In the last couple of months, I have been attending a series of study sessions hosted by the Bremerton School District. These are open roundtable meetings that include the district administration, members of the elected school board, members of the public and a group of school district employees who have spent the last year analyzing facility capabilities or limitations of existing district structures.

On the table for discussion and decision are what to do with and how to house the increasing number of students enrolling in the district combined with the recent voter approved class size initiative.

To say that these are complex, intertwined decisions is a rather gross understatement. Choosing which starting domino to tip over, sets into motion a certain pattern that determines the path of some choices and eliminates others completely.

At the coming school board meeting set for Feb. 5, the official vote on that first domino will occur. It has to do with a project that was sold to and promised to the community through a capital improvement levy in 2012.

To stay on track, be completed and serve the needs of a growing student population on the Westside, the West Hills STEM expansion needs to move forward, be put out to bid and start construction this summer. Once the vote is taken and the decision on this is decided additional dominos will come into play to make and/or push additional decisions.

Ideas open to review and consideration include the consolidation and or movement of specialty programs, changes in how the 6th Grade building at the Middle School is used including the possibility of re-opening it as an elementary and transportation changes that would bus students over bridges which became something the district firmly avoided after the Nisqually earthquake.

I have been thoroughly impressed with how the decision makers and stakeholders have been handling these study sessions. Held in an open roundtable environment, comments, suggestions and recommendations from everyone and anyone in the room have been encouraged, accepted and treated equally.

The effort to communicate with other public stakeholders in the community has also reached a new level of involvement. What happens through community development impacts housing, that then impacts enrollment which then impacts public provided services. The sharing of information between several local public agencies has already started and this is a very good thing.

As the district moves through the series of decisions and course corrections that will take place this year, in three years and also in five years the public continues to be invited and encouraged to participate in the process and more opportunities to do so are coming. For more information on coming meetings here is the link to the district website,www.bremertonschools.org/domain/136.