Originally posted on IdahoEdNews.org on May 14, 2025

BOISE, ID – Idaho’s K-12 public schools are no longer required to report their annual calendars — including instructional hours — to the state. 

State law mandates that school districts and charter schools set yearly calendars offering a minimum number of instructional hours. But during the 2025-26 school year, state officials won’t verify whether districts and charters are satisfying the minimum, spokespeople for the Idaho Department of Education (IDE) confirmed this week. 

The decision to stop requiring calendar reporting was “based on capacity issues,” said Maggie Reynolds, IDE’s public information officer. An employee who previously collected this information was reassigned “to address a need elsewhere in the department,” added Scott Graf, chief communications officer.

The state law that sets minimum hours doesn’t have a reporting requirement, nor does it assign an oversight role to the department or another state-level entity, Graf said. 

“We do regularly interact with districts and remind them that, while there is no reporting requirement in the code, that they should be able to produce documentation that shows they are, in fact, meeting the minimums,” he said. 

Facilities bill highlighted instructional time

The relaxation of reporting requirements comes nearly a year after House Bill 521 — the sweeping school facilities funding bill — sparked controversy and confusion over the state’s minimum requirements for instructional time. 

Previously, state law simply mandated minimum hours. The existing code directs local school boards to set calendars with between 450 and 990 instructional hours, depending on grade level. And IDE required that districts and charters report their calendars to the state. 

HB 521 — in an effort to deter districts from moving to four-day school weeks — directed the State Board to establish minimum days, as well. Sponsored by Republican Gov. Brad Little and GOP House leadership, the bill initially said that school districts would have to abide by the minimum instructional days to receive facilities funding. (The facilities bill did not apply to charter schools.)

After local leaders from four-day districts protested, lawmakers passed a follow-up bill softening the provision on minimum days. It allowed districts receiving the facilities funding to meet either the minimum days or the existing minimum hours. 

By the time the State Board set the minimum days at 152, state superintendent Debbie Critchfield, a Republican, said the change was unlikely to significantly affect school calendars. 

Schools still responsible for minimum hours, IDE says

The minimum instructional hours requirement remains the status quo heading into 2025-26. But there will be no state oversight ensuring districts and charters are meeting the minimums.

IDE “continues to stress” to district and charter leaders that “they are still responsible for monitoring and tracking instructional hours to ensure that they meet the hourly requirements,” Reynolds said. The department is continuing to post calendar templates and to offer a guidance manual that helps local leaders build their calendars and track the minimum requirements, she said. 

Instructional hours include “the time when students are under the guidance and direction of a teacher engaged in the teaching process,” according to IDE’s calendar manual. School assemblies and testing may be counted toward instructional hours, but transportation to and from school along with lunch periods, breaks, recess and passing periods should not be counted, the guidance says. 

EdNews data analyst Randy Schrader contributed to this report.