Central Kitsap school board to weigh $5.7 million in security upgrades and $201 million in aging-school needs

SILVERDALE — Central Kitsap School District staff will ask the school board Tuesday, Nov. 10, whether to move ahead with about $5.7 million in security upgrades, including classroom walls and doors at the district’s last two open-concept elementary schools, and will lay out an estimated $201 million in needs at four aging elementary schools.

The discussion is at a study session, and no vote is scheduled. Executive Director of Business and Capital Projects Scott McDaniel is presenting the update to the district’s long-range facilities plan.

Security

Emerald Heights and Silver Ridge elementary schools are the only two district schools that remain open concept, with no interior doors, according to the presentation. Staff estimate it would cost $1.5 million, about $750,000 per school, to build interior walls and classroom doors.

The other proposed security items are $1.5 million for video intercoms, door hardware and window film districtwide, about $75,000 per site, and $2.7 million to replace bus camera systems.

Staff will ask board members whether they support replacing bus cameras this fiscal year, installing classroom walls and doors at the two schools next summer, and expanding intercoms and building hardening.

Four elementary schools

A committee of parents, community members and staff, working with Bassetti Architecture and the consulting firm FMX, recommended a fourth phase of the long-range plan. It ranks Brownsville Elementary first. The school opened in 1954, and “several systems at Brownsville, including septic and HVAC, are at risk of catastrophic failure,” the plan says.

Staff estimate costs at:

• Brownsville Elementary: $75 million to rebuild.
• Woodlands Elementary: $43 million to renovate.
• Clear Creek Elementary: $42 million to renovate.
• Esquire Hills Elementary: $41 million to renovate.

Woodlands, Esquire Hills and Clear Creek were built in the late 1970s and each has critical systems that need replacing, according to the plan. The district estimates the four projects could qualify for a combined $69.5 million in state school construction assistance, but that money has not been awarded. The plan calls for feasibility studies first, looking at enrollment trends, how each school fits the community’s needs and construction logistics. Elementary enrollment is declining slightly, while new housing is going up in the north and west parts of the district and the county has expanded the Silverdale urban growth area.

The plan also proposes about $6 million a year for a regular cycle of roof and HVAC replacements, which board members supported last spring.

How it would be paid for

The district expects to pay for the next phase with federal impact aid, state construction assistance and a future capital projects measure. The plan says a decision on whether to seek a capital levy or new construction bonds “will be made at a future date.” No ballot measure is on Tuesday’s agenda.

The study session starts at 3 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 10, in the Rainier Meeting Room on the second floor of the Silverdale Center and can be watched on Zoom at ckschools.zoom.us/j/84759413585. The agenda does not include a public comment period. The facilities discussion is the last item before the 6 p.m. adjournment. The board’s next regular meeting is Nov. 17 at 5 p.m.