LEWISTON — A plan by the city to add six classrooms to Farwell Elementary School can proceed, according to the Maine Department of Education.

School Superintendent Bill Webster said his department will begin looking for contractors, perhaps before the year ends. He said plans call for having the classrooms ready for use by September 2016.

“To do that, we need to do a different kind of bid,” Webster said. “We can hire a contractor, we won’t really need an architect. But the only way we can proceed is to get a waiver from the state.”

The addition is to alleviate crowding at schools across the city, providing space for roughly 150 new students. That will let the city move all pre-kindergarten programs to Farwell, freeing up space in other schools.

A new, larger school planned for Franklin Pasture will not be ready for use for four years. Webster said the Farwell addition would give Lewiston students additional room until the new school is built.

Lewiston officials considered two options for expanding the school. The Planning Board, the School Committee and the City Council all voted to support borrowing $2.3 million to build an addition closer to Farwell’s building rather than leasing a temporary modular building.

But Webster said all school expansions, even those funded without state money, must be approved by the Maine Department of Education.

Normal state rules call for hiring an architect to design a building, then asking for proposals from several construction contractors before work can begin.

“That process alone would take three to four months,” Webster said. “(That delay) would be sufficient that it would cause this project to not be completed by the time school was open. It would more likely be completed next winter.”

Webster said Tuesday’s waiver from acting Education Commissioner William Beardsley lets Lewiston move more quickly.

“We have contractors that have made inquiries already,” Webster said. “We will request their qualifications by early December and we will select three firms to interview. If we complete that and make a selection by the middle of December, it’s not inconceivable that some groundwork can be done in December.”

staylor@sunjournal.com