POULSBO — The North Kitsap School District’s Attendance Boundary Task Force, whose goal is to balance enrollment at all of NK’s public schools by the time a new high school in Kingston is built, has made many compromises in what has become a heated issue.

But there is one conundrum that no compromise can overcome.

The capacity of the grades 7-9 Kingston Junior High School — soon to become grades 6-8 Kingston Middle School in Sept. 2007 — is about 900 students. But the new high school to be built next door on West Kingston Road will only be able to house 800.

That will force a number of students to leave the Kingston community and head to the existing North Kitsap High School, where the capacity is 1,200.

“I think the biggest problem … is going to be the fact that kids will go to the middle school and they won’t all go to the same high school,” said NKSD Director of Finance and Operations Nancy Moffatt. “There will be a division.”

The high school’s options center around a Breidablik “Central Area,” that includes Sawdust Hill Road and Bond Road. It is not yet known which high school students there will attend.

But there will have to be students — most of whom will be from Breidablik — who will have to switch between Poulsbo and Kingston during their elementary, middle and high school experiences.

Moffatt said that dilemma has forced the task force, made up of representatives from every district school as well as tribal liaisons, to think critically about whether they want to split certain geographic areas or keep them intact entirely. The majority of options pit all schools together, except for Breidablik.

In order to correct the situation, a “Phase II” to the new high school in Kingston would have to be added to accommodate the overflow and equal the 1,200-student capacity at existing North Kitsap High School. But that could be years away, likely requiring voter approval for a new bond measure.

“If we were in a position where we could build Phase II of the new high school, it would be different,” Moffatt said. “It wouldn’t cause so much angst for people.”

Highlights of the

task force’s work

• The task force’s only school board approved measure to date was the removal of the Breidablik “choice area,” allowing parents in the southern portion of that elementary’s boundary to select between Poulsbo and Kingston junior high schools. They now have no choice and must go to KJH.

Recommendations that the task force has made but have not yet been approved include:

• Moving the easternmost portion of Poulsbo Elementary’s students to Suquamish (approximately 30 students would be affected, though that number could change often).

• Moving all students who live within Submarine Base Bangor from Vinland to Pearson (about 60 students).

• Preparing for the new Poulsbo development off Vetter Road by making the area within the Breidablik region rather than the already crowded Vinland Elementary area.

Discussed at Tuesday’s meeting will be proposals for the new attendance boundaries for the upcoming Kingston and Poulsbo Middle Schools, the new high school in Kingston and existing North Kitsap High School.

There are two high school options:

• Option 1 — North Kitsap High School would include Pearson, Poulsbo, Vinland and Suquamish Elementary area students and Breidablik area students south of Edgewater and Lofall roads. Kingston High School would include Gordon and Wolfle Elementary area students and Breidablik students north of Edgewater and Lofall roads.

• Option 2 — The same as as Option 1, except Breidablik’s “Central Area” —students near Sawdust Hill and Bond Road — would go to North Kitsap High School.

There are three middle school options:

• Option 1 — Poulsbo Middle School would include Pearson, Poulsbo and Vinland Elementary students as well as Breidablik students south of Edgewater and Lofall roads and Suquamish Elementary students who had been moved there from Poulsbo Elementary in the task force’s elementary recommendation. Kingston Middle School would include Gordon, Wolfle, the remainder of Suquamish and northern boundary Breidablik students.

Option 1a — Same as Option 1, except all Suquamish students would attend Kingston Middle School.

Option 2 — Same as Option 1, except “Central Area” Breidablik students — similar to the high school plan — would be added to Poulsbo Middle School.

The task force will reconvene following the public meeting and will then approach the school board for approval of the favored options.