East Lyme — The Board of Education voted 7-2 Monday to endorse a plan to renovate Niantic Center School, build a new Flanders Elementary School and close the Lillie B. Haynes School.

As a solution to the district's aging elementary schools, the Elementary Schools Design Steering Committee had recommended last month a proposal to demolish and build a new Flanders Elementary School, as well as completely renovate and expand Niantic Center School with a new gymnasium and two-story addition. The total estimated cost to the town would be $66,919,531, after state reimbursement.

Under the plan, the Lillie B. Haynes building would be returned to the town, but the district would propose continuing to use space within the building for LEARN offices, Creative Playschool and Coastal Connections, a high-school program.

In its vote, the board gave the Elementary Design Steering Committee the go-ahead to plan the project. The planning will include preparing for a town referendum vote, likely this spring, by developing specific plans with an architect, submitting documents for reimbursement to the state and working with the town's boards of selectmen and finance.

In their discussion Monday, several school board members acknowledged the difficulty of closing one of the town's three elementary schools. But they said the declining enrollment projections from a board-commissioned demographic study, as well as the higher costs of renovating three schools, led them to choose the two-school option.

"It's been tough data to break down, and a hard decision to make," said board member Robert Kupis. "We'd love to keep all the schools, but when you look at all the data, it was hard for us to support that."

But board member Candice Carlson said it was clear to her that the majority of people that had attended community forums wanted to keep three schools, and she said the school district could find creative ways to use the space.

"I believe we could redistrict and bring new programs into our elementary schools and invest in our education. I think that closing a door to this, you can't go back," Carlson said, adding that the town's enrollment numbers historically have gone up and down.

Marlene Nickerson, Pamela Rowe, Jaime Barr Shelburn, Al Littlefield, Barbara Senges, Robert Kupis and Tim Hagen voted in favor of the option which will create two schools that could hold 400 students each, while Jill Carini and Candice Carlson opposed. Joseph Arcarese was not present.

If residents approve the plan at a referendum this spring, construction could begin on Niantic Center and Flanders Elementary in July 2016, according to a preliminary timeline from the design committee.

In response to a question from the board about potential staff reductions due to the consolidation, Superintendent of Schools James Lombardo said there would be planning time for administrators to assess the situation, but the district anticipates that three years from now, some positions could no longer be needed. For example, he said the district may then hire fewer custodians, since it would maintain less space and newer buildings.

He said the district and school board would have plenty of time to discuss additional staffing questions - for example, if the elementary schools would need the same number of librarians or technology consultants.

k.drelich@theday.com

Twitter: @KimberlyDrelich