LANGLEY — South Whidbey school board members are now scrutinizing two options for merging Langley Middle School with South Whidbey High School.

Both come with hefty price tags, however. The total project cost for Option 1 is $32.7 million; the total for the second option is $25.8 million.

At a board workshop on Wednesday, school district officials reviewed the two plans for moving sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students to the high school in two years, and the creation of a combined campus that features two nearly independent schools.

The timeline for the review is short. District officials must decide in April which option to put before voters on May 18, when a bond measure will appear on the ballot that will cover the cost of renovation and construction at the high school.

Both options include classroom additions and remodeling ($11.7 million), a new commons area ($1.3 million), middle school gym ($6 million), relocation of the art studio, general site work and artificial turf installed at Waterman Field ($1.4 million).

The less expensive Option 2 eliminates a counseling area ($708,750), an auto shop remodel ($216,675), middle school field house ($1.8 million) and site work for the field house ($549,788).

Regardless of which choice is made by the board, serious repairs and system improvements (such as heating and air conditioning) will be needed. The added costs for upgrades to the high school are $8 million for Option 1; $7.7 million for Option 2.

Teachers and parents were not shy about asking questions at the school board meeting.

Molly MacLeod-Roberts questioned the percentage of funding devoted to athletic facilities, including the new 14,000-square-foot gym for the middle school.

According to a study completed by TCF Architecture, the cost of building new academic areas for students will range from $8.2 million to $10.3 million. The cost of building new facilities for athletic programs, however, ranges from $6 million to $7.9 million. (Those figures do not include sports-related costs found elsewhere in the study, such as $1.4 million for new turf on the high school football field or $300,000 to resurface the track.)

All told, the cost of new athletic facilities comprise 31 percent of the total cost of both Option 1 and Option 2.

“Sports are important, but I think the voters want the money focused on academics, teachers, classrooms and all those elements that go with a quality education,” MacLeod-Roberts said.

Others pointed to the need for common spaces, shared staff and also asked how the library and computer labs would be used.

Middle school teacher Rachel Kizer worried whether the committee had factored in enough space for staff after the move.

“My classroom is my office, my storage area, where I plan my lessons and it is where learning takes place,” she said. “We can’t have shared classrooms and still maintain the world-class education you are talking about.”

LMS principal Rod Merrell acknowledged her concern.

“We feel we have a good plan in place, not so large as to be too expensive, but with enough wiggle room for all our programs,” he said.

One by one, committee members explained how they reviewed each item from the architect’s initial concept plan and assigned a priority number from one to three, noting whether the item is absolutely essential to middle school students and programs, highly desirable or something that would be nice to have. They could also elect to subtract, add or modify parts of the plan.

District officials emphasized that, whichever option is picked, the middle school is moving to Maxwelton Road.

“The operating costs at the middle school are eating us up,” said board chairwoman Leigh Anderson. “The board made its decision last summer and the move will take place on schedule.”

During the past 18 months, the board has dealt with declining enrollment, reduced state funding of education, deferred building maintenance concerns and a $1.85 million budget shortfall. The district is also asking voters to renew the M&O levy next month.

Anderson noted that the board has to weigh what’s needed versus the cost.

“How do we thread the needle to build an appropriate facility that meets our declining enrollment?” she asked. “Our work is just beginning.”

Much has already been accomplished, however.

Committee members, led by district administrator Mike Johnson, went through a rigid cost-cutting exercise designed to pare down the original $43.3 million proposal for revamping South Whidbey High School into a facility that would share space with LMS when that school is closed.

Though the ultimate decision will be made by the school board, more trimming may come from District Superintendent Fred McCarthy.

Jeff VanDerford can be reached at 221-5300 or jvanderford@southwhidbeyrecord.com.