The Board of Education last night agreed to postpone a referendum for capital projects, citing the weak economy and a concern for a taxpayer base already shouldering more than 92 percent of the district’s expenses.

Daniel J. O’Connor, who serves on the Board’s finance & facilities committee, which reviewed the 11 projects recommended by an ad hoc committee of the Board last month, said the finance committee was sensitive to the battered economy and believed “the time isn’t right” to ask the community for a special appropriation for capital needs, regardless of their legitimacy.

The ad hoc committee, comprised of 13 community members and seven district staff members, spent several months investigating the district’s facilities issues and issued a report to the Board in December ranking them in order of urgency. At the top of its list was Bear Tavern Elementary School where seven trailers are currently in use as classroom space and where a new full-day preschool program is expected to be housed in September 2010. The committee also made a strong case for an extension to the science wing at Central High School.

Roy Dollard, who also sits on the Board’s finance & facilities committee, stated that the ad hoc committee’s work was deeply appreciated and valuable because the group did the hard work of prioritizing the district’s facility needs. Dollard said that information will be useful when the economy improves and the Board can afford to tackle the larger facility issues.

With no referendum funding on the horizon, district officials have already been exploring other ways to chip away at that list. Superintendent Thomas F. Butler recently met with district administrators to review the current year’s spending plan and restrict future purchasing to items absolutely essential to their programs. Business administrator Bob Colavita is hoping Butler’s plan will squeeze some surplus from this year’s budget that can be used to pay for at least a couple of the district’s most critical capital projects.

At the request of Board member Armelle Daniels, who worried that postponing action on a referendum might relegate projects permanently to a back burner, committee chairman Jim Wulf agreed to have the group re-evaluate the project list in six months to see how or whether it should be modified.

Wulf said committee members had personally visited all sites and spoken with the principals and were well-informed about the needs.