SCARBOROUGH – The committee charged with planning a new Wentworth Intermediate School last week presented recommendations on the placement of the school and its access road, as well on the demolition of the Bessworth child care building.

Paul Koziell, chairman of the 41-member committee, presented the recommendations to the Town Council and Board of Education last week as part of an update on the committee’s progress. The goal is to get a project for a new school on the town ballot in November.

The Wentworth building has been plagued with air quality and asbestos issues. Late in the fall, the school committee determined that a new school, rather than a rehabbed Wentworth, would be the best strategy for Scarborough.

The committee’s first recommendation is to build the new school toward the back of existing property, on the site where a playground now sits, in order to best use the land available.

Secondly, the committee believes the access road connecting the Wentworth Intermediate School campus with Scarborough Middle School should be located in front of the new school, not in the back as was proposed in the 2006 referendum.

The group also recommended the Bessworth building be demolished to make way for the new school, which the group said should accommodate 800 students in 40 classrooms.

The Board of Education is expected to act on four recommendations at a later date.

One school board member, Bob Mitchell, applauded the committee’s recommendations.

“I think they are great recommendations,” he said.

While the Board of Education mulls over the recommendations, Koziell said, committee members will be busy getting the word out about the need for a new Wentworth School, which serves students in grades three through five.

On March 15, members of the committee will be meeting with members of the Scarborough Rotary and bringing the group on a tour of the school. On March 23 at 7 p.m. and March 26 at 10 a.m., there will be community forums regarding future plans for the school and tours of the current facility.

Also, information will be going home with students and members of the committee will be discussing the project with parent associations at Wentworth and the elementary schools.

“The idea is to get the word out about the school so people understand it is not a want but a necessity,” Koziell said.

He said additional forums will be held every month between now and November.

At building committee’s next meeting on March 14, Dan Cecil, an architect from Harriman Architects and Engineers hired to help design the project, will present a draft drawing of the new school.