Vashon’s school district will take a hard look at its aging athletic facilities this winter with an eye toward asking voters to fund upgrades in about a year.

The Vashon Island School District recently began planning for a bond or levy package that will likely go on the ballot in February of 2016 and could include a combination of upgrades to Vashon High School’s track, field and gym, a replacement of the roof on McMurray Middle School or other improvements to the district’s campus.

Integrus Architecture, the company that designed the new high school building, has been hired by the district to carry out a detailed assessment of the remaining campus needs — which the district has dubbed Phase 2 — and create a master plan, estimating the costs of various capital projects.

“Phase 2 planning is going to be a complete look at what remains to be done for the entire campus,” said Superintendent Michael Soltman, “and the board is going to have to select priority projects out of the plan.”

The school district first asked voters to pay for upgrades to its athletic facilities in 2009, when a $75.5 million bond for a far-reaching rebuild of the high school building and athletic facilities failed at the polls. In 2011, a $3.5 million measure that would have replaced just the track and field also failed, while voters narrowly passed an accompanying $47.7 million bond to renovate the high school. The track and field portion garnered 56 percent of the vote, but fell short of the 60 percent supermajority required to pass.

Soltman said that while the measure failed, school officials, students and even community members are still concerned about the high school’s athletic facilities. The gym and stadium are both more than 50 years old and the field cannot handle year-round use. The track is full of puddles during the rainy season and is in such poor condition that the high school has been unable to host home track meets for several years.

“Virtually from the day we opened the high school, people have said, ‘When are we going to take care of the athletic facilities?’” Soltman said.

Before the district goes to voters again, they’ll rely on Integrus, which the district has contracted for $38,800, to report on the condition of the gym, field and track and to compare how the facilities meet the current needs of school programs and sports teams. Integrus will also analyze some other district buildings, including McMurray Middle School, where the roof is nearing the end of its life. It will also look at parking, traffic and storm water treatment at the high school, none of which were addressed with the construction of the new building.

“I think we need to keep examining what’s broken so we maintain our facilities well. We’ll put forward what are the highest priority projects,” said Bob Hennessey, a school board member and member of the executive committee for Phase 2 planning. The executive committee, which has already begun meeting with Integrus, also includes Soltman, school board member Dan Chasan, Facilities Director Dave Wilke, Capital Projects Manager Eric Gill and VHS Principal Danny Rock.

Meetings to gather feedback from school coaches and other school staff will begin this month, while meetings where community members and sports groups can give input will be mostly in the spring. A final report from Integrus that will detail the district’s options — for instance renovating or entirely rebuilding the gym, or installing a new grass or synthetic field — will come in the spring.

Chasan said he is looking forward to learning what needs are most pressing at the district’s campus and he hopes school officials will distinguish between needs and wants when deciding what will go before voters.

“If we conclude there is not a pressing need for some of this stuff, we might put it off,” he said.

The executive committee will make recommendations to the school board, which is expected to decide what projects it will put in a bond or levy package by this October.

“We’re not going to try to do everything,” said school board Chair Laura Wishik. “We’ll pick some of the things we think are more urgent. … From my perspective, it’s a matter of taking a step-by-step approach for replacing the facilities that are outdated and renovating the ones that can be renovated.”

Chasan said he is also concerned about asking taxpayers to cover too much and hopes to limit any bond or levy in 2016 to $10 million.

“I am personally very conservative about this stuff. In terms of what the district will do, I don’t know,” he said.

As for Hennessey, he said he would look to what options are most cost effective for the district but feels it is too soon to give a number. He did say he hopes any final proposal will include a new track, which is widely known as being in poor condition.

“We’re just going through the highest needs. What’s the most broken? And athletic facilities are certainly a part of what’s broken,” he said.

Soltman noted that while voters didn’t approve a new track and field in 2011, the measure did garner over half the vote, and some believe it would have passed had it not shared the ballot with the larger school construction bond.

“I think the proposal did appeal to voters last time, but the community wasn’t prepared to support both projects at once,” Soltman said. “I think there was a significant amount of support for the athletic facilities.”

A final report from Integrus is due in April. The school board is expected to discuss options for a bond or a levy — which is paid over a shorter amount of time than a bond — this summer, with a final vote in October.

Soltman noted there will be ample opportunity for community input before a package is finalized, though the board may wrestle over how much the school’s athletic facilities should cater to community sports.

“There’s a precedent for doing things not just for the schools,” Chasan said. “But there’s a clear distinction between what is needed for students and what the community will want.”