AUBURN – The State Board of Education has approved a site for Lake Street Elementary School.

In a meeting Wednesday, board members voted unanimously to accept a 10.9-acre site on Park Avenue for a new Lake Street school that will accommodate 300 kids in kindergarten through grade six. The site will give the school system about 8.4 acres of usable land for the school, parking lots and play areas.

Auburn officials started looking for a place to build a new school last fall after Education Commissioner Susan Gendron said the state would not help the city expand the current building as expected. She said the expansion plan was too expensive, the site was too small and the project had too many constraints.

The decision divided the community for months. Some residents fought to expand the current school, saying the location was convenient and an expansion was best for the community. Others pushed to build a new school on a new site, saying it would offer more space while keeping the school within the Lake Street area.

Voters overwhelmingly approved the new site in a nonbinding straw vote in February.

School officials are now developing more specific plans for the new school, including a building design.

The current Lake Street Elementary School is set on less than 2 acres in the heart of an old neighborhood. With 145 students from kindergarten through grade three, the school has no room for art or music, no cafeteria or gymnasium. Outdoor play areas and parking places are limited.
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