SILVERDALE — Children started their first day of school in the Central Kitsap School District on Sept. 1, with one major exception: those attending Silverdale Elementary.

The elementary school, which has been undergoing major renovations since June 2015, delayed its opening until Tuesday, Sept. 6.

“As that construction work progressed and we got to last Monday, Aug. 29, it just became clear that with the construction work that was going on, we weren’t going to be at a point where school would open on the first day of school,” said David Beil, director of communications at CKSD.

Starting Aug. 29, the district began notifying students and their families of the delayed start, two school days late. But Beil said the district is hoping not to have to add those days into the Silverdale Elementary academic calendar.

“We are working with OSPI (Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction) right now to see if there’s a waiver we can get for a construction delay of this nature, or if we’ll have to make the days up,” Beil said. “Based on how the RCW is written, it specifically lists construction delays. We’re anticipating we will get the waiver, but until we get the final work from OSPI, we just don’t know.”

The district won’t make any decisions on where those days could be added if the waiver is denied until after hearing from OSPI.

The delay was necessary, Beil said, because key parts of the building, including the front entry of the building, main office, cafeteria, gymnasium and library, were off limits last week, which he said were “critical parts” of the building for students.

Teachers, however, were able to get into their classrooms to set up and prepare for Silverdale Elementary’s delayed first day of school.

“As students were excited to get into the building (Tuesday) and teachers were excited to reveal their new classrooms, one of the things (they saw) were more windows in the classrooms now, letting more daylight in,” Beil said. “(There is) new technology in the rooms that teachers can use in the learning environment. There’s a larger parking lot with a larger pick-up and drop-off area. Those are a few things that are very noticeable.”

The renovation project, which cost $12.6 million, added 3,000 square feet to the 55,148-square-foot building.

“It’s a great new learning environment for our students,” Beil said. “The excitement could be seen on students’ faces and parents’ faces as they were dropping off their kids for the first day of school this year.”