Planning ongoing for new Port Angeles High School

Published 10:00 am Friday, February 27, 2026

PORT ANGELES — Architects with Integrus, the firm designing the new Port Angeles High School, updated the Port Angeles School District board on early design work and long-range planning for the campus, including the auditorium.

Managing principal Amy Vanderhorst said Thursday the team has completed the education specifications and campus master plan following months of meetings with the Port Angeles Capital Advisory Committee, high school staff, students, the Port Angeles Symphony Orchestra and community members.

The process resulted in a set of guiding principles that will guide the project through schematic design and construction.

Design principal Matthew Bissen said the master plan addresses the site’s steep topography and longstanding challenges, including difficulty with identifying the high school’s main entrance. The proposal clusters classrooms and public spaces more closely together, reduces vehicle traffic through campus and organizes buildings along natural terraces that follow the slope of the land. Parking and drop-off areas would be consolidated to improve safety and navigation.

The Integrus presentation can be found at tinyurl.com/yvb8duye.

Voters approved a $140 million bond and the school district secured $36.5 million in state grants, bringing the total construction budget for the high school, auditorium and Franklin Elementary to $176.5 million.

The Franklin project includes a 60,000-square-foot elementary school with a total cost of $42.3 million and a maximum allowable construction cost of about $31 million, said Nolan Duce, the district’s director of capital projects.

The district lacks funding to complete the high school rebuild in one phase. Phase 1 covers about 136,000 square feet plus the auditorium, with a total project cost of $132.8 million and a maximum allowable construction cost of roughly $102 million. Phase 2 would address the replacement or renovation of the gym.

Duce said construction at Hurricane Ridge Middle School, which will replace Stevens Middle School, is moving quickly. The 84,000-square-foot building — nearly double the current 43,000-square-foot school — has structural steel in place and metal decking underway as crews prepare for upper-level concrete pours. The contractor will take over the gym April 1 and return it by Jan. 1, 2027.

Duce said the project remains on schedule.

School enrollment

Karen Casey, the district’s executive director of business and operations, reported February enrollment at 3,188 full-time-equivalent students. The district budgeted 3,223 FTE for the 2025-26 academic year and is currently averaging 3,220.

The district recorded 55 withdrawals and 28 new enrollments in February for a net loss of 27 students.

“We’re watching [enrollment] very, very closely to see where we’re going,” Casey said.

She noted ongoing financial pressures tied to enrollment, saying, “I’d like to say the challenges are ending, but they’re not.”

Directors also received a Career and Technical Education update from CTE Director Jennifer Rogers, who highlighted new offerings, including engineering and a dual-credit business communications course at Lincoln High School, along with a career explorations class for eighth-graders at Stevens Middle School. She said enrollment is growing across all CTE programs.

Transition to Kindergarten

Superintendent Michelle Olsen discussed the district’s Transition to Kindergarten (TK) program amid ongoing state budget deliberations. Olsen said one proposal under consideration in Olympia would limit eligibility to students who qualify for free and reduced-price meals. Currently, about half of the district’s TK students meet that income threshold, meaning roughly half could lose access under the proposal.

Olsen said the district has contacted legislators about the program’s importance, noting research shows early intervention improves long-term academic outcomes and reduces later costs.

Board president Sandy Long said she plans to write in support of maintaining the program as it currently operates and encouraged parents, organizations and others to contact lawmakers as well.

Registration for kindergarten begins Monday. Children must be 5 years old prior to Sept. 1. Parents or guardians may register students at their neighborhood school or at the Lincoln Center, 905 W. Ninth St.

A district attendance boundary map can be found at tinyurl.com/mrxypj53.

Required documents include a birth certificate or other legal documentation verifying the student’s name, a certificate of immunization status and two documents proving residency, including at least one utility bill.

Students may be registered before immunization records are submitted, but they may not begin school until immunization requirements are met.

The district also will hold a special kindergarten registration day on March 18 at Lincoln Center. For more information, call 360-457-8575.

District students of the month for March are Franklin Elementary sixth-graders Emma Merrigan and Alex Gonzalez.

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Reporter Paula Hunt can be reached by email at paula.hunt@peninsuladailynews.com.