State superintendent’s candidate Cindy Wilson blasted incumbent Sherri Ybarra for writing up a $20 million school safety plan without consulting with other education leaders.
“Any proposal that didn’t include stakeholder input is bad,” Wilson said Wednesday, in a joint interview with KIVI 6 On Your Side and Idaho Education News. “It’s dead on arrival.”
The Keep Idaho Students Safe initiative figures prominently in the budget proposal Ybarra presented Tuesday. The Republican Ybarra said she would seek $19.1 million for the 2018-19 school year, and another $1.6 million to continue the project in 2019-20.
Several education leaders have ripped Ybarra’s plan, saying she created the proposal without their input. Ybarra has disputed the criticisms.
Wilson, Ybarra’s Democratic challenger, pledged to work with Idaho’s Office of School Safety on a security plan. She said she would emphasize replacing aging schools that cannot be kept secure. She also said she would emphasize counseling and outreach to help at-risk students — and smaller class sizes, which would help teachers identify students who need help.
During the 30-minute interview, Wilson also discussed teacher salaries, early education and the Legislature’s efforts to rewrite Idaho’s school funding formula.
