The San Juan Island School District Board of Directors will postpone the decision on the sixth grade’s move from the Friday Harbor Elementary School to Friday Harbor Middle School until the April 26 regular school board meeting.

At the Jan. 18 special school board meeting and public hearing, the elementary school staff favored the move in a presentation including supportive research in pedagogy and issues of crowding at the school. The board requested information on the impact to the 2017-18 school year budget before making a final decision. The decision process is compounded by the uncertainty of state funding to be received by the district in the next two years. Additional information is needed for district staff to provide a clear financial projection to the board.

If there are further delays by the state legislature in approving a state budget, this decision may be pushed back to a May special board meeting.