Repair four aging elementary schools or build one elementary center, a $32.5 million endeavor, to house all K-5 students?

That has been the question before Lehighton Area School District's board of directors in 2014.While taxpayer comments at public meetings have leaned heavily toward avoiding new construction, board members said they have heard just as many residents in favor of an elementary center.As the year draws to a close, nothing has officially been decided, but Superintendent Jonathan Cleaver's most recent comments indicate the district is favoring the new building on property it already owns to the north of Lehighton Area High School, off Mahoning Street and Indian Lane.The district is also moving forward with a $10.7 million proposed Lehighton Area Middle School renovation, a $9.3 million renovation to Lehighton Area High School and construction of a $5 million multipurpose stadium between the high school and administration office.Two H.B. Smith boilers, original to the building, will be replaced during the main part of the middle school renovation. Heating, ventilation and air conditioning upgrades will also be part of the high school project.Lehighton received a variance in 2014 for its stadium, but county planners recommended conditional plan rejection based on 22 items not in compliance with the borough's subdivision and land development ordinance.The district intended to resubmit the plans for final approval.Cleaver began 2014 with a presentation explaining the proposal for an elementary center came out of discussions at parent-teacher organization meetings.East Penn, Franklin and Mahoning elementary schools were all built in 1954. Shull-David Elementary School followed in 1959.One month after the plan for an elementary center was unveiled, a Lehighton citizen tax group formed opposing the project.Organized by David Bradley, the group advocated using asset management to repair the four elementary schools instead of the district incurring more debt.According to Cleaver, the cost of building new versus renovating would be identical."Looking at things educationally and financially, we feel it is a better option," Cleaver said in August. "I think it is going to improve education, and we are figuring to save $1.2 million annually with the consolidation.That number comes from staff who retire that we may not have to replace and other savings such as fuel costs and transportation costs."Project supporters within the district also tout projections of no impact to Lehighton's existing debt service.In April, the board voted 5-4 to realign district classes by moving fifth-grade students back to the elementary level."This is a loaded issue," board member William Hill Jr. said at the time. "If you vote for this grade realignment, you're voting for the elementary center."The board had previously voted in 1993 to move fifth- and sixth-grade students to the middle school level.Lehighton received three Alternative and Clean Energy grants in 2014 for the proposed elementary center, and middle and high school renovations."We received $1.45 million for the middle school, $1.065 million for the high school and $2 million for the elementary center," Cleaver said.Late in the year, board action turned toward renovations at the middle and high schools.The board voted in November to pay $82,000 for Sargent Enterprises to remove asbestos in the middle school auditorium's ceiling and walls. It had already given the Jim Thorpe company the go-ahead to do $262,900 worth of abatement in the rest of the building.One month later, Quandel Construction was tabbed as construction manager for the district's building projects at a cost not to exceed $802,000.According to Cleaver, the district will kick off 2015 by voting on two parts of the state's lengthy approval process for reimbursement as it relates to the middle and high school renovations.A feasibility study, approved in July, showed Lehighton would be eligible to receive $3.44 million in state aid for the middle school project and around $4.93 million for high school renovations.