Brookfield school directors on Wednesday awarded $23,289,717 in contracts for construction of the district’s new school.

Each of the five contracts had multiple bids and directors said they had expected to spend about $23,999,500, so the projects came in at $709,783 under budget.

The total cost of the project is pegged at $35 million, which includes other items like buying the land and installing geothermal pipes on Bedford Road at state Route 82, the site of the new school, director Joseph Pasquerilla said.

The new building will house all of the district’s students and construction could start as soon as the end of this month, said Timothy Filipovich, board president.

Some work has already been done, like installing the geothermal pipes expected to help reduce heating and cooling costs, and the new school should be ready in late 2010.

The district’s current buildings will be demolished except for Brookfield Elementary School because it’s in Pennsylvania, making it ineligible to be part of an Ohio school project. The district plans to sell that building, Filipovich said.

Residents in 2007 approved a 7.4-mill, 28-year levy to help build the new school. Any money left over could be used for future projects not funded by the state, according to a March article in The Herald.

The contracts approved Wednesday were awarded to:

• W.T. Leone’s Tri-Area Electric Co. Inc., Youngstown, $3,552,613 for electrical work.

• York Mahoning Mechanical Contractors Inc., Youngstown, $2,838,000 for heating, ventilation and air conditioning.

• Komar Plumbing Co. Inc., Youngstown, $1,057,804 for plumbing.

• S.A. Communale Co. Inc., Warren, Ohio, $223,500 for fire protection.

• Hudson Construction Inc., Hermitage, $15,617,800 for general trades.

In other business, school directors plan to hire a new superintendent at their June 17 regular meeting, which starts at 7:30 p.m. in the high school auditorium. The board is still interviewing candidates, Filipovich said.

The contract for current superintendent Steve Stohla isn’t being renewed when it expires June 30, which directors have said was an amicable decision between the two parties.