Debate over a proposed elementary center continued Monday evening at the Lehighton Area School District Building Committee Workshop meeting.

At issue is whether to construct a new elementary center at the high school/administration building campus or renovate the four existing elementary school buildings."I like our four elementary schools. Sending our elementary students to a complex is like sending them to a university," said school board director Rocky Ahner. "I don't see the numbers to change my mind."During his presentation to his fellow school board directors and the public, Ahner outlined the projected costs for each of the schools as well as the maximum eligible reimbursement for each as submitted to the Pennsylvania Department of Education for the comprehensive planning and construction process known as PlanCon.Renovations for East Penn Elementary School are projected to cost $3,817,950, with maximum eligible reimbursement of $1,799,160; Franklin Elementary School $5,367,825, with reimbursement of $3,079,440; Mahoning Elementary School $4,235,200, with reimbursement of $2,092,440; Shull-David Elementary School $4,766,250, with reimbursement of $2,808,720; Lehighton Area Middle School $12,719,000, with reimbursement of $7,136,760; and Lehighton Area High School $8,198,880.with reimbursement of $6,881,200.Costs submitted to PDE total $39,105,105, plus 20 percent "soft costs" of $7,403,295, for a total project cost of $46,508,400.The school district is also looking at building a multi-purpose stadium that is estimated to cost $5.6 million. This brings all proposed project costs to a total of $52.2 million.According to Ahner, total reimbursement from PlanCon would be $23,797,720.However, LASD Superintendent Jonathan J. Cleaver quickly pointed out that the true dollar amount the school district may receive is based on the PlanCon aid ratio of 0.6011."It's approximately 60 cents on the dollar," said Cleaver.So, with the maximum eligible reimbursement amount at $23,797,720, the dollar amount the district would be eligible to receive is $14,304,809.School board President Gloria Bowman added, "These project costs (that Ahner presented) are based on 2011 figures. They don't include the security enhancements and additional classrooms as presented in recent discussions."Currently, the district maintains four separate elementary schools for students in grades kindergarten through four. Students in grades five through eight attend the middle school and students in grades nine through 12 attend the high school.The PlanCon paperwork that was submitted to PDE reflects this "status quo."However, under the elementary center proposal, students in grades kindergarten through five would attend the elementary center, grouped respectively in grades kindergarten through two and three through five. Students in grades six through eight would attend the middle school. The high school would continue to serve students in grades nine through 12.These proposed realignments could put the PlanCon reimbursements in jeopardy.With construction of a new elementary center projected to cost $32.5 million, the school board is seeking more information about how to possibly proceed with a waiver from PDE to update the PlanCon paperwork in order for the district to receive full reimbursement for the proposed building project.On Feb. 24, the school board voted to authorize Cleaver, Bowman, Ahner, and architectural consultant Mark Barnhardt of EI Associates to contact PDE to seek fact-finding for a waiver from the approved PlanCon submission to consider the district to build an elementary center.The next regular meeting of the school board is scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday, March 24, at the district administration building.