BUFFALO TWP — Board directors in the Freeport Area School District agreed to vote whether to solicit a proposal for a demographic study that could help inform future renovation plans for the aging high school.

At a workshop meeting Wednesday, Oct. 2, superintendent Ian Magness said a proposal from demographer Shelby Stewman, a former professor at Carnegie Mellon University, would cost around $17,000.

A timeline for a potential project is still unknown, but a demographic study could help board directors make an educated decision based on projected student body numbers and detailed population data from the school district’s three municipalities.

At a meeting in September, board directors discussed a number of options for addressing the outdated high school building. Magness said out of the options discussed, “there was a preference to look at the building more closely.”

“Significant renovations” are needed to address outdated features in the building, Magness said, which was built in 1960, according to the district’s website.

“It’s incumbent upon you as a board to make the final decision with that information, so if something demographically shows a trend where it doesn't make sense to go this way, but to go that way, you're going to be able to have that information to justify your decision ... to local taxpayers, justify it to our student body,” Magness said.

Board president Gary Risch said the demographic study also would account for growth in Buffalo Township and real estate trends.

“I would not want to make a multimillion-dollar decision without this data,” board director Sylvia Maxwell said.

Maxwell said the data would help predict classroom sizes and help board directors decide on necessary building improvements.

Board directors will vote on whether to solicit the proposal at a meeting next week.