Reporter Central Kitsap
All smiles Central Kitsap girl wins state pageant Page 11
FRIDAY, APRIL 5, 2013 | Vol. 28, No. 29 | www.CENTRALKITSAPREPORTER.com | 50¢
Superintendent announces plan to leave Central Kitsap
HORSES HEAL HEARTS
By WES MORROW wmorrow@soundpublishing.com
In an email to staff and teachers last week, Central Kitsap Superintendent Greg Lynch announced he would resign his post in July to become the new Superintendent of Olympic Educational Service District 114. The resignation is pending approval by the school board to release Lynch from his contract. His contract with the school district runs through the 201415 school year. The Central Kitsap board’s next meeting is scheduled for April 10, during which Lynch said an agenda item will be set to discuss both the details of his release and the process of finding a replacement. Requests for comment to the service dis-
Greg Lynch
trict were not returned. It is expected to offer an official contract to Lynch at its next meeting April 18. Lynch has been with Central Kitsap for nearly a decade. He was hired by the school district in 2004. Prior to that, Lynch was a United States Army Colonel stationed at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., where he was dean of academics for See LYNCH, A13
Closure: coming to a school near you By WES MORROW wmorrow@soundpublishing.com
Coming changes within the Central Kitsap School District will result in the closure of at least one school, district officials say. Exactly how many and which ones will depend on the decisions made in the coming months by the administration and school board. “No matter what,” said Finance Director David McVicker, “school closure of some kind is in our future.” The district will host three public forums in the
next two weeks to discuss the issue of school configuration. Members of the public are urged to attend the meetings to learn about the configuration process and its consequences. The configuration discussion revolves around which grades attend which schools — for example, whether ninth-graders attend junior highs or high schools. However, McVicker said there is much more to the process that just moving students. “This has the potential See CLOSURE, A13
Wes Morow/Staff Photo
Addie Harper comforts her horse as she and other students learn to work with the animals on Tuesday. Harper was one of four teenage participants in the spring break camp at Horses Heal Hearts Ranch, which is owned and operated by Drea Bowen.
Commissioners want public comment on tax By Leslie Kelly lkelly@soundpublishing.com
K it sap C ou nt y Commissioners aren’t ready yet to support a .01 percent sales tax increase to fund more mental health services in the county. But they aren’t walking away from the idea. At a meeting last week, commissioners decided that they want to hear more from the public before they make a decision. “In the next several months we want to do some outreach with community groups so that the public is more aware of what this tax is all about,” said Josh
Brown, who represents the Central Kitsap area. Commissioners will ask the League of Women Voters to host three open houses in August for people to get more information about the proposed sales tax increase. “Making sure that the public has all the information about this before any action takes place is very important to me,” said Commissioner Rob Gelder, District 1 commissioner. Following the outreach, the commission plans to host two public hearings in September, one in Port Orchard and one in North Kitsap, prior to the board
Josh Brown
voting on the issue in October. The option for the sales tax increase, which doesn’t require a public vote, was passed last year by the State
Legislature. Most counties that have enacted the tax have done so without a public vote. Commissioners have already said they don’t want to pay $100,000 to hold a special election on the tax increase. But Brown said they will decide after the public hearings whether commissioners will vote on the tax or whether to put it to a public vote. “All the counties in the Central Puget Sound area have acted on this without a public vote and certainly we don’t want to spend money on a special election if we See TAX, A13