Parents in the West Ada School District lined up tonight for the third time to share their concerns with a plan to change school boundaries in the district.
The meeting, held at Rocky Mountain High School, is the last in a series of meetings held by West Ada to not only outline the potential changes but explain why they are so vital to ease overcrowding in the district.
"Right now we have two schools that are more than 500 students over capacity so that's significant overcrowding," said West Ada School District Spokesman Eric Exline.
Rocky Mountain High School in particular was shown as an example of how crowded the schools can be.
"We are trying to create a better educational environment for the kids in those high schools by having less crowded hallways, less crowded classrooms, more attention from adults because there are so many kids," Exline said.
Parents who attended tonight's meeting said they're concerned about the changing boundaries and how it could impact their children.
"They don't know what to expect, we do, we know how important it is to get into a school and have friends and neighborhood community, that type of feel. You know, they don't understand, so we are here to represent them, we are their voice," said parent Matt Dycke.
Some wonder why the district is changing the boundaries now when they plan on building future schools.
"I want to solve the fundamental problem which seems like there’s not enough schools I understand that's schools take three to five years to develop, we should be starting that conversation today because if you look around Meridian they are constantly building more and more houses and maybe there is a master plan out there but it hasn't been shared with us," said parent Richard Pullara.
Parents say they're hopeful their voices will be heard.
“I think the committee, when you look into their eyes, when you see their expressions in their faces, I think they do care” Dycke said. “It's our neighbors who are supposedly representing everyone so I do believe they care, I think they listen."
Exline says depending on how the meeting goes tonight there could potentially be another community meeting scheduled. The proposal is scheduled to be given to the West Ada Board of Trustees on February 9th.
Stay tuned for the latest on their decision.
