The budget request for the office of the state superintendent of public instruction is actually $2.6 million less than the current year’s budget, Superintendent Sherri Ybarra told legislative budget writers this morning. That’s largely because of the drop in costs for broadband service to schools that Idaho has seen since the demise of the Idaho Education Network; schools were able to negotiate their own broadband contracts for far less than expected, and far less than the IEN’s costs. Lawmakers last year located the program in Ybarra's office, rather than the state Department of Administration, which had overseen the IEN.

“Not one student was left without broadband access,” Ybarra said, adding that more importantly, no student’s graduation was impeded because of the transition. Her request for school broadband for next year is $3.4 million – and that includes not just broadband to serve high schools, as before, but covering all K-12 schools.

“Technology is all around us and integrated into everything we do,” Ybarra said. “We would like to expand that.”