AUBURN — The Maine Board of Education on Wednesday gave the green light to six school buildings deemed in critical need of improvement, including an elementary school in Fryeburg.

Auburn, where school officials are hoping to build a new Edward Little High School, among other things, was not among them.

School heads will meet with the City Council at the end of the month to address how they might proceed without financial backing from the state.

“We’re sticking with our plan,” said Superintendent Katy Grondin, “until we hear otherwise.”

Sticking with the plan, though, might be easier said than done.

The approval of the DOE is a key step in a school construction process that includes evaluating needs, determining solutions, designing and building.

The schools that got the nod are the Charles A. Snow School in Fryeburg; Morison Memorial School in Corinth; Emerson School in Sanford and Sanford High School & Regional Technical Center; Newport Elementary School and Nokomis Regional High School in Newport.

That leaves Auburn school officials without the go-ahead to fix or rebuild Edward Little, for starters.

Unless they decide to proceed, anyway.

“We’re anticipating that we still need to move forward with a local-only project,” Grondin said.

That idea — convincing taxpayers to shell out 100 percent of the cost of a new school — is likely to be discussed at the Jan. 30 meeting with the City Council.

The six schools that will get state funding were at the top of a priority list of 71 schools that applied for renovation or replacement.

Although Auburn has problems at other schools, the condition of EL is widely considered the most pressing concern. In fact, the school is said to be at risk of losing accreditation due to the condition of the building.

The school, built in 1961, has inadequate electrical and heating systems. It lacks space and has no auditorium. Its kitchen and cafeteria are considered too small and are in the basement, originally intended for storage. The school lacks science labs, is poorly insulated and is either too hot or too cold.

Depending on how the money is used at the six schools identified Wednesday, there could be some left over for schools that also rank high on the list. However, at No. 16, Auburn’s chances were murky.

“It doesn’t look good,” Grondin said.