Oak Harbor School District officials are considering creating a new intermediate school for fifth and sixth graders as a potential solution to deal with expected student growth.

The district has the highest number of full-time elementary students on record with potentially hundreds more on the way as new Navy families arrive in the next few years. Ten more portable classrooms are being added this year, but it won’t be enough.

In a memo sent to district employees, schools Superintendent Lance Gibbon warned that, without relief, the student population of each elementary school in the district would swell to 600 or more students — that’s more students than attend either of the middle schools.

While the district’s elementary schools are near bursting, the district’s two middle schools have as many as 10 classrooms available for use.

Under the proposal, one of the middle schools would serve fifth and sixth graders and the other would serve seventh and eighth graders. Moving fifth graders out of elementary schools would free up space for younger students.

At the moment, North Whidbey Middle School and Oak Harbor Middle School serve students in sixth to eighth grades.

The Oak Harbor School Board has not made a final decision, but this option emerged as a favorite of most of the board as well as district staff at a school board workshop Wednesday, Gibbon said.

Here are some of the potential positives, as outlined by Gibbon in the memo:

It takes advantage of available space at the middle schools. Even though some portables would need to be added, far fewer would be needed than at the elementary schools

It is the most cost-effective option

There’d be increased grade-level and department collaboration and alignment opportunities for staff in grades 5-8

It has the potential to significantly improve instructional program for students in grades 5-8 at their developmental levels through targeted programs, intervention and acceleration options, and grade-level targeted athletic, enrichment and elective options

The 5/6 school could be an innovative hybrid of elementary and middle school, better meeting student needs

The district would have over a year to design the instructional programs and plan for the transition

It keeps all of the elementary schools well below 600 students and close to current levels even after the influx of new Navy students

It allows the district to adapt to the change in the timing, grade-level and number of new students

The drawbacks to the proposal include the impact on staff who would have to move to a different school and increasing the size of a middle school to 900 students or more.

Officials have considered other options, including building a new school and adding even more portables. The district briefly tried to buy the Oak Harbor Christian School but leaders of that school didn’t want to sell.

The superintendent acknowledged the significance of the decision and invited the public to attend the school board meeting scheduled for 6 p.m. Feb. 29 to share comments.

Written feedback can be sent to schoolboard@ohsd.net