By a narrow vote, the school building committee chose to construct a new school at the current Lexington Street location instead of building off-site at the former Fernald or the Stigmatine site.

Members of the School Building Committee filled out ballots on Monday, Nov. 14, placing a number next to each of the three options. The first option was given three points, with the second getting two points, and the first only getting one.

The final tally from the 16 voting members was 35 votes to build at the current site at 617 Lexington St., 31 votes for the former Fernald Developmental Center, and 30 votes for the Stigmatine site at 554 Lexington St., which is roughly 50 acres of land.

The final tally was close, with seven members choosing the current high school as their preferred option, five going for the Stigmatine, and only four choosing the Fernald.

Surprisingly, both Mayor Jeannette McCarthy and Superintendent Drew Echelson voted for the Stigmatine site as their preferred option. On Monday night, the same site was on the Waltham City Council docket for an appropriation of $18 million to buy the lot, but the location had seemingly fallen out of favor with the committee in the past, falling behind Fernald as a likely option.

After the meeting, Echelson said he voted for the Stigmatine site because he thought it best allowed the district to deliver on an educational plan and campus master plan, as well as minimize disruption to students during construction.

In comparison, the current high school location would not allow for the entire campus master plan to be implemented because of space constraints. The new high school would be able to house 1,830 students. The population of the current high school is 1,600 students.

Echelson said he chose the Fernald last because it presented too many hurdles to jump through in order to get acceptance from the state, even if it allowed for plenty of space to achieve both plans.

Also after the meeting, McCarthy gave the same reasons as Echelson for why she chose the Stigmatine site as her preferred option.

“Looking at all of the three sites, I felt that was the one that met those two goals,” she said, referring to the Stigmatine allowing for both the educational and master plans.

The members who chose the current high school as their top option were Waltham High School principal Greg DeMeo, parent Amy Brown, architect Fabrizio Caruso, assistant superintendent Paul Maiorano, director of school facilities John Pinzone, human resources representative George Frost, and retired school building chairman David King.

Joining Echelson and McCarthy in voting for Stigmatine as their top choice were parent Colette Casey-Brenner, School Committee member John Frassica, and city auditor Paul Centofanti.

The members who voted for the Fernald as their top choice were city purchasing agent Joseph Pedulla, director of buildings Don Cusano, school business administrator Leanne Wilcinski, and administrator of pupil personnel services Nadene Stein.

With the vote, the building committee officially recommends to the school committee that they choose the current location for a new high school.

McCarthy, who chose the current high school as her least favorite option, said the building committee now needs to address three key issues – the access road to the school, the orientation and configuration of the building, and any conservation issues related to the adjacent Paine Estate.

As far as the price tag for the new school, officials say they don’t know the figure.

At the meeting, McCarthy mentioned recent reports from news outlets that the cost of the new high school would be $282 million or more, which were rough cost estimates reported by the Waltham News Tribune back in August of this year, but she said such numbers have yet to be hammered out. If the price tag of $280 million or more were to hold true, Waltham’s share of the project would likely be between $170 million and $195 million, also according to rough estimates released earlier this year.

McCarthy did say that a high school of the size necessary would likely be in the $250 million range, at least.

Frassica, who voted for the Stigmatine as his first option, emphasized to the committee that the educational plan was the most important aspect to think about when casting their vote.

“We’re doing this so our students … get an education that others are getting in the commonwealth,” he said, adding that offering more vocational programs and new science labs, among other improvements, would result in a more varied and improved education plan.

Echelson echoed those sentiments, saying he wants to make sure the school district is “affording each and every Waltham student who wants those opportunities to experience that as part of their educational experience.”

There will be public hearings about the preferred site on Wednesday, Nov. 30 and Tuesday, Dec. 6, both at the high school.