The Cooperstown Central School Board plans to hold a work session next week to review the progress of its Capital Project.

The school board will review the findings of the Capital Project Steering Committee during the work session, said school Superintendent Mary Jo McPhail.

McPhail said the school board will go through the recommendations made by the Steering Committee and decide what action to take next.

"The Board will give serious and close consideration to the recommendations [made by the Steering Committee]," McPhail said. "The Board is very vested in using the input from the committee."

McPhail said the work session will serve as a forum for discussing the progress and goals of the Capital Project, in preparation for the next upcoming school board meeting.

"The Board's goal is to reach closure on determining the scope of the Capital Project," McPhail said.

Last month, the steering committee revised and finalized most of its recommendations for the proposed capital project for the district, cutting the projected cost of the project down to $17.2 million from $19 million.

The steering committee was formed to discuss the viability of possible renovations to the elementary, middle and high school. It assessed the impact of the project renovations on students' benefits and safety while also weighing the costs of those improvements.

At the elementary school, the steering committee recommended renovating the school parking lot and adding a bus loop. It also recommended renovating the main, nurse's and faculty offices, as well as the library, gymnasium, locker rooms, and stage area.

At the middle/high school, science classrooms, the nurse's office, the principal's office and the guidance office also needed renovating, according to the steering committee. Though a final plan for updating the bus garage was not decided on, the steering committee agreed it needed work as well.

The steering committee voted to remove the construction of a press box, concession stand, and bathrooms from the project, but recommended to the board that money be set aside for a new entrance canopy and lobby at the middle/high school. It also recommended to the board that miscellaneous renovations be done to the infrastructure of both schools.

School Board President Keith Additon said he hopes the meeting will bring all the members of the board up to speed with the recommendations of the steering committee.

Looking to the future, Addition said the board is trying to "sift out a plan for the Capital Project which can then be brought in front of the voters."

Though Wednesday's work session is not a typical school board meeting, both Additon and McPhail said, the public is welcome to attend.

The work session will take place at 5 p.m. in the middle/high school cafeteria.