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During a school board meeting Monday night, the Prince George's County school board approved a plan to allocate $200,000 from renovation projects at Laurel High School to Crossland High School in Temple Hills for a new auditorium in the school.

The funds are left over from a $28 million renovation project to Laurel High School that added an auditorium and classroom space to the school at a less-than-expected cost of $23 million. The money will help pay for designs and architectural planning for the auditorium.

School board members and political representatives in District 4 campaigned to have the $200,000 allocated to pay for planning designs for a new auditorium at Crossland High. The school board approved the realignment 8-0, with board member Heather Iliff of District 2 abstaining from voting.

State Sen. C. Anthony Muse (D-Dist.26) of Fort Washington and Councilman Tony Knotts (D-Dist. 8) of Temple Hills were at the meeting along with about 20 Crossland High School students and parents who complained that the school's aging facilities are in need of replacement and have not kept up with the academic growth of students over the years.

Board Vice Chairman Ron Watson (At large) said the board had already eyed Crossland High for improvements in the coming years and that allocating the funds to the school was a natural fit after student board member Edward Burroughs, who attends Crossland, petitioned for the funding.

"Once the [Laurel High] project was complete, the board came down to ask what's the best way to use the funds," he said. "Because the auditorium is in the board's list of objectives, we were happy to oblige."

The school district did not immediately give a timeline on when construction would begin on the auditorium, pending completion of design plans.

Total project costs are estimated to be $5.7 million, according to Lawrence Fryer, schools chief operating officer. Funds for the design still must be approved by the County Council before the request is sent to the state by November for planning and construction funding.

The school was built in 1963 and had steady additions throughout the 1970s. But it wasn't until the 2000s that renovations began in the school again, with improvements to classrooms and the construction of a walkway in 2006. Science classrooms are expected to be renovated in 2012.

"Looking at this school, they had 90 percent of their seniors apply to a four-year college over the last three years," Muse said. "I am hoping we can work together to find the funds so we can finance this much-needed auditorium."

Funding for the planning and design phase of the Crossland High auditorium was approved by the school board in the fiscal 2009 budget. But advocates said the lengthy process of getting funding for construction is only hurting the students at the school.

"[The condition of the auditorium] is a disservice to young people," said Knotts. "Creative arts programs are constrained with limited space."

E-mail Joshua Garner at jgarner@gazette.net.