KARNS CITY — Facing major building repairs and aging equipment and facilities, board members and administrators in the Karns City School District say they want to begin early planning on possible renovations or a major building project.

They say an important step is getting public comment.

The potential projects, which haven’t been formally proposed or priced-out yet, would likely cost the district between $25 million and $55 million, school officials said Monday, using cost projections from a 2011 feasibility study.

Superintendent Eric Ritzert said the decision is complicated by the high costs associated with any major renovation or construction project, as well as Gov. Tom Wolf’s proposed moratorium on PlanCon, a program through which school districts can receive partial reimbursements for major building and renovation projects.

“Right now, as we sit here, any decision you make should assume that it (PlanCon) won’t be there,” Ritzert said.

PlanCon’s absence would likely add millions of dollars to the final cost of any project the district embarked upon.

Ritzert said that major work like roof repairs are needed at all three of the district’s school buildings — Chicora Elementary School, Sugarcreek Elementary School, and the Junior Senior High.

The high school’s gymnasium floor will likely need to be fully replaced within three or five years, he said, and aging equipment and mechanics like the building’s boiler system mean big expenses are on the horizon no matter what the district ultimately decides to do.

“We have to work out a process to determine what is the goal ... and how do we pay for it?” Ritzert said. “The days of just going out and raising taxes to do it are over.”

He proposed putting all options on the table, including the possibility of closing down the district’s current school buildings and “centralizing” operations.

Based on the 2011 feasibility study, when the district shuttered the former Bruin Elementary School building, the centralized approach would cost more than $55 million.

Other options include major renovation projects or some combination of closures and renovations.

These options’ costs start at about $25 million.

The 2011 study isn’t usable as a planning document because its numbers are more than two years old, but board members and Ritzert said it provides useful context and a starting point for the discussion.

The next step, board members said, is getting residents involved.

“I’d like to hear the public’s idea on it,” said Josh Price, the board’s vice president. “We need to figure out, is this the best step 30, 40 years out?”

Board member Matt Bishop said his main concern is having useful information ready when people ask about the financial implications of any of the options.

“Everybody wants (nice schools); you have to pay for it,” Bishop said. “I think the problem I’m into is, how do you raise $50 million? ”

Ritzert said he wasn’t advocating a particular plan or construction option. He wants to begin holding public meetings to seek input, and acknowledged the process might take years.

Ritzert said he believed the district needed to come to a decision in three to five years, because that is when facilities like the high school gymnasium would need to be replaced, a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Bishop said board members would need to figure out a way to help residents understand the scope of the work being decided upon. Most of the numbers are too big to be meaningful to most people, he said.

Ritzert said any building or renovation project would be a once-in-a-generation occurrence.