The Lyme-Old Lyme Board of Education voted Monday to approve a $695,000 contract for the construction of a new roof at the Lyme Consolidated School, a project part of the school district's five-year facilities capital improvement plan.

Construction to replace the elementary school's slate roof will begin the week after school ends in June and occur over the summer. Replacement of the building's cupola with a fiberglass replica may be completed past the summer, said John Rhodes, the district's director of facilities and technology.

The project will encompass placing commercial-grade asphalt shingles on the steep slope of the roof, said Rhodes. A PVC-covering will be placed on the flat roof, he said.

Rhodes told the board that the slate used on the roof was the best technology available at the time of the roof's construction, but materials used today on roofs are more water-resistant and durable.

The Facilities Committee had recommended the board award the construction contract to A. Secondino & Son, Inc. of Branford, which Rhodes said was qualified and the lowest bidder. The budgeted amount for the construction project was $785,000, so the construction component is $90,000 under that.

The school board voted in January to approve a total of $961,023 for the entire project, including architectural fees, according to meeting minutes.

- Kimberly Drelich