CLARKSBURG, Mass. — The Select Board last week accepted a bid by D.J. Wooliver & Sons to do the flat roof on the elementary school. 

 

Wooliver was the lowest bid at about $400,000 but cautioned that the cost may rise depending on the conditions once the work started. The work will depend on town meeting approving a borrowing for the project and a possible debt exclusion.

 

But how much borrow and whether the work will be worth it has been a conundrum for town and school officials. The condition of the school has been a major topic at meetings of the board and the School Committee over the past few months. 

 

Town officials are considering putting the question to the voters — try to piecemeal renovations or begin a new study on renovating or building a new school. 

 

In the meantime, the leaking roof has prompted an array of buckets throughout the school. 

 

"Until they actually get in there and start ripping everything up, we won't really know the extent of all the damage per se so it's really kind of hard to make a decision," board member Colton Andrew said at last week's meeting, broadcast on Northern Berkshire Community Television.

 

Board member Daniel Haskins wondered if it would be better to patch until a town made a decision on a school project or do a portion of the roof. But Chair Robert Norcross disagreed.