Seabeck residents hoping for the saving of Seabeck Elementary School will have to wait until after the first of the year for a final decision to be made on the property’s future by the Central Kitsap School District (CKSD).

More than 50 residents showed their support Monday night for keeping the Seabeck Elementary School property accessible to the public as the CKSD Board of Directors listened to everyone wishing to make their voices heard about the property’s future.

“This is an important part of the process,” CKSD Superintendent Greg Lynch said. “We’re still a ways away from a final decision.”

Numerous Seabeck residents thanked the board for taking the time to listen to their concerns as not a single negative remark was thrown the board’s way.

“We would like to see the board do all it can to keep the land available for public use,” Loanna Day told board members and Lynch.

Day, who has lived in the Seabeck area since 1991, said a group of community members, loosely dubbed the Neighbors for a Greater Seabeck Community, has met for the past 18 months in an effort to retain the property as a public venue.

Another Seabeck resident, Toni Magee, who lives directly across from the Seabeck Elementary School property, said keeping the property in the public domain is the right thing to do.

“I think keeping it in that realm is very important,” Magee said. “I believe if we put our hearts into it and are thinking together we can find a way to save this piece of property.”

Seabeck resident Darcy Lund said if the school property were taken out of the public’s hands it would “dishearten a lot of people.”

“We are 100 percent supportive of the effort to keep it in public domain,” Seabeck Community Club President Chuck Grady told the board.

Grady, who also serves as the executive director of the Seabeck Conference Center, said the center has had to fill the void that the school’s closure has created in the community, adding that when it comes to scheduling conflicts between the public and conference center guests, the guests are their No. 1 priority.

“We also have no interest in buying the property if it comes up for sale,” Grady said.

Seabeck General Store owner Barbie Mills said she has heard from hundreds of people who are concerned about the school’s future.

“There are seniors, children and everyone in between that would like to see you be able to keep it available to our community,” Mills said.

Near the end of the public hearing, longtime Seabeck resident Michael Reeves offered a ray of hope to those wanting to see the school property remain in the public’s hands.

“I would like to purchase the property and build a home for my wife and family on it,” Reeves said. “I would like to give the rest of it back to the community.”

Before that could possibly happen, Reeves explained he is waiting on a settlement from the Washington State Department of Natural Resources because his home was lost in an incident a few years ago with DNR, and once the situation is resolved, he would be interested in the purchase of the Seabeck property.

However, the Department of Natural Resources was unable to provide any confirmation of a settlement with Reeves and a search of the Washington state courts’ database also failed to show any information about a possible settlement.

Before the school board makes its final decision some time next year, CKSD Executive Director of Business and Operations David McVicker said it is a question of when, not if, the district will eventually build a new elementary school in the Seabeck area.

“We don’t know that yet,” McVicker said.

In 2004, the district purchased 28 acres of property on Larson Lane with the intention of building a new elementary school, but the district has been faced with a decline in enrollment for the past several years, he noted.

“Whatever option the board looks at, it needs to be revenue-positive,” he said.

The Seabeck Elementary School property and its buildings are valued at $2.45 million and the raw land is estimated at $220,000 with the school board’s finance committee recommending to surplus the site.