Leaks in the Gaffney High roof could cost the school district an estimated $600,000 in repair work in the coming months.

The school board voted unanimously Monday to hire a new engineering firm to help the district make decisions on replacing the 10- year-old roofs over the Gaffney High auditorium, the main gymnasium and cafeteria. The new Gaffney High School opened in August of 2000.

The engineering firm will bring a recommendation to the school board on how to proceed with the roof repairs.

The roof work was not included in a $10 million lawsuit settlement the school district received in November of 2005 from USF&G Surety, the bonding company which provided the performance bond for Gaffney High contractor Mitchell Construction.

The settlement money was used to reimburse the school district for previous repairs and to pay Cherokee Masonry to repair all masonry defects at Gaffney High School. Virtually all of the exterior brick was replaced over the course of a year.

The proposed Gaffney High roof work is necessary because previous patching has worn out, district maintenance director John Burchstead said.

“We knew we were probably going to need to do some more work on the Gaffney High roof at some point in the future,” Burchstead said. “We put a polyurethane coat on some areas of the roof just so we could extend the life of the roof as long as possible. We hope once we get the roofs replaced that this will hopefully stop the leaks.”

The school district has a couple of options for funding the Gaffney High roof repairs. Finance director Ben Childs said the district could look into using a federal school roofing contract and school construction bonds to pay for the roof repairs.

The school board referred the Gaffney High roof repairs project to its building committee for further discussion.

School trustee Donnie Lee Smith said he would like to find a permanent solution to the problems with the Gaffney High roof.

“How many times do we have to get advice on what to do to fix this problem?” Smith asked school trustees at Monday’s meeting. “It just seems like it rolls around a lot.”