KINGSTON — Better late — Kingston Cooperative Preschool Board President Linda Fyfe believes — than never.

Fyfe, whose preschool occupies “The Old School House,” one of Kingston’s most aged buildings, has been overseeing not only the co-op school for the past three years, but also the building itself. During that time, she and several community members have been actively pursuing an agreement to put the building back into Kitsap County’s hands.

Later this month, the county commissioners will likely do just that.

“The county has always recognized us and always known we were here,” Fyfe said of the preschool’s 39-year occupancy in the building. “But for the last eight years we’ve been actively pursuing a lease from them.”

A Facility Use and Maintenance Agreement with the county will ensure the preschool will be able to use the lower level of the school house while Kitsap County will take over the upper level of the 95-year-old two-story building. The preschool will have to pay utilities but can also rent out portions of the downstairs space.

“We’ve always opened (the downstairs) up to the public anyway,” Fyfe said. “But this way it’s on paper and official.”

If the commissioners approve the agreement, it will also end years of ambiguity with regard to many of the school house’s financial obligations.

“We’ll (start) paying our portion of the utilities,” Fyfe said. “Nobody really knew who was paying the utilities. I guess it had gone back to the county — but it hadn’t been us.”

The agreement represents a growing trend in Kitsap, in a time when the county is looking to increase regulations over the buildings it owns. Complying with state laws, having insurance coverage and allowing for maximum facility use are just a few of the reasons in doing so, said Cris Gears, Kitsap County Director of Facilities, Parks and Recreation.

“The county is attempting to regain organization of all the buildings that it owns to say who is what building and what’s going on everywhere,” Fyfe said. “We’re one of the first buildings that they’re working with.”

The agreement could also mean the historic school house building, located in Kola Kole park, could receive some refurbishing by the county. The school’s upstairs — used only as storage currently — could be retrofitted for public use. Most of the building hasn’t been repaired since it was built. Plaster is beginning to fall from the upper floor’s ceiling and cracked windows long-since covered with metal screens.

Not only will the agreement solidify the preschool’s position in the building but it could also benefit its infrastructure, said Beth Perez, incoming school board president, who will replace Fyfe in the position later this month.

“We’ve known our position has not been very stable here,” Perez said. “This agreement gives us stability and maintains the integrity of this building.”

The few renovations the preschool has done to the building — adding child-size sinks and an indoor bathroom — have yielded some interesting results.

“In order to put in the child-size sinks in class we had to poke through the insulation,” Fyfe said. “We were hesitant because there could have been asbestos — but we found only branches, leaves and newspaper as insulation.”

The Kingston school house was built in 1909 and used for public education until 1951, when David Wolfle Elementary opened to the west. Various parties, such as the Kingston Veterans of Foreign War Post and the town library have occupied the house over the years. In 1965, the Kingston Cooperative Preschool moved in and has been a permanent installation ever since.

Fyfe did caution that she hoped the county’s new authority would not create an environment that was unsafe for the students at the school.

“I hope (there is) an understanding that there won’t be any activity upstairs while our kids are in these two rooms,” Fyfe said, “for the safety of our children.”

The school is under the Olympic College insurance policy and is a registered member of the Early Childhood Education Program at the college. The preschool’s designation as a co-op also requires parents be a part of their child’s education. There are five different classes that instructor Debbie Manos teaches.

The end result of the county agreement is the opportunity to provide a new space for which Kingston residents will be to congregate, Perez said.

“We know Kingston is changing rapidly,” she commented. “This building supports our community.”