MARIETTA - The Cobb school board must decide what to do with the $73 million left over in excess sales tax funding from its SPLOST II program.

The funding comes from savings on construction costs in SPLOST II as well as capital outlay dollars from the state, Associate Superintendent Dr. Gordon Pritz said.

Late last year, the board voted to approve an effort to reduce the number of trailer classrooms in the district from 335 to about 75 by building more permanent classrooms at schools. The board earmarked $36 million in SPLOST II contingency funds to help pay for the project.

But Pritz said board Vice Chairwoman Lynnda Crowder-Eagle requested a new plan from staff on how to spend the SPLOST II excess funding. The proposal shows less of a commitment to building permanent classrooms. Pritz presented the plan Monday at the school board's Facility and Technology Review Committee.

Pritz said the proposal, should the board approve it, divides the $73 million in SPLOST II funding into:

n $15.6 million to upgrade science labs at Simpson Middle;

n $14.6 million on upgrading science labs at Pine Mountain Middle;

n $15 million on upgrading science labs at McCleskey Middle;

n $11.2 million for classroom additions at Wheeler High;

n $7.5 million in "to be determined" classroom additions, which may be used for the rebuilding of Clarkdale Elementary School;

n $8.3 million for electrical infrastructure;

n And funds for fire alarms and school bus technology.

Board member Dr. John Crooks, who serves as the board liaison to the F&T Committee, said he didn't know when the board would take action on the proposal.

F&T board member Virginia Gregory asked what would happen to the trailer reduction plan, which is also called the Quality Classroom Initiative. Pritz said that depended on any action the board takes regarding the proposal.

Gregory said, during the SPLOST II campaign, supporters frequently stated that SPLOST renewal would get students out of trailers and into classrooms.

"Poor planning caused SPLOST II to fall far short of that goal, leaving more than 300 trailers. Trailers at some schools have been the norm for 20 years," she said.

This plan would leave many of the youngest children at underserved schools "running out to trailers at the edge of campus and in the parking lots indefinitely. SPLOST II's remaining funds should be used as promised to the taxpayers, to provide standard classrooms inside a secure building," Gregory said.

Crooks said after the meeting he intended to fight to keep his Quality Classroom Initiative from being derailed.

The proposal was requested, in part, because floodwaters destroyed Clarkdale Elementary in September, Pritz said. He said building a new elementary school in the Clarkdale area could relieve trailers at other area schools.

After the flood, Clarkdale's 440 students were moved to both Compton and Austell Intermediate schools a few miles away. The district has $10 million in flood insurance on the 22-classroom Clarkdale building, a school that had 15 trailers, he said.

The last elementary school the district built was Pickett's Mill Elementary, in northwest Cobb, in 2006. The 61-classroom school had a construction cost of $15.5 million, a furniture and equipment cost of $1.8 million, an architect's fee of $637,796 and a program management fee of 2.75 percent, Pritz said.

Were the district to rebuild Clarkdale, it would likely build an elementary school closer to the 61-classroom model than the old 22-classroom model, since it wouldn't be practicable to build a school that needed trailer classrooms. But another option could be to add on classrooms at nearby schools and simply not rebuild Clarkdale at all.

Pritz said reports from the district's insurance and the Federal Emergency Management Agency are expected within a week. The FEMA report will provide the school district with better direction, Pritz said.