Austin Public Schools officials are preparing contingencies in advance of the $28.9 million bond referendum up for vote this November.

District officials met with architects and construction representatives Wednesday about how to coordinate Woodson Kindergarten Center’s heating, ventilation and air conditioning renovations with a possible expansion project — should the referendum pass — so that both projects run smoothly and neither interferes with the other. The referendum would pay for a new fifth- and sixth-grade school and additions to Woodson, and would not go towards HVAC renovations, which are already scheduled. The referendum is in response to the district’s increasing enrollment.

District officials have not talked about expansion designs, according to Mark Stotts, finance and operations director.

“It’s more about all the mechanical and electrical systems than anything else,” Stotts said about Wednesday’s meeting. “We’re not actually designing the building at this point.”

Woodson’s HVAC system was scheduled for renovation next year as part of a district-wide update. Workers updated Sumner and Neveln Elementary Schools this summer.

District officials could start talks about expansion designs before the referendum in order to keep a working schedule. The Woodson expansion would be planned for next summer, which means contractor bids would have to go out within a few days of the referendum in order to open the school in the fall of 2012.

“We might have to do a bit of preliminary work beforehand,” Stotts said.

What district officials aren’t talking about yet is what happens if the referendum fails. Stotts said there hasn’t been talk of contingency plans should voters reject the referendum, but the district would have to look at options right away.

The bottom line, according to Stotts, is district officials would have to find more space fast, and the district could have several options. One of those could be incurring more lease costs, which the district can levy for without taxpayers approval. Though costs would rise, it wouldn’t be as much as the $28.9 million referendum. The district can levy for up to about $752,000 in lease costs and is currently incurring a little more than $300,000 for various leases.

According to Stotts, if the district chose to levy the extra $400,000 over several years to pay for the Woodson expansion, it wouldn’t be able to lease more property, which wouldn’t solve the district’s increasing elementary enrollment.

“Do I think it’s very practical? No,” Stotts said. “I don’t know what we’d do at the elementary school level or the middle school level. Anything is possible, but we haven’t even talked about it.”

Several schools are over capacity this year, most notably Woodson, which has 390 students, and Banfield Elementary School, which has about 580 students, 25 more than last year. Southgate Elementary School was over capacity last year and remains at about 537 students as well.