AUBURN — A three-person state team spent hours going through Edward Little High School on Monday to determine the needs of the building.

Competition for state school construction money is fierce, Superintendent Tom Morrill said, but the visiting team was thorough. “I’m hopeful,” Morrill told the School Committee on Wednesday night.

Like many other school districts, Auburn has applied for state school construction money for a new or improved Edward Little. Auburn’s proposal must compete with other school construction needs in Maine.

Auburn should find out in May whether it can expect any state money to build a new school or to make major renovations. Estimates for a new high school top $60 million; a major renovation would cost $40 million.

On Monday, the state team met with Edward Little Principal James Miller, Morrill and school department Business Manager Jude Cyr.

“We stressed that the heating and ventilation is inadequate,” that the school has reached its limits on electrical and plumbing. “The systems that support the high school are fairly maxed out,” Morrill said.

Miller, Morrill and Cyr told the state visitors that the building limits greater integration of learning and that the 1,000-student school has only one science lab.

“When they heard we only have one lab available, they were shocked,” Morrill said. “They were surprised there were not science labs available for chemistry and life science.”

The team toured the cafeteria, which initially was a basement for storage. “They went in many, many rooms.” They saw that the elevator does not directly take students from the basement cafeteria to the third floor. They saw that students in a far corner of an upstairs classroom have a good distance to go to the cafeteria and to some classes, and that students have to carry all of their books because they can’t use the lockers.

“There isn’t sufficient time to go to lockers and change books and go to the next class,” Morrill said.

The last time Auburn applied for school construction money was 2005. That year, the visiting team came in the afternoon after students were dismissed and toured an empty building.

This time, they came at 9 a.m. and got a good look at the building full of students.

They saw that there’s not enough parking space and some vehicles are parked on grass. They saw the kids at lunch in the cramped cafeteria, and in the hallway by the stairs, an area that is too narrow when students change classes, Morrill said.

Auburn is one of a few schools applying for construction money that have seen a rise in enrollment. Because most schools aren’t seeing rising populations, a new rating system gives more points to a lack of buildings and grounds, “which is good for us,” Cyr said, noting the high school lacks playing fields.

If Auburn receives state school construction money for the high school, a referendum would follow, asking voters to approve construction. Much of the cost would be covered by the state.

If Auburn does not receive any money, a new or improved school would have to be funded by Auburn taxpayers.

“If we don’t get high enough on the list, we will reconstitute the Community Building Committee,” Auburn School Committee Chairman David Das said. The committee would make a recommendation whether to ask Auburn voters for approval of $60 million for a new school or $40 million for a renovation or “bits and pieces” of that, Das said.

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