Idaho’s $2 Billion Wheelchair Obstacle Course: ADA Optional
In southwest Boise at Silver Sage Elementary, a playground 'renovated' in 2016 with wood chips apparently designed to repel wheelchairs, a 3-year-old boy got a front-row seat to exclusion during recess. Fast forward to 2023, mom Stephanie Schlink went full mama bear and filed a federal complaint after the school district parked accessibility upgrades in the slow lane, citing stalled communication and 'improvements in the pipeline' that looked more like a long-forgotten crawl. Meanwhile, the state threw $2 billion at school renovations statewide in 2023, proving that even historic funding can't turn 1918 school buildings with missing elevators and HVAC nightmares into disability-friendly palaces. As Superintendent Megan Sindt confessed, the Avery School District's historic charm includes steps to classes with no elevator and an expensive construction market, making full ADA compliance a fiscal fantasy. Broken plumbing, leaky ceilings, and woodchip moats remain VIP barriers in Idaho schools still figuring out how to unlock playgrounds for all kids.
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Idaho spent $2 billion fixing schools so you can have leaky ceilings and wheelchair-hostile wood chip moats. Progress means your kid might attend class next to a broken elevator hellscape. ADA compliance? Just bring the books down to the kids if you can’t move the stairs.
When your school playground uses wood chips like security guards to keep wheelchairs out, you know ADA compliance is just a polite suggestion, not a mandate—Idaho style.
Idaho’s school renovation speed: slower than a 1918 creepy elevator that never shows up. ADA still waiting for its invitation like it’s the party nobody remembers.
Source: Propublica | Published: 10/15/2025 | Author: by Becca Savransky, Idaho Statesman
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