SALISBURY — The Rowan-Salisbury Board of Education will hold a public hearing on the new West Rowan Elementary School at 6 p.m. Monday at the Wallace Educational Forum.

The school was originally proposed in 2008 as a merger of Cleveland and Woodleaf elementary schools. The two are among the oldest schools in the county and have high maintenance costs. Woodleaf has just one working well.

Community backlash shut down conversations about the potential merger until 2014, when the school board pushed the idea through. Funding for the new facility was procured through an April 2014 mediated settlement between the school board and the Rowan County Board of Commissioners.

The commissioners have agreed to contribute $27.5 million to the new building, which is expected to cost a total of $27.8 million. According to a final proposal for the new school, the state of Cleveland and Woodleaf elementaries made renovating those buildings unfeasible.

Roughly six properties were considered for the school. At first, the school board sought a neutral property roughly equidistant between the two schools and settled on a 35-acre parcel at Godbey Road and N.C. 801.

But residents of the community were not happy with the location, citing heavy traffic from a nearby quarry and the proximity of Southern Power, which abuts the property. The school board switched its focus to a roughly 40-acre property on Foster Road but again was rebuffed by area residents.

Finally, the board settled on a 40-acre property in Cleveland, behind the current Cleveland Elementary School. The site is the only one considered that has built-in access to water, sewer, fire and EMS services.

The new school will be more than 100,000 square feet and be capable of housing more than 800 students. It is scheduled to be complete in December 2018.

According to the final proposal, school officials believe that a new building will have a positive impact on students, offering new and inviting learning spaces. The merger would also reduce recurring expenditures by reducing administrative and operational staff. A new building would also offer energy savings over current facilities.

The proposal also lists projected bus route times for students. Currently, the shortest ride time at Cleveland or Woodleaf elementary is a 47-minute route at Woodleaf. The longest ride is a 69-minute route at Cleveland Elementary.

At the new facility, the shortest projected bus route would be 41 minutes, but the longest projected route — at 80 minutes — would be significantly longer than any existing route. Three other projected routes for the school clock in at a potential 79 minutes. However, none of these times would exceed the district’s maximum ride time of 90 minutes.

The Rowan-Salisbury Board of Education will meet at 4 p.m. Monday in the Wallace Educational Forum board room, 500 N. Main St. The meeting will begin with a closed session. A presentation of the final proposal will follow Celebrations, which begin at 5 p.m. The public hearing will begin at 6 p.m., with public comment to follow.

Contact reporter Rebecca Rider at 704-797-4264.