School district mulls new school, various capital improvements

Published 1:30 am Friday, March 13, 2026

The Oak Harbor School District may seek voters’ support funding either the construction of a new elementary school or major improvements to existing school buildings.

Those are the two recommendations of the district’s Capital Facilities Advisory Committee, which reviewed data, organized physical evaluations of existing facilities and solicited community feedback to formulate potential capital projects. Further discussion is needed before any decisions are made.

Whatever is done, action must be taken to address aging facilities district-wide.

“I think the big pressure point here is, we’ve gone a long time doing nothing here in Oak Harbor,” Superintendent Michelle Kuss-Cybula said during a board meeting on Monday. “… What we can’t do is nothing.”

Addressing capital improvements — like those concerning ventilation, roofing and security — at various schools would run the district $30 million. About $5-7 million of that total would be spent on improving the transportation center in similar ways.

These improvements would benefit multiple schools in multiple neighborhoods quickly. However, money would be invested into old buildings, the outdated designs of which will not be changed.

Alternatively, the district could “pay more” to “get more,” in committee member and Oak Harbor Educational Foundation board treasurer Jack Schwab’s words.

A new elementary school would be built on a 10-acre property at Fort Nugent Park bought by the district in 1988. It would cost an estimated $81 million and accommodate 750 students, a capacity committee member Assistant Superintendent Dwight Lundstrom said could eliminate the need for many of the 48 portable classrooms used throughout the district.

Building a new school would also expand the district’s service of elementary students to southwest Oak Harbor, where the district is seeing growth. Right now, four of the district’s five elementary schools are clustered in the city’s center, meaning long bus rides for students living farther away.

The new school would replace Oak Harbor Elementary, which could then be repurposed for community use. Building on the Fort Nugent property, however, would eliminate some of the soccer fields used by multiple soccer clubs on Whidbey.

Other options are to spend $30 million to construct dedicated gyms and kitchens at three elementary schools, or to spend $27 million replacing the south building at Oak Harbor Elementary. There, according to the committee, the flooring contains asbestos, windows are failing and more.

The committee did not recommend these options but acknowledged these areas of need. It added that Oak Harbor Elementary’s south building and the district’s transportation center, in particular, must be addressed.

The district would need public support in funding any capital project it pursues.

Declining enrollment, Lundstrom explained, means the district is no longer eligible for funding from the School Construction Assistance Program, despite the district’s use of portables and its “under-housed” students. The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction offers funding through SCAP for construction and modernization projects undertaken by districts.

A bond would be needed to fund a new elementary school, and a capital levy for building improvements, which require a 60% supermajority and a 50% majority to pass, respectively.

Schwab reported that about 96% of Educational Programs and Operation levies, and 94% of Capital levies, passed statewide in Feb. 10 elections. Only approximately 40% of bonds passed, however.

The district believes it has the public’s support. Although the district’s last two bonds in 2022 and 2023 failed, and voters last approved a bond in 2006, five of its last six levies passed.

Schwab reasoned that the 2022 bond failed because “people were kind of upset about schools” after they closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the 2023 bond failed because it came too soon after the previous one. Regardless, he saw voters’ approval of a levy by 62.5% in 2025 as cause for optimism.

“When we’re trying to pass a bond measure, what I take out of this is we only need to convince about five percent of the community that wouldn’t ordinarily vote yes, to vote yes,” Schwab said.

Schwab added that the district should keep its message simple when campaigning to pass a bond or a levy. Deciphering the public’s priorities for capital projects around the district is also crucial, but Lundstrom admitted that can be tough.

“Knowing what to do for Oak Harbor is always a challenge, just gauging what support we’ll get is not the easiest thing to do within our community,” he said.

Respondents to a survey conducted in May of 2025 indicated that safety — including security cameras and intercom systems — as well as facility improvements were particularly important to them.

A survey conducted in February of this year asked respondents to rank the four options presented by the committee. Respondents ranked dedicated gyms and kitchens as their highest priority, and a new school at Fort Nugent as their lowest.