Groton - Superintendent Michael Graner outlined the latest plan for a new middle school on the Merritt property next to Robert E. Fitch High School for the Town Council on Monday.

The proposed three-story middle school would house about 900 students in grades 6 through 8, and have an entrance off Fort Hill Road. The property would include four playing fields - two rectangular fields including one with artificial turf, a softball field and a baseball field. Graner presented the plans during a joint meeting of the council and Groton Board of Education.

The fields are a key part of the plan, according to town officials, because Groton has a shortage of playing fields and councilors recently heard a plan to use the same property for recreation. Graner said he believes both can be woven together.

If playing fields are build as part of a school plan, the town will also get state reimbursement for a portion of their costs, he said.

Councilor Bruce Flax said if the plans could address the need for a new school and more playing fields, "I think it's a home run."

The middle school would be about 500 feet north of Fitch High School at its farthest point, so students and teachers would be able to walk back and forth, Graner said. For example, teachers with small, advanced math classes at the high school could also teach at the middle school, providing a more efficient use of staff, Graner said.

"I actually think the movement between the two schools would be more teachers moving than students moving," he said.

The middle school would include a 350-seat lecture hall rather than an auditorium, with a divider down the center. Building a lecture hall rather than auditorium allow for more state reimbursement, and students could use the high school auditorium if they needed one, Graner said.

The committee charged with assembling the school plans - the School Facilities Initiative Task Force - meets next at 6:30 p.m. on Dec. 11 in the Town Hall Annex, and has invited the Town Council, Board of Education and members of Representative Town Meeting to attend.

Task force members may also reach out youth sports leagues to explain the plan and seek their support.

"We all need to get on the same page at some point," Town Manager Mark Oefinger said.

The proposal is part of a larger plan to address racial imbalance and aging schools by building one middle school, converting Carl C. Cutler and West Side middle schools into elementary schools for students in grades pre-kindergarten to 5, and closing Pleasant Valley, S.B. Butler and Claude Chester elementary schools.

The council and RTM would have to approve the middle school plan before it could be sent to voters at referendum. It does not yet have an estimated cost.

d.straszheim@theday.com

Twitter: @DStraszheim