SACO — The School Board will factor in recentlycompiled results from a survey regarding a new Young Elementary School when deciding on a proposal to replace the facility.

The current Young School building at 36 Tasker St. is a modular-style building constructed more than a decade ago as a temporary fix after mold issues caused the previous building to be destroyed.

School officials are looking to replace the building, and two proposals are currently being reviewed.

One proposal would refurbish and expand Gov. John Fairfield Elementary School and replace Young Elementary School, with the newly renovated Fairfield School housing about 330 pre-kindergarten through second grade students and the new Young School housing about 370. This proposal is estimated to cost about $21.5 million.

A second proposal would build one larger school to replace the two schools. Under this proposal, a new school would be built behind the Kimball Health Center on Lincoln Street, housing about 700 pre-kindergarten through second grade students. The cost, which includes acquisition of land, is estimated to be about $27.8 million.

This proposal to consolidate the schools does not consider what would happen to the Fairfield School building, said Superintendent of Schools Dominic DePatsy at Wednesday night’s school board meeting. One possibility is that it could house the district’s central office and adult education program, consolidating the two into one building, he said.

Should the board approve the one-building proposal, a traffic study would be conducted.

Although the price tag for the one-building option is significantly more than the two-building option, school officials say that annual operation and maintenance costs for one new, larger school building would be about $300,000 a year less than for the combined costs for a new Young School and renovated Fairfield School.

The School Board will vote on a proposal in December, which will then be voted on by residents at a June referendum for final approval, said DePatsy.

The School Board briefly reviewed a recent online survey sent out to staff and parents, and earlier this week given to voters at the polls.

The total amount of staff, parents and general community members surveyed was 1,027. Of these, 554 polled, or 54 percent, were in favor of the proposal that would create one school to replace the two existing schools.

Looking at just the staff numbers, of the 62 school department employees that took the survey, 33 polled, or 53 percent, were in favor of the option that would replace Young School and refurbish and expand the existing Fairfield School.

Survey results can be found online at http://sacoschools.org.

School Board Chairman Kevin Lafortune said the survey was a way for the board to gather information from the community before it makes its decision.

“It is about the community’s decision,” said Lafortune, noting the voters would have the “ultimate say” at the June ballot.

DePatsy said in a phone interview that there were pros and cons of both options. He said one favorable aspect of both options would that there would be room for a new pre-kindergarten program. He said the one-building option could create a community school, which could be a community resource used for activities after school hours. DePatsy said the one-building scenario would have all teachers in the pre-kindergarten through second grade levels in one building, which would aid in curriculum alignment.

A faction of the city in favor of building two neighborhood schools has formed a Facebook page, stating in a post that research shows that a population of 300 students in a school is optimal for educational purposes.

— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 325 or egotthelf@journaltribune.com.