SETI Architects (appearing as the second finalist) told the Port Angeles School District its proposal centers on detailed educational specifications, strengthened tribal partnerships and measurable sustainability goals, and described a two- or three-bid phased approach intended to meet a June 2029 completion target.

Jordan Keel, managing principal, said the firm specializes in comprehensive high-school projects and emphasized a structured, inclusive Ed Specs process. “It's really difficult to overstate the importance of a really well put together set of educational specifications for a project, particularly a large complex complex project like a high school,” Keel said. SETI outlined a listening-driven programming phase that would gather input from students, staff, community groups and district maintenance staff to produce a program that the team said would guide scope, size and budget choices.

SETI presented multiple programming case studies, including Highline and Fairview, to show how early scope choices and reuse of existing building fabric can save money while preserving community character. The firm described pairing detailed cost-model exercises with contractor partners to test alternate building solutions; Keel showed studies from other projects where different schematic options produced multimillion-dollar cost variance for the same program.

Tribal relationships and cultural stewardship were a clear focus. The team said it reviewed the district’s memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Lower Elwha Klallam (referred to as a local tribe in the interview) and proposed tangible ways to integrate tribal stewardship: using locally harvested trees for entry columns, incorporating tribal artwork through an RFP process and landscape features such as a group of nine canoes representing ancestral communities. SETI also cited curricular partnerships — for example, native-plant instruction tied to landscape design — as concrete programming options.

On sustainability, SETI noted prior projects that achieved LEED Gold and described rainwater-capture strategies that, in one cited support-services project, “saved nearly a million dollars, of water for the district for a year.” The team proposed early engagement with permitting staff and stormwater reviewers, and advised that large engineered stormwater systems often proceed more quickly through review than many small, piecemeal submissions.

The SETI team recommended a two-bid-package schedule that would accelerate an initial, smaller construction package while the larger follow-up documents are completed; the firm said that approach could add four to five months of construction time relative to a single large bid package and thereby improve constructability and reduce schedule risk. The firm also described strategies for occupied-site construction, including separating public events from classroom circulation, providing temporary utilities and planning turnovers around school calendars.

SETI’s presentation included in-house technical staffing and named consultants for acoustics, theater design and structural engineering, and emphasized that the firm would use the Ed Specs to control the overall budget and scope. The presenters said they would coordinate closely with a GCCM partner and the district’s capital team to seek local subcontractor participation during procurement.

No selection was recorded at the meeting. District staff repeatedly told the board the next procedural step is to rank the two finalists; following a selecting majority the district will begin contract negotiations with the top-ranked firm.