Two rounds of applause rang out in the West Ada board room on Monday night as trustees gave the go-ahead for two major building projects.

The school board authorized the district to proceed with the design, bidding and project development for a complete rebuild of Lake Hazel Elementary and the conversion of a large vacant warehouse into classroom and lab space for career and technical education programs.

While the district’s enrollment has been in decline in recent years, some pockets in the large district are growing rapidly and schools are becoming overcrowded.

Rebuilding an elementary school

The district has addressed that overcrowding on the west side, with the new Independence Elementary opening this fall in Star, and now the district is addressing the south side by rebuilding Lake Hazel Elementary in Boise.

To save time and money, the district will use the same design for both schools, said Dave Reinhart, director of education services. The district plans to rebuild the school in one year.

“Our goal — and it’s an aggressive goal — is to get to work on this tomorrow and press towards a fall of ’27 opening,” Reinhart said.

Trustee Rene Ozuna said she is in full support of the project but noted the aggressive timeline and asked if there are contingencies in place.

“I can’t even imagine us really building a school in a year, but that’s super exciting,” Ozuna said.

Reinhart said the district has been transparent with architects and contractors about the timeline.

“We’ll be interviewing contractors, and we’ll set that as a part of the requirement,” he said. “That being said, we’ll always have contingency.”

Trustee David Binetti expressed confidence in the district’s timeline. He said West Ada already had a “dry run” with Independence Elementary, and reusing the same plans will increase quality and save time.

“Boy, that’s just a win, win, win,” Binetti said.

Converting a warehouse

West Ada last year purchased a 70,000 square-foot metal warehouse from a lumber broker for $12.8 million, with a vision that it would someday serve students in career and technical education programs, Reinhart said.

The vision is now becoming a reality with the unanimous vote on Monday.

The warehouse has offices in the front and two vacant warehouses in the back. The district will now begin work on converting the warehouse into a powersports lab, a construction lab, 60 welding bays and classroom space.

Reinhart said the initial cost of construction came out to $16.5 million, but through “value engineering” the district brought it down to a base price of $12.8 million. The district can choose to add more classrooms and lab space to bring that price up to $13.8 million.

Board Chair Lori Frasure said the project will provide options to the community and opportunities for kids.

“I think it’s beyond exciting,” Frasure said.

Reinhart laid out the next steps. The district will bring final prices and a contract to the board this fall and then begin construction. The new CTE building is expected to open in the fall of 2027.

The district will complete both projects without increasing taxes, according to a Tuesday press release. Funding comes from House Bill 521, which created a $1 billion fund for school modernization in 2024, and through the district’s “strategic financial planning.”