesn’t fully cover their stay, Myers said.

Next to Youth Ranch’s Equine Therapy Center on its 258-acre campus with trees, fields and streams, the children’s treatment facility hopes to keep Idaho children closer to their families, which leaders say will help children respond better to treatment.

“This is an Idaho challenge that deserves an Idaho solution,” said Idaho Youth Ranch CEO Scott Curtis in an interview with the Idaho Capital Sun. “Not just because we should be taking care of that locally, but because it makes a difference therapeutically. To send youth to another state is another trauma for them to deal with. … To keep them closer to their families and caregivers will help their therapy work be more effective and more lasting.”

Already, 50 children are in queue to get care in the facility, Myers said.

On any given day in Idaho, over 100 kids on Medicaid are being sent out of state to access this residential psychiatric care, Myers said.

The facility will start taking a limited number of patients Aug. 15. The public is invited to tour the facility on Thursday. To protect the privacy of children being treated, the facility generally won’t offer tours after it starts treating patients, Myers said.

Idaho Youth Ranch Residential Facility is meant to feel comfortable

The facility is built around the needs of children who’ll be seeking care there. Each of the six classrooms have restrooms. Hallways are extra wide to let patients maintain personal space. Kids who struggle to sit still in class can even use fidget-friendly seats. The facility’s carpeted floors, wooden ceilings and large windows are also meant to feel more familiar, Myers said.

“It’s not home, but it feels like a home-like environment,” he said.

Every staff member on site, including maintenance workers and cooks, will be trained on how to interact with students, Myers said. The facility plans  to use few or no holds, which are when staff have to physically restrain patients, he said.

“We know that if we have to put hands on a kid, it sets back their treatment substantially. So part of it is being aware of all the signs ahead of the time the kids start to get dysregulated so we can intervene, (and) intercept that early,” Myers said. “And part of that is a mindset in training that says we’re gonna do everything we can to avoid that.”

But the facility is still built with features that psychiatric facilities have — like metal fences enclosing the facility’s yards and construction features that prevent children from harming themselves.

The facility features four dorm halls of 16 rooms, each named after different Idaho mountain ranges from southwest, central, northern and eastern parts of the state — Owyhee, Sawtooth, Selkirk and Teton. The facility also has a dining hall, therapy and wellness building and recreation hall.

The charter school, called Promise Academy, is chartered through the Middleton School District, as previously reported by.

Eventually, the psychiatric care facility may add a new 32-bed building to its campus, Myers said.

The Idaho Youth Ranch raised $35 million to build the youth residential treatment facility — mostly from private donors, but the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare awarded the nonprofit an $8 million grant.

Idaho $15 million in grant funds in December 2022 to three organizations — Idaho Youth Ranch Northwest Children’s Home in North Idaho and Jackson House in eastern Idaho — to build psychiatric residential treatment facilities.

Residential, inpatient care is part of the continuum of care

In 1952,  Rev. James Crowe and Ruby Carrie Crowe, a married couple, made their dream possible. They founded Idaho Youth Ranch and bought 2,560 acres of land in Rupert for $1 per acre, per year, with no interest, according to an informational brochure for the facility.

The Crowes “believe a ranch lifestyle could provide the residential care that would meet the needs of Idaho’s youth,” Curtis said.

The couple began by treating boys in the original Idaho Youth Ranch facility in Rupert in the 1950s, Myers said. But the Youth Ranch now has more than six decades of experience providing residential care to Idaho’s children and families, he said.

“It’s been the most consistent thing we have done,” Curtis said.

Residential care is only part of the spectrum of psychiatric care that Idahoans need, Curtis noted. Patients will leave Youth Ranch’s facility and need care elsewhere — from specialists, primary care providers and other mental health professionals. Other parts of the system need to be bolstered as well, he said.

The facility hopes to hire 120 full time staff for the campus, Curtis said. Health professionals looking to work at the facility should visit.

The facility will be slowly ramping up its capacity to treat children, starting with eight children initially, Myers said, and adding eight each month.

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Idaho Capital Sun maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Christina Lords for questions: info@idahocapitalsun.com. Follow Idaho Capital Sun on and .

Idaho legislators spent two hours Friday questioning University of Idaho officials about the university’s plans to form a new nonprofit organization to acquire the for-profit University of Phoenix for $550 million.

The on May 18, which caught many legislators and members of the public off guard because the deal had only come to light publicly 24 hours earlier, .

The Idaho Legislature’s Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee met in an open, public meeting Friday at the Idaho State Capitol in Boise to allow legislators on the committee to seek additional information about the deal.

During Friday’s meeting, University of Idaho President C. Scott Green discussed the legal structure of how the two entities would operate moving forward, including transforming University of Phoenix into a not-for-profit and transferring $10 million annually in expected surpluses generated from the University of Phoenix to the University of Idaho. Green also shared a one-page spreadsheet with financial metrics and projections with legislators.

Green called the deal a bold and innovative step into the future of digital education that will allow the university to enroll a wider variety of nontraditional adult students.

“I truly believe this affiliation with the University of Phoenix is a catalyst for greater success in higher education in our state,” Green said Friday.

Idaho legislators question university president on financial risks of acquisition

Several legislators had questions about the financial risks involved with the deal and concerns about nondisclosure agreements signed during the negotiations. Other legislators had questions about University of Phoenix’s prior business practices and public reputation. In 2019, for instance, the University of Phoenix agreed to pay $191 million to settle a complaint from the Federal Trade Commission that alleged the University of Phoenix engaged in deceptive marketing practices to recruit students, .

On Friday, Rep. Wendy Horman, an Idaho Falls Republican who serves as the co-chair of JFAC, told Green that nondisclosure agreements included in the deal raised some red flags for her because they prevent legislators and the public from understanding the financial risks of the deal.

“In a nutshell, this is the University of Idaho proposing to acquire an entire multi-state university system with something of little bit of a troubled history,” Horman told Green.

“What I have yet to appreciate is these strict nondisclosure agreements with anyone who seems to have this knowledge but is forbidden from disclosing, and so that raises some red flags for me, frankly,” Horman added. “If it is such a great deal, you would think people would be anxious to share the proof. … Without those financials, it is a big ask for me to trust that the downward trend in value won’t continue, candidly.”

University’s nondisclosure agreements on deal are still binding, Green says

Green told legislators the deal has not closed, and the nondisclosure agreements are still in place and binding in order to protect competitive trade secrets. The next steps for moving forward to close the deal include seeking approval from the University of Idaho and University of Phoenix’ accrediting organizations and then entering the bond market to reduce financing. The that a new nonprofit organization will borrow $685 million to finance the deal to acquire University of Phoenix. The nonprofit, which is called Idaho Education Initiatives, Inc., will acquire the University of Phoenix’s assets and liabilities and then continue to operate the University of Phoenix under the University of Phoenix name.

“I fully recognize the way this transaction was conducted was not ideal,” Green told legislators at one point Friday.

However Green said financial and legal experts have vetted the deal closely, and Idaho taxpayers will not be on the hook for any payments.

As traditional enrollment dips, University of Phoenix deal could be financial lifeline, UI president says

Green told legislators that the deal is necessary because the university needs to change its business and educational models before running off an “enrollment cliff” with traditional students.

Green estimated that the entire higher education system could see enrollment decreases of more than 15% from 2025 to 2035. One strategy to offset that decline is to expand on the number of nontraditional adult learners that are being served by the university, he said.

“One thing we will learn from the University of Phoenix is how best to serve online students, adult students and non degree-seeking students,” Green said.

Green said it made more sense to acquire the University of Phoenix rather than build a digital education system from the ground up.

Green told legislators that after the deal is closed, the University of Idaho will not own the University of Phoenix and the two will be separate, but affiliated entities.

“Saying that there is no risk, we have never said that,” Green told legislators.

JFAC co-chairman Sen. C. Scott Grow, R-Eagle, told reporters that he felt that Friday’s meeting was productive and helpful, but he still has unanswered questions and concerns about the deal.

“I still have serious concerns about the nondisclosure agreement,” Grow said. “I felt that, at least, legislative leadership should have been involved with that, if not the co-chairs of JFAC. I mean we are the appropriating body for all the universities. … We appropriate moneys for the University of Idaho.”

“We felt that we should have been involved earlier,” Grow added. ”They told us when it was kind of a done deal, when they’ve signed it and that’s one reason we are jumping into it now because this is about as soon as we could get a hearing together.”

Grow told the Idaho Capital Sun that he first found out about the deal on the day before the State Board of Education voted to approve the plan on May 18.

“The State Board (of Education) should consider having public hearings so that the public can be involved in sharing their feelings about this thing, and not just a few folks who are in on the nondisclosure agreement,” Green said.

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Idaho Capital Sun maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Christina Lords for questions: info@idahocapitalsun.com. Follow Idaho Capital Sun on and .

State inspectors try to get out into every school once every three years for a safety assessment.

They didn’t come close to staying on schedule in 2021-22 — because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which disrupted K-12 operations across the state.

All told, the state assessed 152 schools last school year, just one-fifth of Idaho’s 735 schools.

“It’s not where we would like to be,” Mike Munger, the director of the , told a state advisory board Tuesday.

The are supposed to provide a school with a look at its potential safety problems: structural problems or flawed procedures and policies that could put students or staff at risk. And the recent assessments provide a good snapshot at the school level, Munger said. But he is reluctant to draw conclusions from the limited data the state has collected.

“I think anecdotally we’ve learned a lot, but certainly the last two years have been very disruptive, and I’d be hesitant to make any broad-reaching recommendations,” he said.

The May 24 mass shooting at an Uvalde, Texas, elementary school has intensified a national discussion over school safety — putting assessments under increased scrutiny. Texas, for instance, conducted flash assessments at its schools after the Uvalde massacre, even though the schools had been inspected in the past.

Munger said he wants Idaho to ramp up its assessments — and he expects the pace to pick up now that schools are back on a normal schedule. But he said it’s training, policies and structural improvements that make a school safer.

“The assessment provides the foundation,” he said.

Some help is on the way, in the form of federal aid approved in the aftermath of the Uvalde shootings.

Idaho will receive $4.8 million from , passed in June.

The state knows it needs to award the grants through a competitive application process — and direct the money to high-need schools. That could mean a lot of things: a school with a high poverty rate, a school in a community with limited mental health resources, or any number of other metrics.

“There’s still a lot we don’t know yet,” State Board of Education executive director Matt Freeman said.

The Office of School Safety and Security offered up a glimmer of good news Tuesday.

All told, 294 schools across Idaho have signed up for a new school safety tipline, called

Project coordinator Chris Thoms said he expects that number to grow.

Thoms said the program is already making a difference. In four cases, calls to the tipline got help to students who were contemplating suicide. In two cases, he said, classmates called on a student’s behalf. In two other cases, students called directly to get help for themselves.

This story was originally posted on on Dec. 6, 2022.

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Idaho Capital Sun maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Christina Lords for questions: info@idahocapitalsun.com. Follow Idaho Capital Sun on and .

Two Idaho school districts will receive more than $5 million in total grant funding for electric buses as part of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Bus Program, the first round of a five-year, $5 billion federal initiative that was approved through the , according to a press release.

Genesee School District in North Idaho requested funding for three buses, totaling $1.185 million, and McCall-Donnelly Joint School District requested funding for 10 buses, totaling $3.95 million. The Idaho districts were eligible to apply for the funds after the Idaho Legislature in the 2022 legislative session extending the acceptable contract length for school buses from five years to 10 years.

Both of Idaho’s Republican senators in Congress, Sens. Mike Crapo and Jim Risch, voted in favor of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, while the state’s two Republican U.S. Reps. Russ Fulcher and Mike Simpson voted against it.

The Clean School Bus Program aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, save money for school districts and produce cleaner air, the release said. Diesel air pollution is linked to asthma and other conditions, the release said, and can cause a student to miss school, particularly in communities of color and tribal communities. The program is also meant to save school districts money as they upgrade school bus fleets, replacing older diesel buses with brand new clean school buses, while freeing up resources for schools.

“President Joe Biden’s historic Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is accelerating our nation’s transition to electric and low-emission school buses while ensuring a brighter, healthier future for our children,” EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan said in the press release. “As many as 25 million children rely on the bus to get to school each day. Thanks to the Biden-Harris Administration, we are making an unprecedented investment in our children’s health, especially those in communities overburdened by air pollution.”

The span all 50 states and Washington, D.C., and were chosen by a lottery system. The total grant amount to be distributed is $913 million, which will support the purchase of 2,463 buses, 95% of which will be electric. More applications are under review, the release said, for a final total of $965 million in funding.

The EPA will distribute awards to school districts and several federally recognized tribes and U.S. territories. School districts identified as priority areas serving low-income, rural or tribal students make up 99% of the projects that were selected. More applications are under review, and the release said the agency plans to select more to reach the full $965 million in the coming weeks.

Those school districts who received an award can now proceed with purchasing new buses and eligible infrastructure, according to the release. The EPA is also partnering with the U.S. Department of Energy and Department of Transportation to provide school districts with robust technical assistance to ensure effective implementation.

The next rounds of program funding are expected to launch in the coming months, which will include a grant competition for another $1 billion in funding in fiscal year 2023, the release said. School districts not selected in the first round of rebates, and those that did not apply this funding cycle, are encouraged to participate in future rounds.

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Idaho Capital Sun maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Christina Lords for questions: info@idahocapitalsun.com. Follow Idaho Capital Sun on and .