Palmerton Area School District’s board of directors heard a presentation Tuesday night on the possibility of a three-pronged upgrade project for its high school.

Mike Kelly, of KCBA Architects, unveiled a slideshow of options for what he called the modernization of the school’s music room, library and cafeteria.

Upgrades to the music room had been discussed last year and included increasing the size of the room from 1,200 to 1,700 square feet, adding storage space and improving acoustics.

Tuesday was the first time the board was hearing of potential upgrades to the cafeteria and library.

“With the library, we would likely be talking about bringing more technology into that space and creating more room for small group instruction and collaboration,” Kelly said. “For example, it could be a more robust Wi-Fi system, more charging stations and an area where kids can work collaboratively on laptops.”

The presentation also included a redesigned entrance to the library and a lounge space near the intersection of the bottom of the ramp and main hallway running through that portion of the building.

“It’s becoming more common now for students to go grab lunch in their free time and head to a lounge-type space where they can sit and work on a project,” Kelly said.

The cafeteria design included an updated seating layout, and improved acoustics and lighting.

Portioned off spaces for large group instruction, or other educational activities, when lunches aren’t being served were also discussed.

“The cafeteria would become more functional,” Kelly said.

If Palmerton were to do all three projects at one time, with Kelly suggesting the summer of 2020 at the earliest, the estimated total cost is $2.35 million.

“We work conservatively,” Kelly said, “meaning we start high and work our way down. It’s kind of like a restaurant menu right now, and there are things that could or could not be included if the projects are done.”

Palmerton Superintendent Scot Engler said if completed, the projects would be paid for out of the district’s capital reserve fund.

While the board had previously indicated it would like to move forward with upgrades to the music room, the rest of Tuesday’s presentation received a lukewarm response.

“It’s nice to be building our fund balance up, but I’m wondering if we are overbudgeting with the intent of being able to say there is this much there, let’s take $3 million out,” director Barry Scherer said.

Fellow board members Kate Baumgardt and Kathy Fallow said they viewed the presentation as “putting the cart before the horse.”

“I think we should get the opinion of the librarian and the people who are going to be using these spaces before any designs are taking place,” Fallow said.

According to Kelly, the next step would be to consult with those individuals to get a feel for what they would or would not want to see as part of an improvement project.