KARNS CITY — Major high school renovations and a potential elementary consolidation will be discussed next year at Karns City School District.

On Thursday night, at the district’s monthly board meeting, Superintendent Eric Ritzert laid out his “utopian plan” to school board members: Modernize the high school with a new heating system, windows and roof, and close the remaining two elementary schools, Chicora and Sugarcreek, to build a single elementary school on the high school’s 70-acre campus.

However, such a plan is in its infancy, and is easier said than done.

Ritzert said the idea of a single elementary school came up following a feasibility study in 2011, the year before Bruin Elementary closed.

“The reconfiguration and whether to do those things came out initially when we closed Bruin. Some of the feedback that the community expressed was that they would like to see is a single site or a single elementary school,” Ritzert said.

One board member also proposed transitioning the current high school for kindergarten through 8th grade, and build a new high school instead.

Like the high school, the two current elementary schools are in need of costly updates. However, there also are other potential consequences to consider: The upfront cost of building a new school versus maintaining two older ones, and the challenge of selling multiple vacant school buildings.

Bruin Elementary is still on the market for $150,000, with the Butler County Housing Authority and two other buyers. The building has been closed since June 2012.

There are currently about 500 students enrolled at Chicora Elementary, and 280 students at Sugarcreek Elementary.

But there would also be benefits to having a single district campus, Ritzert said: Increasing staff and transportation efficiency, and having all school buildings at one central location in the school district, which stretches into three counties.

Meanwhile, the high school building, which houses students from seventh through twelfth grades, could undergo as much as $25 million in renovations to modernize with new windows, a new roof and furnace, along with updated wiring and other utilities. Those updates could save the district money in the long run with improved utility efficiencies.

The high school building, built in three phases from the 1950s, 1981 and 1995, has its original windows and a boiler system that’s about 40 years old. Parts are no longer made for the heating equipment the school uses.

The board will likely decide next year how much improvement work to approve at the high school, with expected completion by 2018.

Ritzert added the renovations now come at a time when loan rates are lower, and the school can receive about half of the cost back through reimbursements if things are planned properly.

But for now, the board plans to talk more details next year.

“It’s in the very initial stages. I wanted to gauge the board’s interest,” Ritzert said. “I do think they’re interested in exploring things further. So I would assume, in January, we’ll devote more time to talk about this and maybe schedule a special meeting. And from that, start getting the public’s input.”