With contractors in place, the Royalton-Hartland School District is looking to begin construction on a $4.3 million expansion within the next three weeks.

The Royalton-Hartland School Board appointed contractors last week to work on a 14-classroom addition on the district’s elementary school. The expansion is the first of a two-phase $8.3 million capital project voters approved last year.

Although the addition is being added while students are in school instead of during the summer like most capital projects, Superintendent Kevin MacDonald said it shouldn’t disrupt classes.

“This is a wing that by and large will be off the elementary school and will be a construction project of itself,” he said.

Of the 14 new classrooms, four will be used by the district while the rest will be leased by the Orleans/Niagara Board of Cooperative Educational Services for special-education programs. BOCES had approached the district in 2007 about leasing space.

MacDonald said state aid will cover the work and, with the revenue generated through the BOCES deal, the project will be “tax neutral” for residents.

The contractors hired Thursday are Penfield-based Javen Construction for general work, Tonawanda-based Frey Electrical, Tonawanda-based Parise Mechanical for HVAC and Buffalo- based L&D Johnson Plumbing.

“I’m excited to get it started,“ MacDonald said. “It’s taken longer than people anticipated to have groundbreaking and we’re excited to get going.”

MacDonald said the work is expected to begin in the next three weeks and should be finished by August, when work on the $4 million second phase should begin.

The second phase will include a new gym floor at the high school, two new science labs, air conditioning in the high school auditorium and a cafeteria expansion that will allow more students to be served in fewer lunch periods. That work should be completed by next September.