The Waltham School Building Committee is considering the former Fernald Developmental Center property for the location of a proposed new high school. The project could set the state record for most expensive high school, coming in at an estimated $299.6 million, the Boston Globe reported.

The proposal comes after Waltham parents and community members petitioned for a new high school to address overcrowding and aging facilities at the existing high school, which was constructed in 1968.

Fernald, a former facility for adults with developmental disabilities, housed over 2,500 residents at its peak and has been plagued with allegations of abuse and mistreatment from facility attendants. The last residents left in 2014, with the city purchasing the land shortly thereafter.

Aside from steep construction costs, Fernald could also cause problems as construction crews break ground on the site. While there is no marked cemetery on the facility’s grounds, an unmarked cemetery may exist on the property in a small, enclosed area, according to a 2009 project notification form from the Massachusetts Historical Commission. The discovery of a cemetery could cause builders to alter or delay construction plans.

Other options under consideration include building a new school on the Waltham High School plot or renovating a wing of the existing school, to be attached to a new building, according to a Nov. 11 Boston Globe article.

If members of the Waltham School Building Committee vote to build on the existing Waltham high school location, it could cost an estimated $283.5 million, the Globe reported. Although lower than the estimated costs for building at Fernald, this price tag would still break the records set by Newton North High School, which cost almost $200 million in 2010, according to the article.

The new high school would be open to students starting fall 2021, according to the Globe.

—Abby Patkin