STAR, Idaho — As Star Elementary continues to fill, West Ada schools planned to build another near the middle school. However, a city council meeting earlier this week may have slowed that process down. I'm your Star neighborhood reporter, Alexander Huddleston, speaking with members of the district who say they have a few things to change before moving on with the project.
With rising student populations in star schools, particularly the elementary school, West Ada has been drawing up plans to build a new school right next to the existing middle school. Tuesday night, a Star City Council discussed the plans and found a few issues.
"Anytime that you put a lot of people on roads that are not developed yet, there is a concern about too many people on the roads. All of the schools in our district struggle with this," explained West Ada Schools Chief Operating Officer David Reinhart.
However this traffic is a little different than most schools. The driveway to the middle school is off Pollard Lane, a two-lane road that goes through a rural neighborhood. In the mornings, traffic is already backed up for one school. But making that two worries neighbors.
Reinhart continued, "City council tabled it and asked us to find another access point for Pollard and create a turning signal at Floating Feather."
I went and talked to Star Elementary 5th grade teacher Carmi Scheller.
"This year, I've had 28 students in my classroom. I have had several years where I have 36," exclaimed Scheller.
Scheller explained that just from driving through school zones on her way to work, she understands the concerns over traffic. But to her, a little more time on the road is not worth missing a valuable education.
The teacher said, "The limitation on resources. Not just having more kids in the spaces, but being able to have those spaces where we can have a STEM room or have that innovative opportunities for classes. When you have more bodies in a room, there is not a lot of room to do other kinds of innovative activities."
West Ada tells me they are still hopeful of opening the new school for the 2026 school year.
