Groton - Removing asbestos, fixing the parking problem at Mary Morrisson Elementary School and planning school construction should be top priorities for capital spending in the coming fiscal year, a Board of Education subcommittee decided Monday.

The spending recommendation - a little more than

$1 million - will now go to the Board of Education for a vote and then the town.

School officials had initially suggested about $3.4 million in capital projects - all as top priorities - including money for schools expected to be torn down later.

Then last week, Town Manager Mark Oefinger urged the school board to review its list. If every project is a priority, the Representative Town Meeting may conclude that none are really priorities and reject them all, Oefinger said.

Superintendent Michael Graner presented the revised list Monday. The request includes $785,000 to remove asbestos from Fitch High School and Claude Chester Elementary School. It would also spend $100,000 to develop plans to remove asbestos at S.B. Butler Elementary School, Carl C. Cutler and West Side middle schools, and the district administration building.

Groton is working on a long-term plan for its schools that would build one middle school, convert its two middle schools to elementary schools, and close three older elementary schools. Even though Claude Chester and S. B. Butler schools are slated for closure under that plan, the state will help pay to remove asbestos, Graner said.

"The state has an interest in cleaning up a code violation, so they'll pay for it anyway," he said. Graner estimated reimbursement of 53 percent.

The school board committee also recommended spending $80,000 to draw up plans to reconfigure the driveway and parking area at Mary Morrisson. The school and parking lot are situated so school buses and cars use the same entrance, creating a bottleneck and safety hazard for children, according to school officials.

The proposed spending also includes $75,000 for long-term school planning, Graner said.

Other earlier projects, such as design plans to correct fire code deficiencies at S.B. Butler and Claude Chester are still in the proposed budget, but are listed as a lower priority.

d.straszheim@theday.com

Twitter: @DStraszheim