New London — The start of construction for the first of two new 6-12 magnet school campuses will be delayed by another year, architects working on the project announced Friday.

The $98 million north campus at New London High School initially was expected to start this year but the project has been plagued by delays due to the loss of millions in state funding and adjustments to its design in order to accommodate a shift in the number of students and magnet pathways between the two campuses.

The project manager estimates the city already has lost roughly $14 million because of cost escalations associated with the delays in the two construction projects.

The new proposed start date for the three-year north campus project will be the summer of 2019, though some type of work will have to start by June to satisfy the state Department of Administrative Services, which already granted the district a one-year extension, said Paul Antinozzi, president of Antinozzi Associates.

The school will be built in phases, since some of the construction will take place while students are in school.

Antinozzi presented a school building committee with conceptual plans of the north campus on Friday that drops added space that would have accommodated STEM magnet middle school students. In a departure from the 6-12 concept, the latest plan is to place those students where they are now, at the southern campus at Bennie Dover Jackson Middle School alongside a 6-12 leadership pathway.

The district recently has struggled to find a space for all of the projected 2,475 students, mostly because of the loss of a $31 million grant associated with the arts magnet pathway and a downtown campus in partnership with the Garde Arts Center.

The result is a scaled-back plan for the north campus, with a school population of about 1,500. Conceptual plans presented Friday show two major additions to New London High School that leave in place the existing STEM magnet high school but add space for arts and language and culture pathways. The entire existing school would be renovated to “like-new” condition.

The plans contain two additions, one four-story addition to match with the existing academic building and a one-story addition onto the existing auditorium. The plans call for a main entrance at the rear of the school, renovations to the existing auditorium and a new academic wing. The new school will have space for dance, band and choral studios, an expanded cafeteria and new classroom space, among other changes.

The new school also will contain men’s, women’s and varsity locker rooms.

“I think the school has really suffered from not meeting its Title 9 requirements. That will be reversed,” Antinozzi said.

The existing pool, which has been unused for years, would be filled in to create more space at the lower level of the school. A new pool, among other amenities, was removed from the school’s wish list because of costs.

“At this point, we feel pretty good about it,” Antinozzi said. “It meets the building programs we’re working on and, secondarily, it meets the budget.”

Since they are still in the conceptual stage, Antinozzi said many of the elements of the plans are subject to change. Details of programming at the school still are being worked out by school officials, so it is unclear how students from seven different grade levels would interact or be separated on the campus, something high school Principal Tommy Thompson said will be among the first questions from parents.

Kate McCoy, the school district’s executive director of strategic planning, said the district because of funding concerns was trying to ensure it has enough space to meet the needs of students.

“We are down to whether or not we can actually schedule the number of students into the space effectively to meet their educational needs,” she said.

The district, in addition to situating the magnet pathways, must consider state requirements on the percentage of out-of-district students in order to trigger additional state funding.

Board of Education member Mirna Martinez on Friday expressed frustration, shared by some school administrators, over the city’s rejection of a state offer to provide $17 million at a 95 percent reimbursement rate toward the school project.

Martinez said the city’s share would be about $850,000, something “worth it to get a $17 million investment.”

“I can’t imagine any other district saying, ‘No, don’t give us 95 percent reimbursement. We won’t take it,'" she said sarcastically.

Mayor Michael Passero defended his decision in an interview last week and said it would end up costing the city more than the 5 percent because the full $17 million would need to be borrowed and the project completed before the state would reimburse the city. He said he was unwilling to pass along any further potential tax rate hikes to taxpayers, increase the city’s debt service payments and potentially further delay the project.

Delays have cost the district roughly $14 million, said project consultant Diana McNeil, a senior project manager with the Capitol Region Education Council.

“The main issue everyone needs to understand is that the three grants were in your hands three years ago,” McNeil said. “In the pursuit of additional money, you’ve actually decreased your ability to purchase with your current grants. Time costs money. It’s important to move ahead.”

At this point, McNeil said any additional money would only serve to offset costs of the delays. It was in 2014 under a plan developed by Special Master Steven J. Adamowski, that voters in a citywide referendum approved a school construction bond authorization for up to $165 million. At an 80 percent reimbursement rate, city taxpayers were expected to spend $33 million.

But funding concerns now remain a major issue for the $49 million south campus at Bennie Dover Jackson Middle School. The district still awaits approval of funding from the state and even with approval, the money in unlikely to cover the costs of the additional space needed to accommodate 260 STEM middle school students moved from the north campus under the latest plan.

McNeil said the current application with the state envisions 700 students, not 960 students. The additional students would increase the size of the campus by 50,000 square feet and cost roughly $15 million.

“Something has to give. We can’t simply take 260 from the north campus and put them at the south campus,” McNeil said. “Therein lies the dilemma.”

g.smith@theday.com