Should a charter school open along Ustick Road in Meridian? These neighbors say no

Rachel Spacek
·3 min read
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Residents of Ustick Road in North Meridian oppose a small charter school on an acre in their neighborhood, citing concerns with traffic congestion and student safety.

“I don’t think anybody’s going to argue that we don’t need charter schools,” said Steve Swan, who lives across the street from the proposed school. “I think we need a bigger charter school, just not there. There are other places to build in Meridian.”

The school would be the second Pathways in Education school, after one in Nampa. The school would be for students in grades 9-12 and would be structured with a combination of small group instruction, independent study, online classes and experiential learning, the school’s website said. The school would be located at 965 E. Ustick Road, between Meridian and Locust Grove Roads.

Pathways Charter School is nontraditional, helps students “thrive”

Kent Mussell, a representative of the developer, Mussell Construction Inc., said Pathways would have a maximum capacity of 40 students, but schedules would be staggered with students coming to school for 45 minutes to a hour of testing and tutoring time.

Students at Pathways complete their school work at home and come to campus only twice per week for testing and tutoring, Mussell said at a Meridian City Council public hearing on Tuesday.

Pathways Charter School is designed for students who need to catch up on high school credits to graduate, or who struggle with mental health challenges like anxiety, ADHD, or depression, Mussell said.

In its application to Meridian, school representatives attached letters from parents whose students are enrolled at the Pathways in Nampa.

“One of the letters describes one of the students situations: she was home-schooled by her mother when her father died during COVID,” Mussell said during the council meeting. “When her mother returned to work, she had to switch from home-schooling to public school. The student was grieving the loss of her father and struggling with anxiety and depression, and entering public school was not a good fit for that transition. The girl ended up enrolling at Pathways, and the letter reports amazing things about the support that she has received there and how it has helped her to thrive.”

The proposed Pathways Charter School is a nontraditional school where students do most of their work at home, but come to class for testing and tutoring.
The proposed Pathways Charter School is a nontraditional school where students do most of their work at home, but come to class for testing and tutoring.

‘I can see the potential for real problems’

“I’m very much in favor of charter schools in the right place,” said Nancy Wilson, a resident of Boulder Creek Avenue, a side street off Ustick near the proposed school. “Aside from the increase in traffic on Ustick Road — it’s already busy, and speed is poorly controlled — I think that there’s other safety concerns as well, one being there is no crosswalk.”

Wilson worried about traffic-related pedestrian deaths that have increased in the area. She said students may risk running across Ustick if there is no crosswalk or traffic light.

Dawn Brook, who lives next to the Swan household, said she was a teacher in Meridian for several years and shares concerns about student safety.

“I just know how traffic can back up and how kids can be impulsive, and we have just such a traffic pattern there that I can see the potential for real problems,” Brook said.

Ustick Road, from Meridian to nearly Locust Grove roads, was widened in 2015, but traffic still plagues the area, residents say. They opposed a proposed charter school along Ustick Road.
Ustick Road, from Meridian to nearly Locust Grove roads, was widened in 2015, but traffic still plagues the area, residents say. They opposed a proposed charter school along Ustick Road.

The residents said that during school pickup and drop-off times, traffic would back up out of the school’s parking lot and into Ustick Road, which is busy most hours of the day.

Mussell said Pathways is not a traditional school and parents will not be picking students up at the same time every day.

“Two-thirds of students will leave at nonpeak traffic hours,” Mussell said.

The Meridian City Council is waiting on the Ada County Highway District to issue a traffic report on the charter school. The council is scheduled to decide on Tuesday, March 26.

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