BOISE - Next year's ninth-graders will have to make the usual adjustment to the high school.

Idaho's own education officials will have to do the same.

There are currently no plans for having a ninth-grade Idaho Standard Achievement Test. The exam, which was planned for spring, was cut due to budget problems at the Idaho State Board of Education, and the board didn't include it in its 2009 budget proposal.

The Idaho Legislature could intervene and approve funding - even for this spring. But such a move is unlikely, some lawmakers said.

The Legislature has two options. One would be to approve a supplemental appropriation, a funding initiative made with surplus money, typically made during the start of the session.

The board did not request a supplemental request because it was told there was not enough support on the state's joint budgeting committee, said board spokesman Mark Browning. Some committee members say they were never approached, while others said the board made the request in October when lawmakers were not in session.

Meanwhile, a remaining possibility is for lawmakers to add to the State Board's budget proposal and insert testing for the 2008-09 fiscal year, which begins July 1. The cost is an estimated $1 million. Budgets aren't expected to be set for several weeks, so it's a possibility.

But while such a move would be "more likely" than a supplemental it's "going to be difficult," said Sen. Dean Cameron, R-Rupert, co-chairman of the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee.

"I think it's a valuable tool," Cameron said of the ISATs. "But I don't think it's the end of the world we don't have it until the State Board gets things straight."

The board has endured a series of financial miscues recently. Gear Up, a federal grant matching program that helps provide college scholarships for lower-income kids, was using the wrong type of funds and is now relying on private-sector donors.

The ISAT was set up for grades three through eight and 10th to comply with the federal No Child Left Behind. The only money provided was the money for federal standards. In December 2006, second- and ninth-grade testing was added when a new contract was signed. But there wasn't any money for the two grades, and financial violations by board leadership led to the predicament it's in now.

Meanwhile, there is a possibility that if lawmakers appropriated funding for ISAT, such a decision might be interpreted by other state agencies as a signal to make budget decisions without the money, Cameron said.

Since the session began, lawmakers have expressed skepticism about funding large items and haven't made many promises.

Teachers and superintendents have said the ninth-grade test prepares students for the 10th-grade test, which is required for graduation. They've said there's extra emphasis in the freshman year because in Idaho there is no state rule for holding students back grades in middle school. Just a handful of districts have approved policies that allow local school officials to determine whether students should advance to the ninth grade.

Some lawmakers and state department of education officials said without the testing, another way to measure progress is comparing spring eighth-grade test scores with test scores in the fall of 10th grade.

State Board President Milford Terrell said that districts could do testing of their own as well, but he's hopeful JFAC appropriates funding.

"I don't have the answer to tell you how to make up for that testing," Terrell said. "I want ninth-grade testing back. The board wants ninth-grade testing back."

House Education Committee Chairman Bob Nonini, R-Coeur d'Alene, said his committee believes the ninth-grade test is crucial to preparing students for the 10th-grade test. He said discussions are ongoing for testing in 2009 to still return.

"It's just our concern there will be a couple classes going through the process and miss out on the testing," he said. "We understand the predicament. We're just hoping to bring it back somehow."

House Minority Leader Wendy Jaquet, D-Ketchum, said that reopening budgets is common and that she would like to see the joint budgeting panel to appropriate the money.

"Superintendents and teachers have said that the loss of the test is a loss for the students," she said.

Jared S. Hopkins may be reached at 631-793-5717 or jhopkins@magicvalley.com