Architects presented the district’s proposed building project containing a price tag of nearly $28 million, but Board of Education members are likely to pare down that figure.
The project would include renovations at all of the district’s schools and a new athletic fi eld with artificial turf.

Board members expressed concern about the price, including President Margaret Smith who said the country’s deteriorating fi - nancial situation weighed heavily on her mind.

“It’s definitely got to be in our thinking when we think about the scope of what we’re going to be able to do,” she said.

The board said the cost estimates included renovation of the district office, which they had already decided to leave out. That is about a $750,000 expense.

To save money, the board discussed expanding the current high school library into the courtyard and renovating the existing art classrooms as an alternative to the current plan to relocate the library to the art classrooms and renovate the present library as art space. The architects are going to determine the cost of that option and come back at the next meeting on Monday at 7 p.m. at Glendaal Elementary School.

The board wants to define the scope of the project so it can be put to a referendum, which is tentatively set for Dec. 9.

Superintendent Susan Swartz said the board must determine the project scope by late October to hold the December referendum.

John Jojo, an associate with Mosiac Associates Architects, attributed the rising cost to the size of the project, which has increased from what the board had initially considered.