The east wing corridor roof of the John W. Decas Elementary School is in rough shape, and the school’s boiler is not much better.

Voters will decide the future of the roof at Fall Town Meeting on Oct. 26, but, for now, the school must make do with a roof and boiler that are 40 – 50 years old – as old as the building itself, school district Finance Manager Michael MacMillan said.

“We’ve applied to the Massachusetts School Building Authority [MSBA] for the accelerated repair program … that is a program they have to replace … components of a building,” MacMillan said. “We applied to have the boiler and part of the roof of Decas replaced. … If we go through the whole process, and we get to construction, they reimburse us up to 70 percent of the costs involved.”

About three-quarters of the roof was replaced a few years ago, MacMillan said, and while the new sections are just fine, the old section is “in dire need of repair.”

“There are only so many patches you can do,” MacMillan said. “We’ve patched it a ton, and we will continue to do so. That is an ongoing cost that will be reduced, if we replace it.”

The boiler, also original to the building is also constantly being repaired and patched, but it is “increasingly difficult to get the parts, because the companies might not be in business anymore.”

“You can imagine how environmentally-friendly [the boiler] is, and how efficient and effective it is,” MacMillan continued. “MSBA agreed with us, so fingers crossed we get [approval].”

MacMillan said the first step that will be put before the town at Town Meeting is a feasibility study, which will determine the cost of the work that will need to be done.

“‘Feasibility study’ feels like a bit of a misnomer, because it’s all the planning, the bidding for construction … the designer, the project manager, and all that stuff,” MacMillan said.

The town will be reimbursed in “chunks”, as the project progresses, MacMillan said, and estimated the cost of feasibility study will be between $50,000 and $70,000.

“It’s a little bit difficult to estimate, because there are two different projects – the roof and the boiler,” MacMillan said. “You’re obviously not going to get the same company to do both.”

MacMillan said if the feasibility study is approved, the district will go before the town again in April 2016 at Spring Town Meeting to get approval for the cost of construction.