A challenging renovation project and a cluster of overcrowded schools in southwestern Fairfax County have created a massive challenge for public school officials.

The Fairfax County School Board decided last week to begin developing a comprehensive process to gather community feedback about what to do with the 57-year-old Clifton Elementary School and how to address severe overcrowding at several nearby elementary schools.

“It is very important that the process be very fair,” said school board member Liz Bradsher, who represents Springfield District, where the bulk of the affected schools are located.

A feasibility study suggested a number of options for addressing the problems jointly. One suggestion, closing Clifton Elementary, already has parents organizing in protest.

“The school is such a huge part of our community. We would really hate to see it go,” said PTA President Patti Hopkins, explaining that the parents of some current students also attended the school and that Clifton residents “have an emotional attachment to it.”

Clifton Elementary has about 380 students and 23 classrooms, compared to the standard for newer schools in the county, which are typically built for 950 students with 38 classrooms, according to the feasibility study. While the school is not over capacity, it does not have space for full-day kindergarten classrooms and offers specialized classes like art in regular classrooms, rather than a dedicated space.

The school, which has a well and a septic system, is the only one in the county not on public water. The topography of the school site creates physical constraints that further limit its expansion and would increase the renovation cost by about 36 percent, when compared to other elementary school renovations.

Over the last 15 years, the wells that serve the school have failed water quality tests several times and the school has supplied bottled water during those periods, according to the study. The county has spent tens of thousands of dollars maintaining and treating the well water over the years. Also, fire sprinklers cannot be installed with well water.

Despite its challenges, Hopkins says the school facility is adequate. “It has not adversely affected the staff or the children at all,” she said. “It is an older building … but it’s not in dire need of repair, in my opinion.”

While deciding the fate of the Clifton school site, school officials are simultaneously trying to remedy overcrowding at a number of elementary schools in southwestern Fairfax County, particularly at Colin Powell and Eagle View Elementary Schools. They want to review the two issues within one study process, although some Clifton parents argue that the problems are unrelated.

Eagle View is projected to be about 375 students over capacity by the 2013-14 school year and Powell, Centreville Elementary and London Towne Elementary are all expected to be more than 100 students over capacity by that time. In addition, planned residential development and the demographics of the area, which has growing Asian and Hispanic populations, are expected to drive future growth, according to the report.

A boundary study involving a dozen or more schools, combined with construction — either a new elementary school adjacent to Liberty Middle School, or additions at existing schools — could be needed to make room for all of the new students expected to enroll in coming years, according to schools staff.

Bradsher says the feasibility study is a starting point, but it raises many other questions. For example, it will require more detailed cost comparisons of types of additions versus building a new school. Officials could examine doing small-scale renovations at Clifton Elementary instead of a full renovation or closing the school, she noted.

“There may be options out there that have yet to be identified,” Bradsher said. “I’m trying to do the best thing for all of [the involved] communities and the best thing for the county taxpayers.”

The next step is to develop a community feedback process, expected to be presented to the school board in September.