A plan to upgrade four Salem school elevators that don’t meet standards outlined by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has been cut back.

The only elevator to receive the upgrades will be one at Woodbury School. Three others at Salem High School will have to wait, officials said.

The upgrades were initially part of the school district’s capitol improvement plan but had to be slashed because of increases in special education and retirement costs.

Superintendent Michael Delahanty also said the costs of the elevator repairs were more than expected.

School board members agreed that Woodbury’s 20-yearold elevator was the priority. Repairing it will cost $56,936.

Despite the delays, Jack Messenheimer, the district’s director of maintenance said, the elevators at Salem High School are still safe.

“The lack of repairs will not hurt the special education population,” he said.

All of the elevators passed state inspection, just not ADA guidelines, he said.

Officials from the Department of Education told Salem they will not be fined since they were constructed before 1992 and are not required to meet ADA standards.

Rather, it is recommended that the district accommodates special needs students by moving their classes to a location that doesn’t require the use of an elevator.

Delahanty said future renovations to the high school’s elevators should bring them up to ADA standards by 2009 if approved by voters.

Messenheimer said work on Woodbury’s elevator will begin after school is out for the summer and will take about 15 days.

The town’s three other elementary schools have elevators that meet state and ADA standards.