The team seeking to redevelop the former K2 manufacturing site into a community-oriented complex proposed that it become the new home to Vashon High School.

At a brief presentation before the school district’s board of directors Thursday, Truman O’Brien and Dick Sontgerath, partners in the for-profit venture, said the high school could have 92,000 square feet of completely refurbished space for $40 million, far less than the costs of building a new high school at the current campus.

The board recently agreed to a $70 million cap for a complete campus makeover, funded by way of a voter-approved bond, much of which could go towards improving or rebuilding the high school. The actual costs of the proposed makeover, once the district completes its analysis, could prove to be considerably less, board members say.

But Sontgerath told the board that he thought the actual amount it might have to spend on a new high school could be as much as $80 million and that the board would have to deal with a much more complicated situation — multiple buildings rather than the simplicity of everything under one roof at K2 Commons, the name the developers have dubbed their ambitious project.

“We call you when we’re done,” said Sontgerath, “and you move in.”

Sontgerath’s comment, however, was met with skepticism by superintendent Terry Lindquist.

“It is not as simple as it looks. I would have to discuss it with with our bond advisers and with risk management,” he said, referring to Northwest Securities, which advises the district bond issues, and the state risk management pool, which sets requirements for district legal liability.

Lindquist also said he would need to research whether the law about fair bidding for construction projects would get in the way of a move to K2 and whether the use of state capital matching funds might be negated if the district did not own its whole facility outright.

Board members also expressed some doubts about the proposal.

“I’m trying to be open-minded, but I’m pretty skeptical,” said board Chair Bob Hennessey, who toured the facility two weeks ago with Lindquist and board member Dan Chasan. “It’s hard to overcome the basic economics of abandoning buildings the taxpayers already own in favor of a building three-quarters of a mile away, renovating it and then providing bus service for students who need to go to football practice.”

Board member Kathy Jones, noting that the district is already on a fast-track to get its proposal finalized in time for either a November 2008 or February 2009 vote on a bond issue, said the K2 proposal could throw a wrench into the process.

“The idea is so unconventional that it might be difficult to get community support within the timeframe,” she said.

Sontgerath and O’Brien, in a brief interview Monday, said they realized after Thursday’s presentation that the board probably would not support the plan and that, in fact, they saw reasons it might not work as well. Waiting until February to determine the results of a bond issue, for instance, could be very difficult for their redevelopment timeline, they said.

“Our main concern is offering space to the community. The high school is in terrible shape, so just move the darn thing over to K2,” O’Brien said. “But that, of course, would intrude on some of our other plans. And some of those plans appear to be coming together.”

Asked to elaborate on those plans, O’Brien added, “We’re not quite ready to go there. It would be premature.”

Were the district to go with O’Brien and Sontgerath’s K2 proposal, it would entail, among other things, transforming the high school’s A Building, its largest structure, into a $1 million education/arts center that would continue to be used as a theater. The rest of the space would be leased out to private schools — O’Brien mentioned The Harbor School as a possible candidate — or other nonprofits.

O’Brien added that the A Building would still be available to the high school and the community as it is now, for theater productions, as would the gym for the usual high school uses.

The current high school gym and athletic fields would each be improved, said Sontgerath, again with about $1 million, to be spent on such items as a synthetic track, new grandstands and new fields.

In addition, Sontgerath and O’Brien’s plan would create a separate commercial athletic complex that would include the current King County swimming pool and three tennis courts under a roof.

There has been a longtime desire on the part of many Islanders to put a roof over the pool.

Board member Laura Wishik said she would need more information before she could agree to K2 Commons’ request to begin a 45-day due diligence period to scope out what could in fact be done. That would involve meetings with district staff, architects, teachers, students, parents and the community, Sontgerath said.

The board agreed that more information was needed and asked Lindquist to investigate some of the concerns he raised and others raised and report back to the board at its April 3 meeting.

The K2 building, a 180,000-square-foot structure and the largest commercial building on the Island, went on the market last fall, after K2 moved all of its work force to other parts of the region.

In December, Sontgerath and O’Brien announced plans to redevelop the site into a condominium-style commecial facility, housing everything from the Vashon Health Center to Island nonprofits to a recreational center.