---

ATTLEBORO - City officials have plans for $2 million in excess bonding authority approved earlier this year to replace the roof at the high school.

School Department Business Manager Marc Furtado said the school department plans to submit a "statement of interest" to the Massachusetts School Building Authority for approval of roof and other repairs to a total of six school buildings.

Projects range from replacing translucent wall panels at the high school gymnasium to fixing roof leaks at Hyman Fine, Studley and Hill Roberts elementary schools and conducting other repairs at Brennan and Wamsutta middle schools.

The projects, which will require exhaustive review and approvals from state officials, will first have to be approved by the school committee and the city council.

The council earlier this year authorized $7 million in borrowing to finance a massive roof replacement at the high school that is now nearing completion. However the low bid for the job came in at a much lower $5 million. The excess could be used to finance the city's portion of the cost of other pressing jobs. Furtado said the mayor is planning to submit the requests to the city council. The school committee is likely to vote later this month.

Altogether, Furtado said, the repairs to the six buildings are expected to cost between $4 and $5 million. If the projects are approved by the state, state reimbursement funds would cover about half the cost.

Furtado said the remaining bond authorization would be more than enough to cover the expense.