This month the Seattle School Board is scheduled to make a decision on one of its most controversial capital projects to date, and hundreds of stakeholders have weighed in with opinions across the board.

The board is scheduled to vote at its regular Feb. 27 meeting on whether Denny Middle School and Chief Sealth High should remain on separate campuses or co-locate. (Editor's Note: See Denny Principal Jeff Clark's op-ed piece in Interact/Opinion.)

So far, the district is moving forward with the $125 million capital project that would rebuild Denny next to Sealth and make major structural and safety upgrades to the high school. But it all hinges on whether or not the School Board decides to go with one of two other options now on the table.

More than 150 people came to a public meeting last week at Sealth to hear the alternatives. One choice mirrors the current plan, but puts another $10 million into the pot for additional upgrades to Sealth that include various interior and exterior improvements.

A third option is to keep the schools where they are and give Denny a full rebuild. But Sealth would only receive basic safety upgrades and the project would go another $15 million over budget, according to the district.

No one will say where the extra funding would come from or whether or not it could even be acquired.

About $2 million has already been spent on designing the plan voters approved a year ago as part of a $490 million bond.

At last week's meeting, several people said the public engagement process seemed a little late in the game. West Seattle's School Board member Steve Sundquist, who was elected after voter's approved the project, acknowledged the public input process was "probably too quick," but reminded at that time, the district was wrapping up another controversial issue, school closures.

In an interview after last week's meeting, he said there's a willingness to further vet the project because the district recognizes the process was rushed. Though Sundquist said he wasn't ready to announce his choice for resolution, he's confident the board will be ready to make a decision by the end of the month.

"I think the process has been productive and helpful over the last few months," Sundquist said. "I feel like the process is working like it's supposed to."

Hundreds of comments have been collected from the community, as well as several stakeholder groups, and will be presented to the board to help inform their decision. Among those comments is a resolution drafted by the Seattle teachers union, the Seattle Education Association.

President Wendy Kimball said the teachers union favors an option that would keep the campuses separate.

"Our resolution is dealing with concerns about the process and what co-location means," Kimball said.

She said not enough "authentic" public involvement was conducted, nor did voters have a full understanding of the implications of a shared campus model.

A voter's guide that was distributed to 45,000 households by the district did describe a combined campus. Official King County voter language, however, stated the bonds would be used "to fund the renovation or replacement of four high schools, two middle schools, and one K-8 school..."

Ed Peters chairs the Building Excellence III Programs Oversight Committee, which oversees the completion of the district's capital projects. His committee submitted a letter to the board suggesting the district stick to the current plan but add more money for improvements to Sealth since the high school wouldn't be on any list to receive upgrades until at least 2024.

Peters, director of capital projects for the Edmonds School District, said the committee couldn't make recommendations on the academic merits of the project, but scrapping the design work already done and delaying the project to redesign Denny would have "very serious financial consequences" in terms of spending power.

Plus, Sealth would get even less than what's offered now, he said.

The completion schedule stays the same under both joint campus plans; construction would begin this summer and end in August 2011. A delay of one to two years is expected for separate campuses, and the district is predicting construction costs to escalate by 29 percent.

People at last week's meeting grew frustrated that after splitting into groups to comment on the proposals, none of their questions were answered. Instead, questions and concerns were read back to the larger audience.

Facilitators said answers and comments would be posted on the district's Web site before the end of this week.

Among the major concerns: Some feel there are no clear academic benefits to co-joining the campuses. If only improvements are made to Sealth now, in 25 to 30 years, after other high schools have their turn at a rebuild, Sealth could end up the only high school in the district not to have been renovated.

While Denny staff has stayed relatively quiet, Sealth faculty has come out in the majority against it.

The idea has also been widely shot down by Sealth students. Last month, the student newspaper featured a front-page article in opposition of a shared campus.

Sealth's principal John Boyd has spoken out recently that though he's not opposed to a shared-campus model, he is now open to the alternative options laid out by the district.

"The reduction of the scope of this project as set forth in (the current plan) is not what I supported initially and brought forth to the community," Boyd wrote in a letter to the community.

Chief Academic Officer Carla Santorno told the community last week that research shows there are academic benefits to co-location, such as planned collaboration among teachers and students. However, she didn't cite any specific studies.

Santorno tried to assuage safety concerns by emphasizing that any interaction between the two schools would be "planned and intentional." She also stressed that school administration would be in charge of deciding how much or how little interaction there would be between the two age groups.

"This is a journey and we don't know all the turns..." Santorno said. "But it's a journey we have to complete together. Nothing is so fixed that we can't have a really good trip along the way."

The School Board will discuss this project at 6:30, Feb. 13 at its headquarters; John Stanford Center, 2445 3rd Ave. S. Watch live on cable channel 26. Submit comments to the board by phone or email; 252-0040, http://www.seattleschools.org/area/board/contact.xml.

Rebekah Schilperoort may be reached at 783.1244 or rebekahs@robinsonnews.com