OTHELLO — Othello School District officials will advertise in May or June for a consultant to work with the district on possible expansion and upgrades at Othello High School.

District employees also will review the options for repair of the roof at Lutacaga Elementary and possibly McFarland Middle School, after Othello School Board members asked employees on Feb. 22 to work on the projects.

The board established a list of possible projects, and some of them were completed during the last year. The district facilities were discussed prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, said board member Jenn Stevenson, but the virus sidetracked all other projects for a year.

Among the other issues are money and planning, which is where a consultant could help.

The board voted during its Feb. 8 meeting to sell property it owns at the intersection of Lee and Seventh streets. Board member Lindsy Prows said district officials need to start thinking about buying other property for possible new facilities, if the Seventh Street property sells. Prows added she thought a new building of some kind would be needed within the next three to five years.

However, board member Sharon Schutte said OHS is her first priority, and she would rather put money from the land sale toward that project. Schutte said she thought a new building would not be needed for more than five years.

The existing high school will not be big enough to accommodate all the students expected in the next few years, Schutte said. In addition, one section, known as the 600 wing, needs upgrades and board members have to decide what they’re going to do with it.

Board member Ken Johnson said the board’s first job is to protect existing facilities, so if the roof at Lutacaga is in poor condition it needs to be fixed this summer. Johnson said OHS can’t be expanded in time to meet the anticipated growth, which will mean portable classrooms. It’s not his preferred solution, he said, but it might be necessary.

Gregg Fultz, the district’s risk manager, said it might be too late to schedule roof repairs for this summer. The roofs at Lutacaga and MMS were done at the same time by the same company, which has since gone out of business, Fultz said. As a result there’s no warranty. Fultz added repairs to Lutacaga’s roof alone could be up to $500,000, although more research is needed for an actual estimate, which could be done by mid-March.

Prows asked about hiring a consultant to work with district officials on a plan, especially for OHS. Fultz estimated the cost from $20,000 to $30,000, and the district has access to resources from Education Service District 123.

The district has about $2.6 million in its capital projects fund, which is designated for construction. But Rebecca Montgomery, a consultant working with the district on its finances, said some of that money already may be allocated to other projects. The district could be eligible for state grants for some projects, such as the Lutacaga roof, Montgomery said.

Johnson said the board eventually will need to ask voters for a construction bond, which would have a better chance of passage if there’s a plan in place.