POCATELLO — Pocatello/Chubbuck school trustees voted Tuesday to close Washington Elementary, ending a fraught, monthslong buildup to the decision. 

Trustees made the contentious move to close a school in a boardroom packed with more than 100 district staff members, parents, students and community members, some of whom had to stand.

Trustees were mulling these options: closing Washington or Tendoy Elementary and changing boundaries, or leaving all schools open and changing boundaries. 

Trustee Heather Clarke moved to vote on leaving all schools open — to applause from the audience — but could not get a second. Trustees then moved to vote on closing Washington. Board Chair Deanna Judy and Trustees Raymond Knoff and Megan Furniss voted for it, while Trustees Clarke and Jim Facer voted against it. 

“None of us wants to close a school,” Knoff said, “but we have got to maintain fiscal responsibility.”

Washington’s closure will be accompanied by boundary changes that will impact the district’s remaining 12 elementary schools. 

In the fall, Washington students will attend either Greenacres or Indian Hills Elementary, and Washington staff will be placed at other schools throughout the district. No staff members will lose their jobs. 

At the meeting, trustees also approved middle school and high school boundary changes. 

District officials say a closure was needed to consolidate students among fewer schools so they could have more equitable access to a shrinking staff. 

The school district is facing declining enrollment and a budgetary hit of about $8 million. To make ends meet, the district will have to eliminate between 20 and 37 positions through attrition over the next two to three years.  

A committee of six staff members and seven parents developed the proposals that trustees considered and recommended closing Washington, partly because of the school’s age and immediate maintenance needs. 

Jonathan Balls, the district’s director of business operations, said his department also endorsed the Washington closure. In a special meeting held Friday, he said that if trustees opted to keep all schools open, it would create further financial hardships, and if enrollment numbers remained low in the fall, it could lead to having to close two schools. 

The school closure is just the most recent example statewide as districts contend with budgetary shortfalls and enrollment dips. A handful of districts have had to close schools recently, including Marsh Valley School District. Its Lava Elementary will become a charter school this fall. 

Tendoy supporters called on trustees to decide based on facts, not feelings

Fourteen stakeholders addressed trustees at Tuesday’s meeting, and six opposed Tendoy’s closure. 

Tristan Bourquin, parent of a Tendoy student, called on trustees to make their decision based on “facts, not feelings.” She said a decision to close Tendoy instead of Washington could be perceived as “fiscally irresponsible” because it would cost the district about $2.5 million more to upkeep Washington than Tendoy over the next five years. 

“A decision that appears to favor one community over another, despite clear financial advantages to the alternative, could lead to frustration and a loss of trust in the school board’s decision making process,” Bourquin said. 

Riley McCrady, a teacher at Tendoy, pointed out that 76% of the school’s students walk to school or self-transport — a figure Tendoy supporters cited multiple times. Going to a school that was farther away would be difficult for those students. 

“We are their safe place,” said Sarah Preston, a paraprofessional at Tendoy. “Shutting us down would be devastating to our population,” 

A parent of one Tendoy student shared the positive relationships she’s seen at the school, from her child’s teacher attending his birthday party, to seeing the principal chatting with the janitor in Spanish. She urged trustees to keep the school open: “The financial numbers speak for themselves.”

Stakeholders point to shortage of funds as common enemy

Three community members spoke on behalf of keeping Washington open, including two members of the Washington Elementary Advocates, a group that formed to oppose the school’s closure. 

Ryan Cameron, speaking on behalf of the group, acknowledged that the district was “in a tough spot” and offered the group’s help and support in keeping Washington open. 

“The opponent we have in common is the shortage of funds, not one another,” he said. “You’re not alone in this battle.”

Mary Anne McGrory, president of the Pocatello teachers’ union, spoke to the challenges the district is facing and defended the process leading up to the closure — which some patrons have criticized — as “one of the most transparent” in district history. 

She said she trusted the committee’s findings and recommendation. The committee, which includes district staff, has a more global understanding of all the ways school board decisions ripple out and impact staff and students districtwide. Individuals can unknowingly have a limited understanding and not be aware of all the ramifications of a decision, she said. 

It’s a realization McGrory came to as a former committee member, which she called a “watershed moment.”

She acknowledged trustees’ difficult choice: “Change is hard and not everyone will be happy with whatever decision we make. No one, and I mean no one, ever wants to close a school.” But she also said a choice needed to be made, and that it was “apparent that an elementary school needs to be closed and all school boundaries need to be redrawn.”

McGrory also encouraged community members to “contact their legislators and demand full funding for public schools so we don’t have to do this,” eliciting applause from the audience. 

Trustees, facing financial hurdles, decide to close school

After pushing to keep both schools open, Clarke cited the “sleepless nights” she’s spent thinking about the decision and said “my heartstrings have felt the pain and the frustration.”

She felt the decision was being rushed and said closing a school is a “low-hanging fruit to solve a problem,” drawing applause. She wanted to look at other options, like running a bond to see if a majority of community members wanted to invest in Washington.

Clarke also said the district should spend down its savings before closing a school. 

But Facer said he struggled with the idea of depleting the district’s savings, and said it would likely not prevent a school closure. He lamented having to close either school and said they are “both great,” but said keeping all schools open would not be “financially wise.” 

Knoff agreed with Facer and said the district shouldn’t “take a gamble.” He said he supported the committee’s recommendation to close Washington. 

Furniss echoed their sentiments: “We can’t sit in a deficit for years and just hope that things turn around.”

With the school closure vote looming, multiple trustees said they wanted to ensure Washington does not sit empty.

“I don’t want to close it and then walk away from it,” Facer said. 

Clarke agreed: “By making this decision tonight, I still want us to say we are not abandoning Washington.”