About 30 residents of the Northridge school district turned out Feb. 16 to hear more details about the two best options for housing the district’s classrooms.

Currently, the Northridge Intermediate School is housed in modular classrooms, but the lease on those modulars will expire in July. The choice comes down to purchasing them outright or replacing them with a pre-fabricated structure, explained Robin Elliott, Northridge Middle School principal.

Those are the options the district’s facilities committee, after months of study, is ready to present the Northridge Board of Education at its Feb. 21 meeting.

“When we look at our capacities, we’re full,” Elliott said. “We’re at the seams. We’re not bursting at the seams yet, but we’re at the seams.”

Purchase of the modular classrooms would essentially postpone the problem for about 10 years, the remaining useful life of the buildings, she said.

The district could purchase the existing modulars for $485,000 and use the $10,274 per month it currently pays to own them by July 2016.

At that point, six years of useful life would remain.

Although the low cost is an advantage, within 10 years the district would face the problem all over again, Elliott said.

To purchase a new structure, the district is pre-approved for a conventional loan at a rate of 3.77 percent for 15 years. A new structure would cost roughly $1.5 million; with payments of approximately $10,000 per month, the building would be paid off by July 2027.

At the end of that period, the district would own the building, which would still have another 15 to 20 years useful life remaining, according to the committee’s information.

Elliott said a new structure’s technology would be up to date, saving some money in the long run, and it would be placed on a foundation nearer to the permanent buildings, alleviating the need for students to cross a busy driveway several times a day.

The driveway would be rerouted behind a new structure.

In a new structure, the rooms would be larger, the air quality would be better, there would be better energy efficiency, the building would have a full warranty, and there would be a larger commons area.

Also, Elliott said that beginning January 2020, the district could contribute $8,000 per month it currently pays toward HB 264 (loans for energy improvements), which expires 2020.

“We want to make the best decision for the kids, the voters, and the community,” Elliott said.

If a new structure is approved, it could be in place by the next school year. If it’s not ready, students could attend the existing structure for a short time until the new building is finished.

Asked by audience members why the district hasn’t continued to consider consolidating the intermediate students into the rest of the district’s buildings. Elliott said doing so would simply place the rest of the buildings — which are nearly at capacity — over capacity.

The district has found ways to finance the project, she said, and isn’t going to the voters with it. But Elliott noted that an operating levy may be on the 2014 ballot to cover the operations cost of the entire district, regardless of what happens with the modulars.