MERIDIAN, Idaho — The West Ada School District Board of Trustees will likely vote on the future of alternative schools in the district at their meeting Monday night.
The proposal to consolidate alternative schools would mean closing Central Academy and relocating those students and staff to Eagle Academy and Meridian Academy.
The Meeting will be at 6 p.m. at the District Office at 1303 E. Central Drive, Meridian, Idaho.
“Right now what’s working is small class sizes with no set timeline for the kids to get their work done," said Jeff Ecklund, a Meridian Academy parent.
“Our student has some learning disabilities or challenges that doesn’t make it easy for him to learn in a true large school environment with lots of kids in the classroom," said Ecklund.
He tells me the small class sizes and less structured format work well for his son, but that may not be an option next school year.
“This proposal wants to change the way that this is done at the alternate schools as well, which defeats the purpose of having the alternate schools to begin with," said Ecklund.
As we’ve previously reported, the West Ada School District has proposed restructuring its alternative schools and consolidating them to make more space for its Rebound program, which has grown in popularity and is now over capacity. The consolidation would also come with changes in how credits and school schedules work at the remaining academies after Central Academy is closed down.
“They want to try to take what the traditional kids are doing and bring it into the alternate schools," said Ecklund.
The West Ada School District said in a statement:
“The goal of this restructuring is to enhance educational pathways, provide more tailored resources, and create an environment where students can thrive academically, socially, and emotionally. This effort is driven by the need to align programs with current student needs, improve accessibility, and optimize available resources to provide the best possible learning experience.”
District leaders told Idaho News 6 that the low graduation rate from academies is also a consideration for these changes—the average combined graduation rate from all three academies in 2024 was just under 54%.
But parents like Ecklund say the proposal will do more harm than good.
“This plan is going to disrupt the lives of many and I don’t think it’s going to solve many problems. It’s going to present more problems; it's going to create more problems overall," said Ecklund.
