The scope of the high school renovation project in Mt. Lebanon increased somewhat Monday as school directors approved plans for a roughly $115 million project that will include an eight-lane swimming pool and a third gymnasium.

After a lengthy discussion and public comment session, the board voted 7-2 to give architects for Celli-Flynn Brennan permission to present the initial schematic drawings to the state Department of Education. School directors Mark Hart and James Fraasch cast the dissenting votes.

The submittals would account for PlanCon parts A and B, the beginning stages of a state-regulated construction process that has 11 steps ranging from A to K.

Until Monday, district officials had indicated the district's borrowing threshold was about $110 million. To go above that limit, state law would require the district to take the issue to a referendum.

In recent months school directors had urged the architects and construction manager to come up with a plan that included most of the priorities identified by school and community groups involved in the renovation planning process but still keep the price at the borrowing threshold.

On Monday, Board President Alan Silhol said the borrowing limit has been increased to $115.5 million. Finance Director Jan Klein said the $115.5 million figure was an updated number and that it could change again since it is dependent on the district's revenue levels and the type of financing used on the project.

After considerable public comment in which residents urged the board to consider including a third gym -- the number of gyms had been reduced to two in the plans -- and other athletic amenities in the renovation, the board decided to use the additional funds to include a third gym and to increase the size of the pool from six to eight lanes.

Mr. Silhol, however, cautioned that plans approved Monday were preliminary and subject to change as the board moves forward in the process.

While the vote allows the architects and construction manager to submit the initial plans to the education department for approval, it does not lock the district into any specific plan at this point.

School Director Sue Rose made a motion to delay the vote by "a week or two," but that motion failed. The majority of the board appeared comfortable with the vote after they were assured by the architects that changes could be made to the plan during the approval process by the state.

The renovation plan calls for the retention of buildings B, D, E and F but includes a "like new" renovation for each. It adds buildings H and I, which would make up an athletic building, and a new academic wing called building G. The present buildings A and C would be eliminated.

The athletic building would be constructed across Horsman Drive from the rear of the current high school and would be connected by a glass-enclosed bridge.

In other business, the board approved a contract with Dr. Tim Steinhauer, who was hired last week, that runs from July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2013 and includes an annual starting salary of $140,000.

Dr. Steinhauer, who is an assistant superintendent in the North Allegheny School District, will replace John Allison, who is leaving Mt. Lebanon to become superintendent of the Wichita Public School District in Kansas.