By JODI WOLFE
Staff Writer

In an effort to consider all possibilities before proposing an addition to Epsom Central School, the Epsom School Board members discussed whether to eliminate kindergarten or move it from the school.

Since March, the school board has been looking into putting a $6 million addition on the school to mitigate the overcrowding problem.

Previously the school board did some feasibility studies and has been working with an architect.

When the school board originally passed the kindergarten program, there was an agreement that classes would be in a separate building on the school district's property and not at Epsom Central School, said school board member Gordon Ellis at the board’s Nov. 3 meeting.

Two years ago, the kindergarten was moved into Epsom Central School, taking up two classrooms, Ellis said.

“There would be no need for an addition if the kindergarten wasn’t there,” said Ellis.

The school board is open to any ideas to alleviate the overcrowding problem at Epsom Central School, he said.

“If we have to put on an addition, we have to, but I want to look at every possibility,” said Ellis.

The Epsom School Board decided to keep kindergarten in the Epsom School District and at Epsom Central School by asking for an addition to the school.

The proposed addition is part of a 10-year plan as Epsom is growing steadily, said Donald Harty, chairman of the school board.

The addition would consist of eight new classrooms, a new cafeteria, a new kitchen and a new library, he said.

Currently, some of the students are in three modular classrooms.

“Basically we’re out of space,” said Jane Fargo, principal of Epsom Central School.

The number of students in the first grade is rising and another class might have to be added if the number continues to rise, she said.

The addition would also rehabilitate a lot of the older part of the building which dates back to the 1950s, including the boiler and the mechanical system, Harty said.

In that older part of the building, some of the classrooms get so hot in the winter they have to leave the windows open, he said.

“It’s telling us it’s time to replace these things,” he said.

The state would reimburse Epsom for 40 percent of the cost of the new building, Fargo said.

The building committee will choose the final proposal to bring to the school board budget workshop on Thursday, Nov. 18.