The Oak Harbor School Board unanimously agreed Monday night to move forward with a plan to create an intermediary school for fifth and sixth graders.

That option emerged as the quickest and most affordable solution to deal with an expected swell of incoming Navy families with young children.

Beginning in fall 2017, Oak Harbor Middle School will serve fifth and sixth graders while seventh and eighth graders will attend North Whidbey Middle School.

At the moment, both middle schools serve children in sixth through eighth grades.

“The reality is, I don’t know what else we can do,” said board member Corey Johnson. “I feel like we’ve looked at every possible option. As a board member, the best thing we can do is help (the district) march forward.”

He and other officials said the district should be building a new school, but the money isn’t available and the district can’t wait three years for new classrooms.

Oak Harbor School District has the highest number of full-time elementary students on record, with more coming in the next few years. On top of that, state lawmakers reduced class sizes and added full-day kindergarten, creating the need for more elementary school classrooms and teachers.

District officials examined a number of options, including building a new school, adding more portables, buying the Oak Harbor Christian School and sending children to school in shifts.

They’re already using 18 portable classrooms and plan to add 10 more this year. At some point, all those portables crowd too many children into common facilities like bathrooms, cafeterias and hallways.

The district asked staff and parents for feedback on the plan and received more than 500 responses — about two-thirds of them from parents.

The majority of respondents — 78 percent — rated the solution as “excellent” or “good.” Respondents raised concerns about transportation issues such as bus rides and start times, the impact on teachers and the transition for students.

Some people also expressed concerns that fifth graders might not be developmentally ready for a different school model.

One mother told the board her family bought a home on the west side of town so their children could attend Hillcrest Elementary School and Oak Harbor Middle School, and the change will cause upheaval for her family. Kindergarten students at Hillcrest this year are already sent to Oak Harbor Elementary to deal with crowding at that school.

Board president Christine Abbott said she was pummeled with emails from parents who thought she and the board were making decisions with only money in mind and not the best interests of children. That’s far from the case, she said.

“My own kids are invested in this,” she said. “I have two kids … one will do fine and one will likely struggle. I’m hearing you and what you are saying.”

Some people raised questions and suggestions in the survey that indicate there is some confusion about what the school district can and cannot do.

People wondered, for instance, why the district can’t “re-open” Clover Valley Elementary or force the federal government to pay for a new school.

Clover Valley, for instance, already is open and serves 400 students in early childhood and HomeConnection programs for homeschooled children to attend public schools.

The district does receive impact aid from the federal government but it’s used for daily operating costs and it’s about half of what it was not long ago. Getting the federal government to bump up that aid is a bit like squeezing water from a rock.

District officials have hired lobbyists at the state and federal level without much results.

In a memo to district employees, Superintendent Lance Gibbon said the district plans to double down on those efforts.

The district created a “frequently asked questions” memo that answers a range of questions about the decision. That document is available at the district’s website at www.ohsd.net