SANFORD – School construction delays at one of Sanford’s school buildings undergoing renovations has produced a domino effect of sorts, which means there will be some reshuffling of building assignments for Sanford elementary and junior high students in the fall.

The news is not unexpected; Sanford School Department officials have sent out correspondence to parents and guardians on what might happen, held a public meeting last month, and sent out the final plan for the upcoming year on Wednesday.

For the school year starting in September, Kindergarten will be at Carl L. Lamb and Lafayette schools.

Grades 1, 2 and 3 will be at CJL, Lafayette and Willard schools and most students who would attend Margaret Chase Smith School will go to Willard, school officials said.

All of the fourth grade students attend Willard.

All students in grades 5, 6 and 7 will start the school year at the current Sanford Junior High school and move to the converted Sanford Middle School (the former Sanford High School) when it is ready.

All grade 8 students will move to the second floor of Sanford High School and Regional Technical Center. School officials say that plan will be reviewed when the middle school – the former SHS, is ready.

An upgrade to schools intended for middle and elementary use has been planned for some time — the school department was awarded $42.9 million to renovate schools several years ago.

The former Sanford High School, vacated in October, is being renovated to serve as a middle school, and the current junior high school will be renovated for use as an elementary school. Margaret Chase Smith School is being expanded by 50,000 square feet and starting at the end of this school year, the existing portion of school will undergo renovations, which means students would have been shifted from there for a year in any case.

Once all of the projects are complete, Willard and Lafayette elementary schools are poised to close and the community will have five school buildings, including three elementary schools: Margaret Chase Smith, Carl J. Lamb and the building currently known as the high school, Sanford Middle School and Sanford High School and Regional Technical Center.

At a May meeting with parents at SJHS, Superintendent Matthew Nelson said there was more asbestos to remove than originally thought in the old high school. After it was removed, there was significant silica dust and latent asbestos remaining and a thorough cleaning was required before construction could resume.

”It is necessary to ensure the school is safe,” Nelson told parents in May.

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 780-9016 or twells@journaltribune.com.