OXFORD — Oxford Hills School District directors Monday night unanimously approved a study of the former Mildred Fox School in hopes of solving a space problem at Oxford Hills Middle School.

“We have to see what options we have,” middle school Principal Troy Eastman said. “There’s no open room or spaces.”

The middle school on Pine Street in Paris houses 200 of its approximately 550 students in seven portables next to the main building. Each unit has two classrooms, Eastman said.

The 20-plus-year-old manufactured units are reaching the end of their life span. Half of one was closed this summer due to weak floors and a leaking roof, he said.

“They’re very well cared for but there’s constant maintenance,” he said.

Superintendent Rick Colpitts said Monday there are five options:

* Replacing the portables under a lease/purchase agreement for about $135,000 to $150,000 each, or about $1 million total.

* Renovating the portables for $15,000 to $50,000 each, for a total of between $105,000 and $350,000 in local money.

* Building a temporary addition for between $1.7 and $2 million, financed with a local bond.

* Renovating the Fox School on East Main Street for about $1 million in local bond money. The two-story brick school was vacated in 2007 when kindergarten to third grade students moved to the new Paris Elementary School on High Street. It’s being leased by Oxford Hills Christian Academy.

* Building a permanent addition to and renovating the main building of the middle school for between $15 million and $20 million, with the state subsidizing up to 100 percent of the cost.

While the final option appears to be the most economical, Eastman said the middle school is No. 28 on the state list of construction projects. With only one or two projects getting funding each year, it will be years before the middle school is funded, he said.

Eastman said while the student population is expected to remain the same, there is a problem in finding space for new programs.

“Limited space, limited programs,” he said.

The school district is expected to begin the first part of the feasibility study this month. A recommendation is expected by next spring.

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