<body><div>What is the total number of surplus seats in Boise School District elementary schools?How do legislative cuts affect Idaho school program and maintenance costs?What factors contribute to enrollment decline in Boise School District?BOISE, Idaho (CBS2) — The Boise School District held a virtual meeting on Wednesday to discuss future plans for school facilities across the district. The main driver of this discussion is concern over declining enrollment within the district. Tracy Richter, the Boise School District's facilities planning consultant, says that the decline has reached into the thousands. "In the last five years alone, the district has a thousand less elementary kids," Richter said. "Right now, the district has about 9,000 surplus seats in the district and about 5,000 of those with the elementary grade level. That's a lot of space to maintain with no students in it." District leaders say enrollment is projected to continue declining, though at a slower rate than it has in recent years. Officials say that means excess building capacity is unlikely to change significantly over the next several years. They also point to legislative cuts, and that Idaho Schools are facing increased financial pressures in overall program and maintenance costs, with funding at less than one percent. "Legislators are, you know, cutting public funding, public school funding, or stagnating it even though costs are rising," Richter said. "So, one thing that we really focus on is kind of those undersized enrollments and creating inequitable access. This includes balancing high school enrollment, which means making sure that we have enough students in our junior highs to offer all the programs that we want to offer." The discussion also expands to the number of teachers at the schools, ensuring they can provide all the necessary resources without faculty having to teach at several different schools throughout the district. In the meeting, Richter said the decline in enrollment is not an issue specific to Boise but pointed to a national decrease in birth rates as well as an aging population and families staying in their homes for longer. Additionally, less access to affordable housing in urban or metro areas prevents many families from moving to certain districts. District leaders say one school's utilization rate alone doesn't drive decisions. Instead, they are looking at broader trends across the district, where schools are operating at less than 70% of their overall capacity.Several solutions to district utilization were suggested, such as program and boundary reassignment, eliminating split feeder patterns, moving ninth grade to high school, and sixth grade to junior high. The district's response to these challenges is developing a 10-year facilities master plan that will help guide future decisions regarding buildings, enrollment, district programs, and maintenance needs. Despite these suggestions, district leaders stressed that they were creating a facilities plan, and not a concrete bond proposal. No decisions have been made by the district, and they are awaiting public input and further discussion. Planning is projected to continue for an additional 3-4 months, with recommendations forecasted to expand into next year. Overall changes are not immediate, with the district saying implementation would likely take 2-5 years. </div></body>

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BOISE, Idaho (CBS2) — The Boise School District held a virtual meeting on Wednesday to discuss future plans for school facilities across the district. The main driver of this discussion is concern over declining enrollment within the district. Tracy Richter, the Boise School District's facilities planning consultant, says that the decline has reached into the thousands.

Boise School District explores long-term facility plan

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BOISE, Idaho (CBS2) — The Boise School District held a virtual meeting on Wednesday to discuss future plans for school facilities across the district. The 

Boise School District explores long-term facility plan

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