Stonington - The K-12 Building Committee has now discarded one of the sites it was considering if the board decides to recommend the town build a new middle school.

At a committee meeting this week, Chairman Rob Marseglia said members decided to no longer consider purchasing a parcel of land east of the high school on Route 1 because of concerns about the size, configuration and makeup of the land.

He said he is now setting up a meeting with town officials to see if the land behind the high school is a viable location for a middle school.

"We have to look at the deeds and see if there are any roadblocks," he said.

At Wednesday night's Board of Finance meeting, board member June Strunk said the owners of the Route 1 property did not want the committee to walk the site.

The committee is slated to hold the second of three public forums to get input from residents on Dec. 16 at 7 p.m. at the high school.

The architectural firm hired by the committee is using the comments it hears to help it come up with a variety of options and cost estimates for the committee.

While no decision has been made by the committee about what plan to recommend to voters, the school board has supported a plan that calls for building a new middle school, closing the elementary schools and school administration building, and moving students in kindergarten through grade 5 to the existing Mystic and Pawcatuck middle schools.

Others options could include renovating and expanding some or all of the elementary schools.

The committee would like to have an elementary school plan ready for a referendum vote in late winter. This would allow the town to prepare and submit an application for partial state reimbursement by the June deadline.

j.wojtas@theday.com

Twitter: @joewojtas