West Ada Education Services Director David Reinhart couldn’t get through a presentation to some 150 parents, teachers and community members without being shouted at Tuesday night.
Interruptions from the crowd were occasionally met with applause or boos.
Emotions were high: In November, district leaders will decide whether to close the district’s McMillan Elementary. Tuesday’s meeting was held to inform families and invite input.
Reinhart persisted through the interruptions, sharing numbers through a projector above his head in the school’s gymnasium.
It was the second such meeting at the school, but drew about 100 more attendees. The first meeting, on Sept. 16, drew about 50 people, KTVB reported.
A school is more than just numbers, Reinhart said. But McMillan Elementary’s enrollment is shrinking, with nearly 300 empty seats. It needs around $5.5 million in repairs. Declining enrollment and pricey repair bills have led West Ada trustees to consider closing the school.
Parents and teachers like the school. Class sizes hover around 19 students. Teachers say they know students by name and often remember them long after they move on to middle school.
Still, declining enrollment prompted West Ada administrators to ask trustees to take a scrutinizing look at the school’s future.
“The decline in enrollment has been sharp, so we want to make good use of our resources, and that’s why we brought it to their attention,” Reinhart told parents.
Earlier this month, Reinhart presented the possibility of closing McMillan to the board after the district’s long-range planning committee — made up of parents from across the district — recommended the board consider closing the school.
“They had a general concern that empty rooms cost taxpayers extra money,” Reinhart said.
District administrators then hosted feedback groups in the gymnasium after Reinhart’s presentation. They listened and took notes as attendees aired their grievances.
In one feedback group, Stacia Patterson, a teacher at McMillan, argued that small class sizes like hers provide a better education.
“We don’t let them slip through the cracks,” Patterson said.
McMillan — located in a part of northwest Boise served by the West Ada district — was built when the city of Boise was expanding with young families.
“When those neighborhoods were booming, we built a bunch of schools real close to each other,” Reinhart told trustees at a board meeting earlier this month.
The school’s enrollment has consistently declined over the last decade, much like the nearby Boise district.
In 2024, Boise administrators and parents navigated a similar situation: closing Owyhee Elementary.
But West Ada’s situation has some differences. Owyhee did not completely close. Instead, it became an Early Learning Center. Click here for more on the school’s updated facilities.
West Ada trustees will vote in November on McMillan’s future.
“That’s not enough time,” one parent complained at McMillan Tuesday night.
In Boise, trustees shortened the wait for a final vote on Owyhee’s future from seven months to three months after pressure from parents.
Prior to Tuesday’s meeting, parents took to Reddit and Change.org to “save” the school. An online petition had garnered 450 signatures as of Tuesday afternoon.
Currently, the district hasn’t published an agenda for the November regular board meeting when trustees are expected to make a decision.
