All regular meetings of the Board of Directors are scheduled for the 2nd Tuesday of the month and will begin at 2 p.m. Unless otherwise indicated, meetings will be held at the offices of the State Department of Education at the address below. As always, the public is welcome to attend, though seating may be limited.
- Idaho State Department of Education
- Lewis & Clark Conference Room
- 650 West State Street
- Boise, Idaho 83720-0027
Up Next: Regular Board Meeting - 4/9/2024
The meeting agenda and other supporting details are now posted. Click the link below to view the files.
Board Chair, Superintendent of Public Instruction
Debbie Critchfield
Debbie Critchfield was sworn in as Idaho’s Superintendent of Public Instruction on January 2, 2023. She previously served for seven years on the Idaho State Board of Education and was appointed to education task forces by Governors Brad Little and Butch Otter. Debbie served as an elected school board member in Cassia County for ten years and was on the executive committee of the Idaho School Boards Association. She is a former local library trustee and Oakley Valley Arts Council president. She worked as the public information officer for Cassia School District for nine years. Debbie and her husband Dave live near Oakley, where they raised their four children. They have three grandsons.
Director of Special Education
Cindy Cook, PhD - Dr. Cook has been employed by the Nampa School District since 2001, and currently holds the position of Special Education Director. Currently she is an active member of the Idaho Council for Exceptional Children and the Idaho Council for children with Behavior Disorders and has served on their executive boards over 14-years. Dr. Cook is also an active member of Idaho CASE (Council for Administrators of Special Education) and recently joined IASA and IASEA. She believes in advocating for children with exceptionalities and in order to do that well she must be involved in professional organizations and participate in the innerworkings of the educational options available for the students in the Nampa School District. Dr. Cook is married with 2 adult married sons and 3 granddaughters.
Parent of Deaf Student
Valerie Player - Valerie Aker Player has twenty-plus years of experience in the preK-12 education system including special education; family literacy and family involvement; early childhood education; elementary and secondary classroom instruction; and school administration. Previously having worked in public and higher education; in Idaho’s State Department of Education; for St. Luke’s Children’s Hospital; and for Idaho Hands & Voices, Valerie now focuses exclusively on advocating and supporting families with exceptional children. She is a board member of the Idaho Bureau of Education Services for the Deaf and Blind (IESDB) and the Council for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (CDHH.) Most recently she has joined The Idaho Project for Children and Youth with Deaf-Blindness (ICYDB) as the Family Engagement Coordinator. Valerie holds a BA from Boise State University and her M.Ed. and Ed.S. from the University of Idaho. She lives in Boise, Idaho with her husband and son both of whom are d/hh, their therapy dog, and six hermit crabs. When she’s not busy advocating for someone, Valerie enjoys reading, writing, endless trips down rabbit holes on the internet, and learning American Sign Language.
Member, Certified or Specialized Personnel
Dr. Charlie Silva - Dr. Silva has over 30 years’ experience working in the field of special education. She has worked as a classroom teacher, consulting teacher, school psychologist, and administrator in several states. Since moving to Idaho in 2020, she has worked for Boise State University as an Assistant Professor, consulting school psychologist, Special Education Director for the Boise School District, and the Idaho State Director of Special Education for 7 ½ years. During her tenure as state director, she was on the board of directors for the National Association for State Directors of Special Education.
Currently she is an IDEA Subject Matter Expert working with a few national projects funded by the Office of Special Education Programs. Dr. Silva is dedicated to supporting all students with disabilities and their families. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family and dogs at their cabin, riding her bike, working in the yard, and reading.
Member-at-Large
Kathleen Crowley - Kathleen is retired educator with multiple teaching and administrative experiences. She was the principal of several elementary schools in the Treasure Valley including Ponderosa and Silver Sage in the West Ada School District. During her tenure at Ponderosa Elementary, the school served and continues to serve as the magnet program for students who are Deaf or hard of hearing who reside in school districts in the west area of the Treasure Valley. Kathy also has administrative experience with the IESDB preschool and kindergarten Total Communication and Listening and Spoken Language programs in the public school setting.
Kathy has taught all elementary and middle school grades. She also taught in the one-room school in Lowman, Idaho. She was a principal for nearly 30 years. Kathy earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education at Oregon State University and her Master of Education degree in Education Administration from the University of Idaho.
Member-at-Large
Beth Eloe-Reep - Beth has a M.S. in education of the deaf and came to Idaho to work in the regional rogram of ISDB in Idaho Falls. She taught in the classroom for 4 years and then was an itinerant teacher working with families in their homes. When her own son was born with a cleft lip and palate, her training in speech and hearing was put to very personal use. Later she worked with Idaho Parents Unlimited to help families of children with all disabilities navigate the special education world.
She went on to be a regional special education consultant with the State Department of Education working with school districts in southeast Idaho, while also an adjunct instructor at Idaho State University teaching special education courses, including the SpEd law class. She retired from being a SpEd consulting teacher in the Shelley district. Currently she contracts with the Dispute Resolution department of the Idaho Department of Education to facilitate meetings with special education teams struggling to reach agreement.
Individual Who is Deaf
Katie Delgadillo - I became Deaf at the age of two from spinal meningitis. I was not supposed to walk but overcame my challenges. I learn best by being hands on with everything. I received my A. A. in Elementary Education and am currently working on my bachelor’s degree in Elementary and Special Education. My goal is to receive a master’s degree in Deaf Education. I am currently a keynote speaker for my former professor at College of Western Idaho (CWI) for one of her classes that focuses on the students with hearing losses every semester. I have been doing this for about 5 years now and I LOVE it. I also am a Deaf advocate for many Deaf students plus the students who are hearing and in the Extended Resources Room. I currently work at Van Buren Elementary school, working with hearing students with disabilities and teaching them how to sign, how to communicate, and how to prove that they know what they need to do to meet their goals. I used to work for West Ada school district in Meridian in the DHH program for almost ten years! I also provide access and support for English By Eye projects.