BOISE, Idaho — Even though the population of Nampa is growing, the Nampa School District continues to shrink, leading the district to consider potentially closing several schools.
Administrators propose the school district shut down either Greenhurt or Centennial elementary schools, Snake River Elementary School, Central Elementary School and West Middle School, district spokesperson Kathleen Tuck said.
The district currently has about 13,000 students. Ten years ago, there were 15,000. Tuck said lower birth rates are just one contributing factor to the dropping numbers.
"We're not seeing as many of the families with young children moving in as some of our neighboring communities are seeing," she said. "And then, of course, there's also a lot of charter schools and private schools and online schools as parents have more options and choices on where to send their kids."
Tuck said they started considering closing schools several years ago. But at the time, Tuck said they had enough money from the state and federal governments to keep all the schools open.
That is no longer the case since Idaho changed its funding model from enrollment to attendance and federal COVID-19-era programs are over, she said.
"When you're running a school at 40/50/60% capacity, that's not optimum," Tuck said. "It's not really good for our taxpayers; it's not really good for all the things that we want to do with our kids. So, it's much better if we can consolidate them. It's much more fiscally responsible, and it helps even out our class sizes."
The school board has the final say about whether to close any schools starting next school year. Tuck said administrators presented all the information about potential closures during previous board meetings.
She said they hope the school board decides during its Dec. 18 meeting. If so, the district can start redrawing boundaries.
If the school board votes to close the four schools, Tuck said three would likely be repurposed for other district programs.
"I know there's a lot of anxiety," she said. "But this is certainly not something that can't be turned around to be a positive for kids."
Tuck said the district hopes to keep affected staff and move them around to other schools, although there are no guarantees.
There is a listening session on December 6th at 6:30 p.m. at the Nampa High Little Theater where community members can learn more about the proposal and ask questions.
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