The board of education approved the scope of the project Thursday night during its regular business meeting and set a date for the referendum on the $7.78 million project, which will have an estimated impact on the tax levy of slightly more than one-half of one percent or about $23,107 per year over the 15-year life of the project.

Estimates provided by one of the project’s engineers call for approximately $30,000 per year in savings brought about by energy efficiency improvements included in the project, reducing the annual impact from $53,107 to the $23,107 figure.

The board and about 15 district residents were presented information on the potential project at the meeting by the Community Advisory Council, school administrators and engineers.

The work breaks down into three major components: space reconfiguration, building systems maintenance and upgrading and exterior site work.

Space reconfiguration is slated to cost $2.35 million and focuses on shuffling the library, classrooms and administrative offices for safety concerns and to improve office efficiency.

The crux of the reconfiguration comes with the construction of a second floor above the cafeteria, which would house an upgraded and expanded library, dubbed an "information commons."

Librarian Rhonda King said the current library media center encompasses 4,020 sq. feet, while the new information commons would expand to 6,600 sq. feet. They would be able to add a second computer lab with 25 stations, add a video studio with multimedia stations and add a bathroom to the library. King said currently, elementary school students have to leave the library to use a bathroom, an unsafe situation.

King said that in addition to improving the educational capabilities of the library, the move from its current location would centralize the library in the school building.

"The library will be the hub of the school," she said.

Moving the library frees up space so several classrooms located near the front entrance could be moved, said Bill Taylor, an architect working on the project. Administrative offices would then move to fill the spots vacated by the classrooms and locker rooms with outside access would be installed where the administrative offices had departed.

Superintendent Nicholas Savin said the consolidation and relocation of administrative offices was necessary to improve operational efficiency and to make the school’s main entrance more safe, as it would be structured so all visitors to the school entering during the day would have to go through the main office.

The building systems maintenance aspect of the project would cost $1.85 million and involves repairing or replacing some of the "nuts and bolts" elements in the school.

Director of maintenance George Hula said numerous items in the school were reaching the end of their useful lifespan and needed to be replaced.

Hula and engineer Brad Fisher talked about how replacing some things _ the temperature control system, the lighting fixtures and burners on the boilers _ would result in better energy efficiency, saving the district money and helping offset the cost of the project.

Fisher said the district uses 44,000 gallons of heating oil a year and 1 million gallons of water, so slight upgrades add up. He said conservative estimates put the savings at approximately $30,000 a year.

"We very much expect to get more than that however," he said.

Other items under the maintenance umbrella include fixing and replacing a roof that leaks in various places, upgrading roof insulation, upgrading fixtures in the bathrooms and locker rooms, adding fire doors that will close automatically if the alarm goes off and modifying locker rooms so they meet current safety codes.

The fire alarm system would also be upgraded to one that would identify and inform the fire department specifically in which room a fire was located, as opposed simply what wing.

The third component of the project, exterior site work, would cost $1.7 million. It includes replacing the pavement and reconfiguration of the parking area and student drop-off zone to enhance pedestrian and vehicle traffic flow.

In terms of improving academic excellence, work would be done to enhance and upgrade the science labs, expand the vocal and instrumental music areas and enhance and expand the projection booth in the auditorium.

Steve Schneider, vice president of the board, said the project would be funded at 98 percent building aid ratio, the highest allowed by law. He said they would be using $155,000 of the $470,000 made available through the Expanding Our ChildrenĘs Education and Learning (EXCEL) Capital Program.

When asked why they weren’t using all of the money by an audience member, district treasurer Victoria Gaughan explained that the legislation did not allow for that and because the district couldn’t pay for the project with 100 percent of the cost coming from the state.

"There’s always a local share," she said. Potentially, they could go back and use the rest of the money in an additional, smaller project.

Dave Edwards, who led the presentation and is a member of the CAC, said that while state money is still money coming from the taxpayers, he thought the small tax levy increase and local project cost was very reasonable.

"I doubt if there will ever be a better deal," he said.

After the presentation, several members of the public asked questions or commented on the project. Springfield resident David Staley asked that the board ensure that a level of oversight was in place to monitor construction, as some of the work done previously at the school has been less than satisfactory.

"Many things are failing prior to the 20 years," he said. He said there should be some legal recourse for things that fail in advance of their anticipated lifespan.

According to a proposed timeline provided at the meeting, construction would begin in April 2008 and be finished by August 2009 if the project is approved.