On the advice of its architects, The Quilcene School District is investigating the possibility of replacing its elementary school building, but before it does anything, it wants to hear from the community first at six public meetings around the school district. The month of September is packed with community meetings, ranging from Sept. 10 through Sept. 25, and Quilcene Superintendent Frank Redmon emphasized that, even though the school district is considering whether to replace its elementary school due to outside input, its ultimate course of action will be guided by the community itself. “We need to involve all our stakeholders,” Redmon said. “We need as many people as possible to attend these meetings, to ensure the strong representation of all the voices in the community. We’re not just gathering information, but seeing what the public is interested in doing, and what they’re comfortable with, because they’ll be the ones who have to pay for it.” Because if the Quilcene School District chooses to replace its elementary school building, Redmon acknowledged it would require a capital levy and construction bond to fund it, which would, in turn, require the support of voters from the Quilcene, Coyle, Leland and Brinnon communities. Among the input the community meetings are intended to solicit are what the community would like to see in a new facility, the reasons the old building needs to be replaced, the prospective costs of construction, trends and research on modern school buildings that could offer directions for a new elementary school, and any questions they might have about the district’s strategic plan overall. Redmon explained that the Quilcene School District had retained the services of Tacoma-based Erickson McGovern Architects to study all the district’s facilities, to help determine how they might be best utilized. According to Redmon, it was determined the cost of remodeling the existing elementary school building was similar to the cost of constructing a completely new building. “And remodeling the old building wouldn’t provide the same level of services and capabilities as getting a new building,” Redmon said. Depending upon the community feedback, the capital levy and construction bond could wind up on the same February 2020 ballot as the already-planned replacement for the district’s expiring educational programs and operations levy. But again, Redmon underscored that this is all pending whatever the community has to say.