Idaho earmarked federal pandemic relief money for a major K-12 database upgrade — a project on hold, after the feds cut off funding.
The pricetag for the stalled project came in well below original cost estimates.
At first, the state expected to spend $30 million on an Idaho System for Educational Excellence reboot.
Ultimately, the state earmarked $14.7 million.
The bulk of that money was supposed to go to Computer Power Systems of Illinois, the state’s vendor. CPSI was the low bidder for the contract, according to documents Idaho Education News obtained through a public records request. The contract was worth up to $13.6 million.
So, what happened to the balance — the money Idaho expected to spend on ISEE?
The remainder went into a host of other projects, State Board of Education Executive Director Jennifer White said. That list includes projects for the STEM Action Center and the Idaho Commission for Libraries, and an accelerated math program to address pandemic learning loss.
Where the money came from — or was supposed to come from
Following pandemic aid dollars is complicated.
The ISEE money was supposed to come from two funds. One source was the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund, or GEER, a pandemic aid program under governors’ broad discretion. The second source was the American Rescue Plan’s Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief fund, known as ARP ESSER.
Most money for the data upgrade came from — or was supposed to come from — ARP ESSER.
All told, the state spent $31.1 million in GEER grants, and the State Board spent slightly more than $19 million from ARP ESSER, board spokeswoman Marissa Morrison said.
Idaho EdNews has repeatedly asked Gov. Brad Little’s office for a breakdown of Idaho’s GEER spending, but received no response.
Morrison provided an overview.
The state primarily spent GEER money from 2021 to 2023, “mostly to support distance learning and technology enhancements,” Morrison said. The State Board spent the ARP ESSER money later, generally from 2023 to 2025, mostly to address data systems and learning loss, she said.
The federal Education Department cut off the pandemic aid funding on March 28. When that happened, Idaho lost $8.5 million it expected for ISEE.
The State Board lost a total of $15 million, for ISEE and other projects, Morrison said.
Rep. Wendy Horman, the co-chair of the Legislature’s budget-writing Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, has asked legislative staff to investigate ISEE — and the funding for the stalled project. Many of her questions fall to White, appointed as State Board executive director in April.
“She did not create this problem, but she is going to be tasked with cleaning it up,” said Horman, R-Idaho Falls.
More reading. Delays and defunding: Idaho spends, then loses, millions for a stalled data upgrade.
