This article was written by Kevin Richert with Idaho Education News.
West Ada’s education foundation Tuesday has scrapped an Aug. 12 fundraiser at a Meridian water park — an idea that drew sharp criticism from some parents.
In an email to Idaho Education News Tuesday, Education Foundation of the West Ada School District director Keri Davidson said the event was canceled.
The foundation announced the Roaring Springs water park fundraiser in an email Monday — and the response, in traditional and social media, came quickly.
“I don’t think there’s any safe way for this to happen,” Zephyr Christensen, the mother of two incoming West Ada students, told the Idaho Statesman Monday. “There are a lot of great virtual opportunities for a school to raise money. I understand schools are insanely underfunded in Idaho. I understand the need. But a pool party in a pandemic is wrong in a lot of ways.”
The state and Ada County continue to report sharp increases in coronavirus cases.
On Monday, the state and Central District Health reported 326 new confirmed or probable cases in Ada County, a one-day record. Ada County has 4,472 coronavirus cases, the most in the state, and the county’s case numbers have doubled since June 30.
Central District Health has placed Ada County under stage three of the state’s four-step business reopening plan. The stage three restrictions prohibit public gatherings of more than 50 people.
