LEWISTON – State Education Commissioner Susan Gendron plans to re-ignite the multimillion-dollar process for funding new school construction in early 2010, spokesman David Connerty-Marin said Monday.

Data on needy schools – including Edward Little High School in Auburn – could begin pouring into state offices by next summer.

“It’s great news,” Auburn Superintendent Thomas Morrill said. He promised that his office will make the best pitch it can to illustrate the need for big changes at Edward Little.

It’s too soon to celebrate, he warned.

“We can’t count on anything,” Morrill said. “Until the shovel goes into the ground, we will be fully committed to exploring all alternatives.”

The state hasn’t accepted applications for new school construction or renovation since 2004. A year later, the last time the state created a priority list of needy schools, Edward Little High School placed number 44.

In all, the top 20 were funded. Pettingill Elementary School in Lewiston placed sixth. It’s replacement, the Geiger Elementary School, is due to open this fall.

Since 2004, a fix for the Auburn school has become a top priority for the city’s school committee. Last fall, the committee hired an architectural firm to examine the 48-year-old school.

On April 30, the first estimates for renovation and new construction were released. The price tag for a new high school: $61.1 million. A full renovation and addition would cost $48.7 million.

School officials also leaned that the school was being placed on probation by its accreditor, the New England Association of Schools & College’s Commission on Public Secondary Schools.

The group cited 41 deficiencies and described “dire facilities conditions.” They included poor lab spaces, a lack of storage, squeezed offices and recurring mold.

The building’s problems were on display Saturday at an open house meant to drum up support for changes at the school.

Morrill first learned about the state plans to reopen the construction process minutes before the meeting in a discussion with Maine Sen. Deb Simpson of Auburn.

On Monday, Morrill began making phone calls to get more information on the state’s plans.

After all, the state has put off its Major Capital School Improvement Program for at least two years.

Normally, the state kicks off a new cycle every three years or so. It has been five. Many locals worried that funding school construction could be on hold for several more years.

It’s uncertain how many schools would be aided by a new round of construction, or whether Auburn’s high school would move up the list.

There’s also a question of money.

School construction is driven by the Department of Education’s ability to take on more debt. Numbers were unavailable Monday afternoon on the current level of state debt earmarked for schools and how much of it is due to come off the books in the next few years, when new projects would be considered.

And it is uncertain when the Maine Legislature would be willing to devote more money to construction.

Timing is also fuzzy.

The first state-funded shovel is not likely strike the ground for several years, Connerty-Marin warned.

“It’s a long process,” he said. “The applications take half a year to a year to be submitted. Then, there’s generally a year-long process of reviewing and scoring those applications.”

When that work is done, the state then ranks the old or rundown schools.

“It’s all about need,” Connerty-Marin said.