School district considers closing near-century old elementary school

POCATELLO – A local elementary school could potentially close its doors for good right before its centennial anniversary.

At a November 17 Pocatello/Chubbuck School District Board of Trustees meeting, two representatives of a committee formed to address declining enrollment numbers, presented their recommendation that the district close Washington Elementary School. The school has been operating in one of Pocatello’s oldest neighborhoods since 1925, and many of the residents spoke against the proposal at the meeting.

“Closing a school in a historic neighborhood not only affects the learners, their families and the teachers, but it significantly, significantly impacts the neighborhood, the city and in this case, the university,” said Trissa Cameron, speaking on behalf of the College Neighborhood Association.

So far, no official action has been taken by the board of trustees, and there will be more opportunities for the public to comment on the recommendation made by the Elementary Attendance and Enrollment Area Committee. The proposal to close Washington is a part of a larger plan that redraws the elementary and middle school enrollment areas, “to equalize capacity in our buildings, balance enrollments, improve access to resources, optimize operational efficiency and plan for future growth,” read the committee’s proposal document.

“It was a really hard decision, and we feel for everyone that was here,” said Tara Dayley, a member of the committee and a teacher at Wilcox Elementary School. “In the meetings, we can be very objective, and we had to be, but I think it’s important to remember that that’s why we were there — all the enrollment issues. We weren’t there specifically to close the school.”

What do the school’s enrollment numbers look like?

According to the committee’s proposal document, enrollment at all district elementary schools has decreased by 742 learners over the last seven years. This decline is what prompted the district to form the committee, which was announced officially on Oct. 17.

Washington Elementary School currently has 253 students, second only in least total students to Tendoy Elementary, with 221 students. These numbers were released in a document provided to the trustees and public in a table comparing them to the other elementary schools.

But in comparison to Tendoy, Washington Elementary is using less of its current building capacity, at 54% compared to Tendoy’s 61%. AJ Watson, the director of elementary education who also addressed the board on behalf of the committee, clarified that these percentages aren’t calculated solely off of building size but also on the school’s staffing.

The two schools using the most of its capacity are Gate City and Lewis & Clark — at 76% and 65% respectively. The populations of both schools are 430 and 405 students.

Washington is one of six elementary schools in the district that has more students attending it than live within its physical boundaries, due to the ability of students to transfer to their school of choice, the other five being Chubbuck, Ellis, Gate City, Lewis & Clark and Tendoy. There are seven schools with a net negative total students, those being Edahow, Greenacres, Indian Hills, Jefferson, Syringa, Tyhee and Wilcox.

Washington is also the only elementary school in the district that has not had a decrease in total students over the last seven years, according to a spreadsheet provided by the district. The school has actually gained 54 students since the 2018-2019 school year.

What is the committee proposing?

The committee included a map of its proposed boundaries for the district’s elementary schools, shifting all of the boundaries at least slightly. It also offered maps of proposed boundaries for each elementary school individually.

The majority of Washington’s students would find themselves within Greenacres’ new boundaries under this proposal. The students who live between 5th Street and the railroad tracks would be in the new boundaries of Indian Hills.

In an interview with EastIdahoNews.com, Watson explained that after looking at all the available data, the main reason the committee recommended Washington for closure was due to the building’s condition.

“As far as the physical condition and needs and upgrades that would be required to maintain that building, (that) really came down to the deciding factor as to why,” Watson said.

According to more documents provided by the district, Washington Elementary would require $11.2 million over twenty years to maintain, while Edahow and Tendoy would require $10.9 million and $8.9 million respectively.

How has the neighborhood reacted?

Members of the community raised a variety of points in the public comment section, questioning the committee’s recommendation to close Washington Elementary.

“Strong neighborhoods are the building blocks of strong cities and communities,” Cameron said.

Cameron asserted that by closing the school, they would not only be hurting her neighborhood, but also Idaho State University.

“The Historic University Neighborhood is the home to diverse residents, and many are students, faculty and staff at ISU who choose to live in a walkable neighborhood,” Cameron said. “A walkable neighborhood elementary school is a critical component of a desirable place to live.”

One neighborhood resident, Dakota Bates, who hopes to have four children attend Washington Elementary someday, stated his belief that the committee’s proposal didn’t use the district’s resources optimally.

“Closing Washington… would result in a domino effect of more and more students being pushed north,” Bates said.

“No one can predict where the district will be in 10 years from now, but I will not be surprised if at that point, a future board and trustees (has) to consider the costly and difficult step of running a bond to build a new elementary school to accommodate the overcrowding of Chubbuck, Ellis and Tyhee,” he added.

In an interview with EastIdahoNews.com, Cameron said that neighborhood residents are in the preliminary stages of holding meetings to discuss solutions that could preserve the school. They hope to involve “key stakeholders” like ISU and city officials in the process.

“We just feel like it doesn’t have to be such a binary solution process — either we close it, or we don’t. I just feel like we can be really creative, and that would be a beautiful thing,” Cameron said.

What’s next in the process?

The committee’s recommendation will be discussed further at the school board’s next work session on Tuesday, Dec. 10. The district does not expect any official action to be taken on the recommendation until February or March.

In the most recent school board meeting, Watson said the committee’s recommendation will not make any changes to the current 2024-2025 school year. According to committee minutes from the first meeting on Oct. 14, he told the committee there’s some possibility the recommendation could go into effect next school year.

The board of trustees has final decision making authority over the committee’s recommendation.