Board to form high‑school boundary committee amid public concern over Century enrollment

At a Pocatello School District work session, trustees gave staff informal direction to begin forming an advisory committee to study high‑school boundary changes after receiving updates on elementary and middle‑school boundary work and hearing public appeals to act on Century High School's enrollment decline.

Staff told trustees that elementary and middle boundary committees have been meeting for weeks and that the district hopes to present preliminary proposals at next week’s board meeting. Staff cautioned that changing high‑school boundaries is constrained by the district calendar: master scheduling and course catalogs are built beginning Jan. 3 and open‑enrollment priority is set on Feb. 1, which can limit the district’s ability to implement last‑minute boundary shifts for the coming school year. Staff said transfers may be accepted through May 15 for some schools but that transfers can be denied for poor attendance, excessive behavior or if a program is full.

The board’s discussion split on timing. Some trustees urged launching the high‑school committee now to get data and public input, then aim to finalize recommendations later if schedule conflicts make immediate change infeasible. Trustee Megan said the district should “start the committee without necessarily a hard deadline” and use the committee to pull numbers and GIS data to see what lines might be drawn. Trustee Heather acknowledged scheduling constraints but said ‘‘the sooner we start, the sooner we can get public input and provide parents with clarity.’’ The board emphasized the committee should include parent volunteers and district transportation input, and that staff will coordinate bus‑planning before any final recommendation.

Public commenters pressed trustees for action on high‑school boundaries. Ryan Frost, a teacher who said he has taught in the district for 17 years, asked the board to “review the data” and urged changes to support incoming Century students, saying Century’s enrollment has dropped and that decline has affected extracurricular participation. A parent, Vanessa, told the board she has watched Century’s experience change after prior boundary decisions and said, “I feel Pocatello can support three high schools” and urged fair boundaries; she also cited figures indicating Century currently has available capacity.

Trustees framed the committee as advisory and reiterated the work session was not noticed for formal action; they asked staff to begin contacting potential committee members and to include teachers and transportation in the process. The board left the timeframe flexible—staff will move forward with formation and return recommendations and materials for board consideration at a future meeting.

Next steps: staff will begin forming the advisory committee, gather GIS and enrollment data for trustee review and plan public input sessions; any formal boundary adoption would follow further committee work and a properly noticed board action.