Working under a tight timeline, Warren County Public Schools’ leaders are planning to delay opening a $20 million replacement for Cumberland Trace Elementary School until the start of school in August 2021.

While briefing the district’s board of education members last week, WCPS Chief Financial Officer Chris McIntyre called the possibility of completing construction of the school by December of next year “remote.” He urged against opening a new school midway through the school year.

“That’s an unrealistic expectation that does not give us a good transition plan,” McIntyre told the board Aug. 15.

Previously, project completion for the school was expected to take 15 to 18 months. But on Wednesday, McIntyre told the Daily News that the school district is looking at finishing construction by April 2021.

The building would still be in use, such as for teacher training sessions, before its opening that August, he said. However, the demanding work of getting classrooms ready and moving records from the old school building would take place during the summer, he said.

“Transitioning a building in the middle of a school year … was not an optimal time,” he said.

The change is not unprecedented within the school district. Jody Richards Elementary School opened in 2012 despite construction being completed during the previous winter.

Part of the delay comes from lost construction time due to weather challenges. During last week’s meeting, board member Garry Chaffin noted that there have been 19 “rain-out” days for the project.

Crews have been doing earth work to construct a solid building pad for further construction. When it rains, workers can’t use their equipment without it sinking into the soil and must also wait for soil conditions to dry out before relocating it to another site, McIntyre said.

Despite the challenges, McIntyre said the project is ready for workers to move forward to the next step.

“We are well prepared for them to start pouring footers for the second week of September,” he said.

During last week’s meeting, the board awarded early contracts and purchase orders for a group of bids related to the school’s concrete, masonry, HVAC and plumbing and electrical components. A total of $1 million was approved to allow contractors to start ordering building materials.