The following is an excerpt from an email I sent to the North Kitsap School Board and attendees of a meeting between them and Superintendent Patty Page that I was invited to. The full e-mail can be found at http://1drv.ms/1knPHmm

I am disappointed with the fragmentation of course offerings within our own school district. From Kingston High School’s get-go, there has always been a district preference for North Kitsap High School and related Poulsbo amenities. The list is endless: The battle we fought for field lights, the “regional stadium” (to use NKSD’s doublespeak) that says Vikings all over it, but not even a small “Buccaneers,” the types of elective offerings (in particular, the music, art, and CTE offerings), and perceived tighter staffing (larger class sizes), are all areas Kingston has ended up with the short end of the stick.

Even with these shortcomings we have been given, KHS still manages to have higher standardized test scores and AP scores than NKHS. In fact, the only area of parity between the two schools is athletics, which benefits from misleading participation statistics that overestimate the number of students involved and the importance to scholastic achievement.

Ms. Page blamed the lack of class parity between the schools on everything from the inefficiency of Kingston’s staffing (which it isn’t) to the physical location of the classrooms in KHS (which has no relevance in a discussion about course offerings). Is the intention of the school district to turn Poulsbo-area schools into magnet programs? If it is, the school district should come out and say so, rather than simply give Kingston families the brush-off, and the silent treatment.

I get the feeling that those of us present yesterday at KMS left very unsatisfied with Ms. Page’s comments. Hopefully, these issues can be resolved more professionally in the future than with the arm-crossing that we have been given so far.

Robert Karren
Kingston