Stonington - After two public forums and years of discussion by town and school officials, the proposed options for upgrading the town's aging elementary schools and their costs are expected to be revealed at a Jan. 27 public forum.

The forum will most likely be held at 7 p.m. in the high school commons.

K-12 School Building Committee Chairman Rob Marseglia said Wednesday that "depending on land development costs, building costs, and operating cost savings when buildings are eliminated" the architectural firm that designed the options may be able "to recommend one option that is right for Stonington."

But he added the cost of such an option "would have to be significantly better than other options" for Drummey, Rosane, Anderson Inc., to recommend one option at this time.

Residents will be able to comment on the options at the forum. Marseglia said the K-12 School Building Committee ultimately will decide on the option to present to voters, "but we will use DRA's vast experience to guide our conversations through the decision-making process."

The committee is expected to spend a few meetings discussing which option to recommend to the town. The committee's plan is for the town to hold a referendum vote late in the winter to approve funding for the project. This would give the town time to prepare and submit an application for partial state reimbursement by the June 2015 deadline.

The options range from doing nothing to building a new school, and involve a school system with as many as the current seven buildings to as few as four.

Two of the most discussed options have been closing West Board Street School and renovating and expanding West Vine Street and Deans Mill schools, or building a new middle school for students in grades 6-8 behind the high school and having the elementary students attend Mystic and Pawcatuck middle schools.

This would allow the town to close the three elementary schools and the school administration building. The second plan is favored by the school board.

At the November and December forums, more than 100 residents commented on topics such as the different sites and facilities, contemporary early childhood education programming, trends including demographics and enrollments, and the issues and needs of students.

No cost estimates are available yet for the options, but town and school officials have informally mentioned a price tag in the $40 million to $60 million range. That cost could be partially offset not just by state reimbursement but through the sale or lease of closed schools and savings from maintaining fewer buildings.

j.wojtas@theday.com

Twitter: @joewojtas