Stonington — The K-12 School Building Committee reached consensus Wednesday night on a plan to upgrade the town’s  aging elementary schools that would cost taxpayers approximately $45 million after state reimbursement.

Committee Chairman Rob Marseglia said members will wait to formally recommend the option until they have finalized the cost estimates and gauged the support of town and school officials and residents.  If the committee receives that support, he said it will proceed with recommending a referendum vote this spring. That will allow the town to apply for state reimbursement before the July 1 deadline.

The plan supported by the committee calls for renovating and expanding Deans Mill and West Vine Street schools, closing 115-year-old West Broad Street School,  moving the school administration building to a location to be determined, expanding the gyms and installing central air conditioning in the elementary schools and repairing the roofs at Mystic and Pawcatuck middle schools.

Marseglia said the plan was in line with the committee’s guiding principle of making sure the project would still be viable 50 years from now while not having to come back to residents in few years to ask for more space.

He said the plan would also return the fifth grade from the middle school to better align with the curriculum and would provide the town with ample classroom space for the future, unlike the other options.

“It just makes sense,” he said.

In addition, Marseglia said a suggestion by First Selectman George Crouse to use West Broad Street School for a Town Hall annex and possibly house the school administration offices,  would allow the school, which has sentimental value to many Pawcatuck residents, to remain viable.

By coming to a consensus on the plan, the committee rejected the option favored by school officials. That calls for building a new middle school, renovating the existing middle schools for elementary school use while closing the three elementary schools and the school administration building.

Not only would that project cost $90 million after state reimbursement, Marseglia said it would not be large enough to accommodate future growth in student population.

Superintendent of Schools Van Riley has said the project would save $10 million in operating costs over the 20 years the town would pay off the debt but would also avoid the eventual cost of renovating the middle schools.

It is estimated that if the town does nothing, it would cost $25 million over the next 20 years to make repairs to the schools.

j.wojtas@theday.com

@joewojtas