33-1613. SAFE PUBLIC SCHOOL FACILITIES REQUIRED. (1) Definition. As used in this section, "public school facilities" means the physical plant of improved or unimproved real property owned or operated by a school district, a charter school, or a school for children in any grades kindergarten through twelve (12) that is operated by the state of Idaho, including school buildings, administration buildings, playgrounds, athletic fields, etc., used by schoolchildren or school personnel in the normal course of providing a general, uniform and thorough system of public, free common schools, but does not include areas, buildings or parts of buildings closed from or not used in the normal course of providing a general, uniform and thorough system of public, free common schools. The aspects of a safe environment conducive to learning as provided by section 33-1612, Idaho Code, that pertain to the physical plant used to provide a general, uniform and thorough system of public, free common schools are hereby defined as those necessary to comply with the safety and health requirements set forth in this section.

(2) Inspection. It is the duty of the board of trustees of every school district and the governing body for other schools described in subsection (1) of this section at least once in every school year to require an independent inspection of the school district’s or other entity’s school facilities to determine whether those school facilities comply with codes addressing safety and health standards for facilities, including electrical, plumbing, mechanical, elevator, fire safety, boiler safety, life safety, structural, snow loading, and sanitary codes, adopted by or pursuant to the Idaho uniform school building safety act, chapter 80, title 39, Idaho Code, adopted by the state fire marshal, adopted by generally applicable local ordinances, or adopted by rule of the state board of education and applicable to school facilities. The inspection shall be done pursuant to chapter 80, title 39, Idaho Code, or by an independent inspector professionally qualified to conduct inspections under the applicable code. The results of the inspection shall be presented to the administrator of the division of building safety and the board of trustees or other governing body for its review and consideration.

(3) Abatement required — Reporting. The board of trustees or other governing body shall require that the unsafe or unhealthy conditions be abated and shall instruct the school district’s or other entity’s personnel to take necessary steps to abate unsafe or unhealthy conditions. The board of trustees or other governing body must issue a report in the same school year in which the inspections are made declaring whether any unsafe or unhealthy conditions identified have not been abated. The state board of education shall, by rule, provide for uniform reporting of unsafe and unhealthy conditions and for uniform reporting of abatement or absence of abatement of unsafe and unhealthy conditions. Copies of such reports shall be provided to the administrator of the division of building safety and the board of trustees of the school district.

(4) Costs of and plan of abatement. If the school district or other entity described in subsection (1) of this section can abate all unsafe or unhealthy conditions identified with the funds available to the school district or other entity, it shall do so, and it need not separately account for the costs of abatement nor segregate funds expended for abatement. If the school district or other entity cannot abate all unsafe or unhealthy conditions identified with the funds available to it, the board of trustees or other governing body shall direct that a plan of abatement be prepared. The plan of abatement shall provide a timetable that shall begin no later than the following school year and that shall provide for abatement with all deliberate speed of unsafe and unhealthy conditions identified. The abatement plan shall be submitted to the administrator of the division of building safety. The school district or other entity shall immediately begin to implement its plan of abatement and must separately account for its costs of abatement of unsafe and unhealthy conditions and separately segregate funds for the abatement of unsafe and unhealthy conditions as required by subsection (5) of this section.

(5) Special provisions for implementation of plan of abatement.

(a) Notwithstanding any other provisions of law concerning expenditure of lottery moneys distributed to the school district or other entity, all lottery moneys provided to the school district or other entity for a school year in which the school district cannot abate unsafe or unhealthy conditions identified and not legally encumbered to other uses at the time and all lottery moneys for following school years shall be segregated and expended exclusively for abatement of unsafe and unhealthy conditions identified until all of the unhealthy and unsafe conditions identified are abated, provided, if the school district has obtained a loan from the [school] safety and health revolving loan and grant fund, the provisions of section 33-1017, Idaho Code, and the conditions of the loan shall determine the use of the school district’s lottery moneys during the term of the loan.

(b) If the lottery moneys referred to in paragraph (a) of this subsection will, in the board of trustees’ or other governing bodies’ estimation, be insufficient to abate the unsafe and unhealthy conditions identified, the plan of abatement shall identify additional sources of funds to complete the abatement of the unsafe and unhealthy conditions. The board of trustees may choose from among the following sources, or from other sources of its own identification, but the plan of abatement must identify sufficient sources of funds for abatement.

(i) If the school district is not levying under chapter 8, title 33, Idaho Code, at the maximum levies allowed by law for levies that may be imposed by a board of trustees without an election, the board of trustees may increase any of those levies as allowed by law for the school year following the school year in which it was unable to abate unsafe or unhealthy conditions identified.

(ii) If the school district is levying under chapter 8, title 33, Idaho Code, at the maximum levies allowed by law for levies that may be imposed by the board of trustees without an election; or, if after increasing those levies to the maximum levies allowed by law for levies that may be imposed by the board of trustees without an election, there will still be insufficient funds to abate unsafe or unhealthy conditions identified, the school district, after giving notice and conducting a hearing, may declare a financial emergency and/or may apply for a loan or, if eligible, an interest grant from the [school] safety and health revolving loan and grant fund as provided in section 33-1017, Idaho Code, to obtain funds to abate the unsafe or unhealthy conditions identified.

(iii) Upon the declaration of a financial emergency, the board of trustees shall have the power to impose a reduction in force, to freeze some or all salaries in the school district, and/or to suspend some or all contracts that may be legally suspended upon the declaration of a financial emergency; provided, that when a board of trustees declares a financial emergency, or when a declaration of a financial emergency is imposed by the state treasurer pursuant to section 33-1017, Idaho Code, and there is a reduction in force, some or all salaries are frozen, or some contracts are suspended, the payments to the school district under the foundation program of chapter 10, title 33, Idaho Code, and in particular the staff allowances under that chapter, shall not be reduced during the duration of the financial emergency as a result of a reduction in force, frozen salaries, or suspended salaries from what the staff allowance would be without the reduction in force, frozen salaries or suspended contracts.

(c) All costs of abatement for a program implementing plans of abatement under subsection (5) of this section must be separately accounted for and documented with regard to abatement of each unsafe or unhealthy condition identified. Funds obtained under section 33-1017, Idaho Code, must be used exclusively to abate unsafe or unhealthy conditions identified. Funds obtained pursuant to section 33-1017, Idaho Code, in excess of funds necessary to abate unsafe or unhealthy conditions identified must be returned as provided in section 33-1017, Idaho Code. Return of these funds shall be judicially enforceable as provided in section 33-1017, Idaho Code.

History:

[33-1613, added 2000, ch. 219, sec. 1, p. 607; am. 2001, ch. 326, sec. 3, p. 1148; am. 2002, ch. 158, sec. 1, p. 458.]