Although the gym roof at Wareham High School was fixed over the Christmas vacation, the rest of the roof is still in a state of utter disrepair, and school officials are hoping to get some grant money to help fix it.

The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday voted to approve Wareham High School Principal Scott Palladino's request to apply for a Massachusetts State Building Authority (MSBA) grant that would cover 58% to 64% of the estimated $1 million it will cost to fix the rest of the roof.

The MSBA requires that school districts get local approval -- in this case, Selectmen approval -- before applying for grants.

"We have multiple classrooms that have leaks," but the hallways are even worse off, Palladino said.

Palladino pointed out that while the estimate stands at $1 million, the estimate for the gym roof was $110,000, but the school was able to do the repairs for approximately $69,000. He said he hopes that the repairs to the rest of the roof can also be done for less than the current estimate.

If the MSBA chooses to award the grant to Wareham, which is not a sure thing, the rest of the money for repairs would have to be approved by Town Meeting voters.

Selectman Judy Whiteside was a teacher at Wareham High School until last June, and agreed that the situation is unacceptable.

In addition to the risk of injury from slipping and falling -- which has already happened, according to Palladino -- the moisture from the multiple leaks is causing mold to grow.

Palladino says that while the school has tried to keep up with the leaks by patching the roof, the type of roof that the school has makes it difficult to do so. The rubber membrane on the roof is held down by rocks.

"The issue has been trying to find the leaks because you have to shovel thousands of pounds of rocks," he said.