We want you to be aware of what the NKSD Board President is saying.

The video above is hard to hear. In order to hear these comments better, please view it at the NKSD website School Board - North Kitsap School District 400 (nkschools.org) , https://www.nkschools.org/about-us/school-board , by choosing "September 26, 2024 Video Recording", in the NKSD's video the Board President's comments begin at approximately 2:10:43.  

There are several interesting things in this video. We have transcribed relevant portions of the Board President's comments: 

The Board President said: “I would say that we are long overdue on vestibules. Ah that was a big push when I came on the Board about 5 years ago. Um a lot of districts are already making that upgrade. Ah those are very important because no individual should be able to go directly into a classroom once they are rung rung into a school. I think our ah, you know, our access systems are, were a good first step, but I challenge anybody ah you know, sitting in one of the offices to try and go tackle an individual who runs directly into a a classroom and that should not be the case with that.”

We agree, all visitors should be checked in at the Main offices first. 

We don’t see that over $4.77 million dollars is necessary to accomplish this goal. 

The current Board President was elected to the NKSD Board of Directors in November 2019.

Where has the push for vestibules been discussed? Vestibules have not been discussed at the Board meetings we have attended (and we have attended nearly all). Vestibules were not pushed in the 2022 Levy and not in the 2024 Bond. 

In 2018, office reconfigurations were done at Gordon and Vinland Elementaries' approved cost of a bit over $11k for each. At the time this was for “Security”. Now on the District website looking at the 2018 Facilities and Technology Levy you will see the description of these office reconfigurations has changed from “Security” to “improve functionality and efficiency”. (See photos at the bottom of this page)

The only access you have as a visitor to Gordon and Vinland is through the office. The main door access is with a keycard. There is another locked door that leads directly to the office. A visitor must request access via a call box, once the visitor has identified themselves the door is remotely unlocked. 

NKSD is proposing a “secure entry vestibule" for both of these schools at a cost of $516,134 each. A bit over $1 million dollars to achieve what these two schools currently have, access through the office.

The Board President said: “You know some of the comments we’re starting to hear is that ah well you know the projects on the levy is different than what is, than what it was on the Bond. I I would say yes it is and to me that’s a good thing. That means that we heard, you know we heard the community from how they voted them with the Bond. Um you know we took the time to get new data and to get new voices on it and I wouldn’t expect with new data new voices to come up with the exact same project list. So I think we should be celebrating ah that there are some differences between the two campaigns. I think that’s a big positive.” 

We believe the 63% of the voters who voted in opposition to the Bond did so for a variety of reasons. Has NKSD heard why 63% of you voted no? 

We do understand some of the projects not being included in this Levy, but we are concerned many of the projects that were important on the Bond are not included. 

We know that with the current Poulsbo Middle School addition NKSD is capable of a $16 million dollar
 (estimated cost) project with Capital Levy funds.

Gordon Elementary needs a wing/classroom addition. Estimated cost in February was a bit over $9 million. The projects at Kingston High school totaled $11.3 million. These projects can be broken into smaller projects and some could be completed, the same for North Kitsap High School. Have all of these projects that were considered necessary in February been abandoned? 

The Board President said: “The Bond was for replacing buildings. We heard the community is not interested in that ..."

There is definitely a misunderstanding of the failure of the February 2024 Bond. The Bond failed for a myriad of reasons, only one of which was demolishing and replacing Wolfe. 

The Board President said: “You know I always keep in mind I’m a parent first before a Board member. Very frequently my children ask me um you know why are we in portables? Why can’t we have academic 
facilities or athletic facilities like Central Kitsap? And I have to explain to them, well that community has, you know, made a choice to invest in education. Ah and it’s a difficult conversation to convince them that ah our community isn’t willing to do that.” 

This community has given NKSD all the money they have asked for, passed every Levy and Bond since the mid 1980’s (that was a one-time failure). The failure of the Bond in February has no impact on the current condition of this District’s facilities. It is unfortunate the Board President doesn’t realize this community HAS chosen to invest in education. If the facilities don’t meet the expectations of some, the Board President needs to look inward, to look at the Board of Directors. It is the responsibility of the Board of Directors to 
prioritize, guide and direct this District into the future. No need to lash out at the community that funds this District. No other Board Director or NKSD Staff has addressed this comment, no acknowledgement of the long history of the community supporting this District. 

The Board President said: “This is about a five year plan. We have some really big capital needs coming up down the line. If you look at North Kitsap High School you know you’re talking, you know maybe 
400 million dollars. We can’t be tackling every single school, replacing them at the same time.”

When the Board President said this, the first thought was that he must have misspoken. 

No one, not the Superintendent, fellow Board Directors, or any of the Administrative staff that was there spoke up to question or correct this $400 million dollar statement, for just one school. No one has offered a comment since. The assumption now is yes, this district has a 5-year plan at $400 million dollars for just one school. Can we guess they are planning an entire new NKHS campus for that cost? This 5 year plan the Board President mentioned is a plan we don’t get to see, but we are quite confident we will be expected to fund it.

The Board President said: “You know, we we didn’t mention staff you know we talked a lot about students. We owe it to our staff to give them safe, healthy working environments.”

The only specific building improvement mentioned by the NKEA (North Kitsap Education Association) President in the 9/26/24 Board meeting was with “antiquated” HVAC systems.  
Source YouTube Video, minute 20: September 25, 2024 North Kitsap School Board Meeting (youtube.com) , https://youtu.be/IOHyl0w6Dks?feature=shared, minute 20. 

The only HVAC improvements we see in this Levy are:
(1) two schools will have a “patch up” on their mechanical systems (Suquamish and Pearson) 
(2) one failed boiler will be replaced (NKHS Technology Building)
(3) leaks in the hydronic system along with new replacing joint hydronic water piping connections (NKHS)

It seems as though NKSD isn’t going to do much to give the teachers what they want most, which according to the NKEA President is decent Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning. Maybe this will come with a 
future Levy and/or Bond, but not this one.

Please see “Safety” page on this website for more information.