POULSBO — Given the fact the timeline is tight and although several community members spoke about potential problems associated with opening a school at the West Kingston site in 2006, school officials and the North Kitsap School District board of directors agreed to continue with the plan to open Kingston High School in three years.

Budget and timeline concerns, as well as the choice of location on the 62-acre site were some of the issues the school board of directors discussed at a Nov. 24 study session.

Kingston High School’s overall $35.6 million budget has increased to roughly $37.9 million, due in large part to the proposed school’s size change to 112,000 total square feet, NKSD Capital Facilities Manager Robin Shoemaker said.

But good luck in the bond market, additional funding matches by the state, and low bids by contractors have helped the district keep a healthy margin of money — $3.3 million currently — in case unexpected costs pop up, Shoemaker said. That number will stay above 5 percent, and by the time all projects are complete, the district anticipates having $459,199 in reserves.

While both the KHS and Pearson Elementary budgets from the district’s 2001 $61 million bond increased by $200,000, the NKHS “H” building and gym renovations decreased by $337,347. Poulsbo Elementary School’s renovation budget fell by $567,075.

“Because of favorable bids, we were able to have a lower budget than previously estimated,” Shoemaker said.

But not everyone is optimistic about the school district’s chances to open Kingston High School on time, and there is still dissent over the choice of the site.

“Putting in the cost — we’re in such a fragile schedule (to open KHS in 2006),” said Nick Jewett, a citizen volunteer on the capital facilities advisory committee (CFAC). “It would be unbelievable if something didn’t happen to fracture that schedule.”

“There was some thinking early on that this would be a small high school with limited facilities,” said concerned citizen Steve Mackey at the Nov. 24 meeting. “Without (the district) saying so in the bond, a lot of people were led to believe this high school could become on the par of North Kitsap High School.”

Mackey said he believes the site is not large enough, nor adequate for a high school.

“By purchasing this (limited) property, it makes it difficult for the district to respond to the community should things change,” he added.

Shoemaker said construction of Kingston High School is slated to begin in August 2004.

During construction, Shoemaker added that work on the school will halt each year from November to March, due to wetland restrictions.

Kingston High School’s opening will coincide with a district-wide change in education, which will alter Kingston and Poulsbo junior high schools into middle schools. The middle school format teaches grades six through eight, rather than the current NK structure of teaching grades seven through nine. Sixth graders will be bumped up to middle school, and ninth graders will move up to high school, either at the new Kingston High School or North Kitsap High School.

A KHS principal will be hired by July 1, 2004 and will work at North Kitsap High School, Supt. Gene Media informed the school board. The principal will have two years before the school opens to assist with the junior high to middle school changes and various preparations, Medina said.

The Kingston High School building sites were also examined at the Nov. 24 study session. “The School on the Hill,” or C2 site, places the school near the existing bus barn, and subsequently on top of the former army Nike facility. It also spreads out the sports fields to outlying areas.

Formerly known as “The School in the Woods,” the B2 site was supported by the school district at its Oct. 9 meeting, though the board merely came to consensus and did not vote on the matter. The B2 site would push the school to the back of the 62-acre property, with more closely-located sports fields. It will also cost $862,000 more to build than its C2 counterpart.

At the Nov. 24 session, school board President Bethany McDonald asked each board member which site they preferred but, again, there was no vote.

“I don’t think a decision is going to be made, there’s too many if’s, and’s, and but’s,” board member Dick Endresen said. Endresen added that he preferred the B2 site choice.

“I went for B2 because it’s the best of the worst,” said Endresen after the fact. “(The West Kingston site) will be a hole the district will pour money into for years and years.”

Incoming board member Ed Strickland said that given time and money restrictions, B2 was his choice as well. But if the two alternatives were on an equal playing field — as may be the case if the school’s building is delayed past 2006 — Strickland said he would vote for C2.

The other incoming board member, Dan Delaney, preferred the B2 site — but not before letting the other members know that environmental issues should have been played out long ago.

“If you were worried about environmentally-sensitive lands, you should’ve considered that when you purchased the property,” Delaney said.

McDonald and recently re-elected board member Catherine Ahl both supported B2, but Ahl let school administrators and her fellow board members know her displeasure of the lack of information beforehand.

“Life would have been a lot easier if we had been told this (information) when we reached consensus (on the site),” Ahl said. “In my next four years (as school board member), I will not ever make another decision if all the information isn’t given to us.”

Another variable in building the new high school is the chemical testing of the high school site for by Kane Environmental. The firm expects to have a full report to the school board by the first of the year, Supt. Medina previously reported.

The Environmental Protection Agency will also release a report on the site, which is due to the district by August 2004, one year following concerned citizen Terry Benish’s original petition for site testing.