SMITHFIELD - Johnston school leaders say the county will need to spend $124.6 million to build new schools and upgrade existing ones to keep pace with growth.

The Johnston County Board of Education on Tuesday signed off on an early plan that lays out school-building needs.

The plan calls for two new elementary schools in Clayton - one in the Riverwood community and another along N.C. 42 West. Each school would cost about $20.6 million, including land purchases.

New schools are needed in those areas to ease crowding at Riverwood and West Clayton elementary schools, said Patrick Jacobs, chief operations officer for Johnston schools.

That's especially true for the western side of Clayton, said schools Superintendent Ed Croom. "We should have already had that one under way," he told the school board.

The plan also calls for adding 12 classrooms each at River Dell and Benson elementary schools, for a total cost of $8 million.

River Dell was built for 586 students, but has more than 800, Jacobs said. Seven mobile units are on campus.

Benson Elementary is slightly over capacity and has two mobile units, Jacobs said.

Under the plan, North Johnston Middle would undergo a $4.4 million renovation to become an elementary school. A new elementary school is needed in Micro to ease crowding at Micro-Pine Level and Glendale-Kenly elementary schools, Jacobs said.

Micro-Pine Level, with five mobile classrooms, has about 140 students more than its capacity, Jacobs said. Glendale-Kenly is about 70 students over capacity and has five mobile units.

Since school leaders want to change North Johnston Middle into an elementary school, they want to build a new middle school in the community. The current middle school campus is landlocked with no room to grow, Jacobs said.

A new middle school, with land included, is expected to cost $23.5 million.

The county will also need an $18.5 million middle school in the Powhatan area near Clayton, according to the plan. The school system already has land for the school next to Powhatan Elementary.

The plan also says the county will need to buy land in Cleveland or McGee's Crossroads for a new middle school.

Cleveland Middle is about 200 students over capacity and has 14 mobile classrooms on its campus, Jacobs said.

Four Oaks Middle needs a 17-classroom expansion that is expected to cost $5 million, according to the plan.

No new high schools are planned, but four are slated for $1 million renovations: Clayton, North Johnston, Smithfield-Selma and South Johnston.

West Johnston could get a $1 million athletic field house, and Princeton could get a $4 million gymnasium.

An additional $10 million in the plan would go to the school system's bus garage and operations facility and for new technology.

For more than a decade, Johnston has used standard floor plans for new schools so the school system doesn't have to pay for new design drawings every time it builds a school.

But board member Keith Branch said it might be a good idea to look into new architecture and construction plans in the weak economy.

The template mentality was originally a cost-saving measure, Croom said.

The school system could also re-think the idea of always building one-story schools, said board member Donna White. If a tract of land isn't big enough for a sprawling campus, she said, a two-story building could be doable.

Jacobs said it was cheaper to heat and cool one-story schools.

School board Chairman Larry Strickland said now might be the ideal time for the county to buy land for new schools, even if it can't afford to build those schools right away.

But nothing is set in stone.

"This is just a working plan," Croom said.