CALAIS – They oversee all of the spending on school construction projects, and Tuesday night the Calais school trustees said they want to know more before they approve a new superintendent’s office.

During a meeting of the trustees, it was clear that although voters earlier this month gave them the approval in a referendum to “lease-purchase school administrative space,” the three trustees are taking a conservative approach to the matter.

The superintendent’s office now is located on the second floor of the City Building. The state reimburses the school department for the $1,200 monthly rent, but that reimbursement program is going to end.

On top of the loss of rent reimbursement, the second-floor office does not comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. To meet that requirement, the city would have to install an elevator at a cost of $250,000.

There has been a suggestion that the city move the superintendent to one of the empty storefronts on Main Street, but the city would have to pick up the cost.

Tuesday night, the trustees focused on other solutions, including building a 1,440-square-foot building at the high school. That building also would allow maintenance and snow removal to be handled by the high school maintenance staff.

Superintendent May Bouchard said she was looking into the possibility of having vocational education students build the office. She estimated that it would take two years for them to build it.

But Bouchard said the school department’s lawyer was uncertain whether the Bond Bank, the agency responsible for providing financing for the project, would fund a student-constructed building. She said she was willing to research the matter further.

A second option is to buy one of the homes near the elementary school and put the superintendent’s office there.

The superintendent said it would cost around $56,000 to buy a modular home and turn it into a superintendent’s office.

The trustees also suggested that since other communities are in Union 106, including Baring, Alexander, Robbinston and Crawford, and they pick up a portion of the cost, Bouchard should discuss the issue with those school boards before a decision is made.

The trustees directed the superintendent to research each issue and return with more information at a later meeting.