Regional School Unit 5 officials will be busy on two important fronts this week, narrowing down the list for a new superintendent and continuing to plan for a renovated Freeport High School.

It all begins at 8 a.m. at Freeport High School on Wednesday, Feb. 4, as the Freeport High School Building Advisory Committee studies a schematic plan from PDT Architects of Portland. RSU 5 hopes to begin a $14.6 million renovation and addition to the school this summer.

On the superintendent front, the RSU 5 Board of Directors meets on both Wednesday and Thursday, at 5:30 p.m., at the Central Office. In both meetings, the board plans to enter into executive session to interview candidates for superintendent. Bill Michaud and Mike Lafortune are co-superintendents for this school year only, and the board hopes to select a permanent superintendent sometime in March.

“Steps toward selecting the new superintendent will then be decided,” said board Chairman Nelson Larkins of Freeport.

Owing to inflation, the Building Advisory Committee must identify about $680,000 in savings from the $14.6 million bond approved in November 2013. The money was not available while Freeport negotiated withdrawal from RSU 5. During its last meeting, the committee expressed concern that replacement of the roof over the original 1961 portion of the school might need to be eliminated. Architects are evaluating the scope of the roof job, and will prepare cost estimates for the committee to review.

Committee member Kate Brown of Pownal, the school board vice chairwoman, said that the roof replacement had been part of a previous capital budget, but the board switched it to the renovation plan. The committee has found some savings here and there, such as curtailing plans for parking lot improvements.

“What we need to find out in the next phase is if we have saved enough money,” Brown said. “I’m not sure we’ll have the numbers yet for the next meeting.”

Dennis Ouellette, director of operations for RSU 5, said that the original estimate for the roof replacement was $250,000 a few years back.

“It hasn’t gone out to bid yet, so we don’t know what it would be now,” Ouellette said.

Ouellette said that the old roof is nearing its end.

“It’s at the end of its lifespan and we tend to get leaks now and again,” he said. “It may go back up on the capital plan. That would delay it for at least a year, I would think.”