By PAUL BALCERAK
Staff writer
The Central Kitsap School District school board finally has some options to consider for school reconfiguration. In a Wednesday board meeting that took place at Olympic High School, Superintendent Greg Lynch unveiled three recommendations (in no particular order) for the board to consider.
The options were based off five options previously presented to the board as options the secondary configuration committee ranked as its favorite.
The options are:
• Option A: K-6, 7-8, 9-12
• Option D (current configuration): K-6, 7-12 (Klahowya Secondary School only), 7-9, 10-12
• Option E (combination of Options A and B): K-6, 7-8, 9-12 and 7-12 (one school)
Of note is the fact that the district’s current configuration — Option D — hasn’t been ruled out. There’s still a chance that nothing will change.
Lynch suggested the district take a second look at its nearly two-year-old data which suggests that enrollment is, in fact, declining to the point of reconfiguration and school closure being feasible.
“I think we owe it to our community to go back and review our facts and make sure what was right two years ago is right today,” he said. “I think it’s important to verify the data.”
The unveiling of Lynch’s recommendations drew a larger crowd than usual to the board meeting. Nearly half the audience cleared out once Lynch’s presentation was completed and the board had finished discussion of the options.
Amid the discussion, which centered largely around how to proceed with the decision-making process, board member Lee Ann Powers reminded her colleagues and the public of the reasoning behind ideas for reconfiguration.
“Part of the reconfiguration question is, ‘What’s best for student learning?’” she said.
The recommendations are now in the hands of the school closure committee, which will study reconfiguration and school closure concurrently.
The reason for the joint study is that configuration could determine which school makes the most sense to close.
The district also has identified several “cons” associated with each configuration option — including the current one — they think the closure committee could consider.
“There are some downsides to these configurations, which is why we’re handing them off to the school closure committee,” Lynch said.
The closure committee is aiming to come back to the board with a joint reconfiguration/closure recommendation on Sept. 24.
The earliest the board would decide to do anything would be sometime in January 2009.
