North Stonington — The third proposed solution to upgrade the town's schools will be vetted by residents at two public hearings scheduled for Monday and Saturday.

The proposed project could eventually be voted on by residents at a referendum this spring.

The project aims to fix numerous problems at the elementary and middle/high school, including hazardous PCBs in the window and door caulking, insufficient science lab space as well as outdated heating and cooling systems.

Proposed changes to the current operation of the school include moving the sixth-grade students from the middle school to the elementary school and adding a central kitchen, building an addition onto the gymatorium to house the middle and high schools, ending the use of the tunnel under Route 2 and demolishing or leasing the current middle school space.

Renovating both schools would cost an estimated $38.1 million. The committee is counting on the state reimbursement that would leave taxpayers responsible for $21.2 million.

The proposal also comes as the emergency services building committee held its first public hearing on Jan. 30 for an additional $2.25 million funding request.

Two previous school projects, both costing more than $40 million, failed at the polls in 2014, with residents expressing concern about the potential 4.08-mill tax increase.

The Ad Hoc School Building Committee has been looking into a number of ways to save money on the project in recent months. When selectmen, school board and finance board members last met on Jan. 20, building committee members discussed alternative construction methods. These included a system for bidding on construction materials and modular construction, which would cut the time spent constructing the building.

The committee also made the case that the school renovation will provide an economic benefit to the town. Committee member Mike Anderson linked building projects with higher property values.

Mike Urgo, chairman of the Ad Hoc School Building Committee, said that the committee met on Feb. 3 with representatives of LEARN and an architectural engineer about potentially leasing the old middle school space, which the committee determined would be too costly to renovate. LEARN, a regional education service center based in OLd Lyme, has expressed interest in the middle school space.  

Initially, there was some concern about leasing the property to third parties due to the deed restriction on the property – given by the Wheeler Library to be used for secondary education – however Urgo said the committee was in discussion with the library about finding a solution.

"They seemed to have real interest," Urgo said of LEARN. "They should be able to give us a better idea in the next 30 days so that is exciting."

The public hearings will take place Monday at 7 p.m. and Saturday, Feb. 13, at 1 p.m. in the Elementary School Multi-Purpose Room.

n.lynch@theday.com

@_nathanlynch