The Oak Harbor School Board is moving forward with a plan to purchase the Oak Harbor Christian School.

The question: Is the Oak Harbor Christian School willing to sell?

Oak Harbor School District is bursting at the seams. It faces the double whammy of finding more space for kindergarteners and an influx of Navy kids.

The district’s elementary schools are full. At Crescent Harbor Elementary one teacher is giving lessons in the hallway.

Officials expect Naval Air Station Whidbey Island to increase its population by 25 percent in the next four years.

The state also is mandating full-day kindergarten and smaller class sizes in some grades.

The school board voted unanimously Monday night to make an offer on the Oak Harbor Christian School property at 675 E. Whidbey Ave. They’ll discuss how much they want to offer in a closed meeting.

“While we’ve had conversations with the Christian school leadership, the building is not for sale,” said Oak Harbor School District superintendent Lance Gibbon.

“But they would entertain an offer.”

Oak Harbor Christian School is an institution in the city, serving families for more than 75 years.

It briefly considered shutting its doors last year because of declining enrollment, but supporters rallied, raising money and enrollment. The school is now growing again and expects to remain open into the future, said principal Sherry Fakkema.

The school enjoys a central, visible location in the heart of the city. A move might be an opportunity to modernize — the school still rings a manual bell, for instance — but it’s not necessary, she said.

A sale would be contingent on the Christian school’s ability to build a new school in an equally central property, she said.

The Christian school’s leadership is considering the offer because they want to make a decision that’s good for all of the community’s children.

“My kids have never gone to a different school,” said Robert Ralphs, Oak Harbor Christian School board of trustees president.

“Families have poured their lives into this school. The magnitude of this decision is big. We want to be collaborative and find the best solution.”

Ralphs said parents are torn between the opportunity of building a new school and staying with a home location that’s served the school well for decades.

The school is located on 4.75 acres off East Whidbey Avenue. The campus consists of four buildings, two parking lots, paved play areas and grass play fields.

The school district hired a Seattle architectural firm to assess upgrades needed to turn the Christian school into a kindergarten center or a space for the district’s HomeConnection program, which allows home-schooled children to attend public schools part time.

The firm found that the newest building on campus is ready to be occupied but three other buildings need significant electrical and mechanical upgrades.

The firm estimates the campus would need $3.8 million in work.

Island County lists the assessed value of the property at $2.5 million.

Oak Harbor School District added 12 portable classrooms and wants to add 23 more.

The school district owns land off Fort Nugent Road, but building a new school would cost far more than buying the Christian school and remodeling it, said Gary Wallin, a school board member.

“Of all the options this is by far the least expensive,” he said.

It’s also the fastest.

If this option doesn’t work, the district could add modular buildings to existing schools. But that comes with other problems. Common spaces, such as the cafeteria and bathrooms, become overwhelmed by too many students.

Clover Valley Elementary is not an option. The space is already used by 400 students involved in the district’s HomeConnection program and an early childhood development program.