As the 2021-22 Bainbridge Island school year draws to a close, student art is flourishing; the district is preparing for next year by implementing changes that affect the calendar, high school bell times, improvement of facilities and use of transportation resources; and COVID-19 cases are rising again.

Superintendent Peter Bang Knudsen said students were making great progress and, “We have some amazing student artists and art teachers.”

Two students were named as 6th District Congressional Art winners. Angelina Kollodge won first place with her photo “Fierce Silence,” and Maddy Coodro placed third with her photo “Desert Beauty.” The photos will be displayed in Washington, D.C. and Olympia.

The board approved the 2022-23 calendar that will add the Juneteeth holiday and three potential snow make-up days, which could mean students attend school as late as the week of June 26. BISD will create a plan for graduating seniors in order to abide by requirements of days of school that are excused following graduation.

High school principals Kristina Rodgers of BHS and Tricia Corsetti of Eagle Harbor announced that district changes will be made to the daily schedule for next year to accommodate an anticipated need for more shared staffing between BHS, EHHS and Woodward Middle School.

“As a part of the decision-making process, the district took a close look at neighboring district bell schedules, both in greater Kitsap as well as King County schools. While we recognize that no schedule can perfectly meet everyone’s desired needs or preferences, the following schedule accommodates our Monday early release schedule, a commitment to have an advisory time for all grades 5-12 districtwide, alongside scheduling that allows for students in off-campus programs to still access their afternoon classes in our buildings.”

Teachers and administrators will be working to shift parts of their instruction and pace their courses to fit this new model. Part of that shift will be conversations about bell to bell instruction in a shorter, daily period, alongside homework expectations and creating a healthy balance for all, officials said.

The high school daily bell schedule for next year will include three 85-minute classes on Mondays and Tuesdays and six 55-minute class periods Wednesday through Friday.

Some physical changes will be made to the BHS turf and track, which is in need of resurfacing. On the recommendation of Dane Fenwick, district director of Facilities and Operations, the board awarded an almost $1.154 million contract to Coast to Coast Turf to carry out the work. The Seattle-based contractor has completed more than 150 field installations in the past four years for neighboring school districts and several college campuses.

Fenwick, also received approval from the board to enter into an agreement with the North, South and Central Kitsap school districts regarding charter bus service in an effort to reduce cancellations and parent transport to school-sponsored events.

“Due to the shortage of bus drivers both at the local level and nationally, many local school districts have solicited the charter services in order to provide transportation to extra-curricular and co-curricular activities during the 2021/2022 school year.

”The lifting of statewide COVID restrictions coupled with high competition to secure private charter services has left BISD and other local districts with very few options to facilitate program needs when staffing levels are too low to function appropriately,” Fenwick said. “Cooperation and coordination with other local districts to assist each other in providing transportation services on behalf of all school districts that enter these agreements is one strategy that will reduce the need for parent transport or event canceling within our district.”

Meanwhile, COVID-19 case numbers are increasing, and Bang-Knudsen said the district is starting to see cases in almost all of the BI schools. “The district is working closely with the Kitsap County Health Department. If we determine there’s a cluster in a classroom, we will work with the Department of Health to implement mitigation strategies in the short term.”

Any additional mitigation measures are only required if there is a suspected outbreak in a particular classroom. If that happens, additional measures will be in place for a period of time to prevent more cases. For the rest of the district, masks are still optional, social distancing is encouraged but not required, etc.

The next school board meeting is set for May 26 at 5:45 p.m. and will be held in-person in the board room and broadcast/recorded via Zoom.