POCATELLO — The Pocatello-Chubbuck School District has announced plans to finalize its controversial high school boundary changes.
Three newly formed focus groups will now provide trustees with input and information, said district spokeswoman Shelley Allen. Each of these groups will be made up of the following:
- two student government representatives;
- two public officials or designees;
- two business representatives;
- six randomly selected patrons, including three who participated in recent public hearings with the school board and three who didn’t;
- one facilitator from a previously-organized boundary committee;
- three or four members of a previous boundary committee, which consisted of 13 district employees, three parents and two trustees.
A proposed timeline and meeting agendas will be posted to the district’s website in coming weeks, Allen said. Focus group meetings will be open to the public.
Trustees last month tabled their decision to carve up new high school boundaries, citing the need for more public feedback. The original target date for the change was Jan. 11.
For two decades, the Pocatello-Chubbuck School District has allowed students to choose between its three high schools. However, resulting enrollment and socioeconomic disparities among the schools prompted an end to the policy, and a months-long debate over boundary changes.
