School District of Lancaster parents wondering how construction projects at four district schools will affect their children can find out this month.

SDL is hosting information meetings at the four schools — Wharton, Washington, Ross and Lafayette elementary — where $48 million worth of upgrades have begun.

The meetings will be held at 6:30 p.m. on the following dates:

•Lafayette — Aug. 21

•Wharton — Aug. 26

•Washington — Aug. 27

•Ross — Aug. 28

School officials and architects will be available to explain how the projects will proceed and what changes and disruptions students are likely to experience.

Parents and students also will be able to review detailed plans of the improvements and tour the schools.

"We want to tell the public what to expect and show them what to expect before the project is actually under way," Superintendent Pedro Rivera said.

"It's our attempt to be transparent throughout this whole process."

Ice cream and other refreshments will be served at each meeting.

Workers at all four schools are removing asbestos, which Rivera said is proceeding on schedule.

As a precaution, the air inside each building is being monitored for asbestos particles.

The schools also will get major infrastructure improvements, including new electrical, heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems.

Additions will be built to provide space for more classrooms and, at some schools, new gymnasiums, libraries, cafeterias and offices.

Major construction is expected to begin in the spring, and all four projects are scheduled for completion by the start of the 2010-11 school year.

Students should experience few disruptions in the coming school year, Greg Collins, SDL's coordinator of capital projects, said.

Classrooms may be stripped of flooring materials and ceiling tiles, and some playground areas may be closed off to provide space for construction equipment, he said.

Once the additions are built, students will be moved to the new structures so workers can concentrate on renovations.

The original plan was to keep all students in the schools during construction, but the district may decide to move some Wharton and Ross students to other sites because of space limitations, Collins said.

The relocation would likely occur in the 2009-10 school year, he said, but no decision has been made.

The four projects are the first phase of a proposed $198 million upgrade of 16 SDL schools that is expected to take about 10 years to complete.

E-mail: bwallace@lnpnews.com