Lehighton Area School District reviewed a proposed concept of how East Penn and Mahoning elementary schools might look at the board's building committee meeting Monday.

The estimated combined cost for the two schools would be $15 million."It's still very early in the process. At this point, this is simply a conceptual rendering of these two schools," architectural consultant Mark Barnhardt of EI Associates said."There is nothing finalized in this design."The architectural firm was hired in 2008 to conduct a land use study as well as a district-wide feasibility study.Looking first at East Penn Elementary School, Barnhardt said that the current square footage is 24,240. Student capacity is 125. Enrollment is currently 138 students. The school sits on 12.65 acres.Under this proposal, an additional 17,000 square feet would be built onto the existing structure to bring the total square footage up to 41,240. The existing building would also be renovated.Moving on to Mahoning Elementary School, Barnhardt pointed out that student capacity is 175. Current enrollment is 187 students. The current square footage is 33,000. The school sits on 7.13 acres.The proposed floor plan for this school would include an additional 16,000 square feet being constructed to bring the square footage up to 49,000. Again, the existing building would also be renovated.For safety purposes, the bus drop-off would be separate from the parent drop-off at each school. In addition, the parking lots at both schools would be expanded.Both East Penn and Mahoning Elementary Schools were built in 1954, with additions and alterations in 1991.Based on square footage costs, the estimated project breakdown would be $6,147,000 for construction and $1,353,000 for "soft costs" for each school bringing the total to $7,500,000 for each school."Obviously, we will have a more detailed estimate when the school board decides on the actual design," said Superintendent Jonathan J. Cleaver.Back in May, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Financing Authority approved two grants for Lehighton Area School District. These grants will be used to help reduce the school district's energy costs at these two elementary schools.The grants come from the CFA's Alternative and Clean Energy Program, which provides financial assistance to develop and construct alternative and clean energy projects across the commonwealth. The district will receive $750,000 for each project East Penn and Mahoning Elementary Schools.Under this conceptual rendering of these two "green" schools presented Monday evening, the school district would look to reduce energy use by 30 to 50 percent; carbon emissions by 35 percent; water use by 40 percent; and solid waste by 70 percent.Lehighton Area School Board has scheduled a public workshop meeting to address building projects at 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 13 at the administration building, Conference Room A.For PowerPoint presentations and feasibility studies concerning LASD facilities, visit the LASD website at

www.Lehighton.org. Click on "Files and Documents" under "Quick Links." Click on "District." The various presentations can be found under "Building Feasibility Study."