SACO — School officials are continuing to get input from the public regarding a proposal to replace Young Elementary School.

Young School, located at 36 Tasker St., was built over a decade after the previous school building was torn down due to mold. School officials say the modularstyle building was meant to be a short-term solution.

The School Department has proposed two options to replace the school. One option would replace both Young and Fairfield Elementary Schools with one bigger school at a new location near the Kimball Health Center on Lincoln Street. The other option would replace Young School at its current location and make upgrades to Fairfield School.

School officials have compiled “talking points” regarding both proposals, which were presented at Wednesday night’s board meeting and can also be found at the school department’s website, www.sacoschools.org.

If the district decided to build a new 87,640 square foot school to replace both Young and Fairfield Schools, the proposed new school would house 553 pre-kindergarten through second grade students.

Should the district decide to build a new Young school and refurbish Fairfield School, Young School would house 291 pre-kindergarten through second grade students, Fairfield School would house 262. Under this proposal, the new Young School would be 49,350 square feet. Fairfield School would gain more than 13,000 square feet for a total of about 47,300 square feet.

School officials say the cost of replacing Young School and renovating Fairfield School would cost about $21.5 million. The cost to acquire land and build a new consolidated school to replace both schools is estimated to cost about $27.8 million. The estimated cost for the consolidated school scenario do not consider what the school department would do with Fairfield Elementary School, should it combine the two elementary schools, said Superintendent Dominic DePatsy.

Maintenance and utility costs for a new Young School plus a replacement for Fairfield School are estimated at about $800,000 a year. Utility costs for the proposed new consolidated school on Lincoln Street are estimated to run about $500,000 a year.

DePatsy said staff and members of the school community have been emailed a link to a poll regarding which scenario they would prefer, and the survey is available at the school’s website. School officials will also be at the Saco Community Center on Election Day next week to answer questions and gather input regarding the proposals.

Input will be compiled by the department and reviewed by the board before it makes a final decision regarding which proposal to pursue.

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