After a state application to renovate the aging Tisbury School fell through, members of the town and school community are hoping to kick start a new effort.

Last April, the school applied to the Massachusetts School Building Authority to be included on a list of schools that would receive funding for building construction. Between 150 and 200 schools apply for funding through the MSBA each year. In December, the school learned that it had not made the list.

The Tisbury school committee will hold a meeting next Wednesday at 5 p.m. in the school library to brainstorm plans for the future. Town officials and parents are invited to attend.

“It’s completely and solely for the purpose of discussing next steps,” said Tisbury school principal John Custer, who is a school alumnus. “We really need to start to discuss — okay, what are some viable, possible options?”

Elementary school is oldest on Island.

Ivy Ashe

Elementary school is oldest on Island.

Ivy Ashe

Built in 1929, the Tisbury School is the oldest elementary school building on the Island. The gymnasium was built in 1938, and a major addition was built in the mid 1990s, when a library, two kindergarten classrooms and two science classrooms were built.

The school has followed an Islandwide trend of slow but steadily increasing enrollment over the past few years. This year there were eight new students, and a total enrollment of 324 in grades kindergarten through eight, according to a school census taken in October. The school has consistently been recognized for academic excellence through the years.

In 2011, in response to both the growing student body and the deteriorating condition of the building itself, a facility needs committee was formed. By the next year, a feasibility study had been conducted, which outlined five options. They included renovating the existing building, building another expansion and building an entirely new school at a different site. Cost estimates were steep, all above $40 million.

Chief among the maintenance concerns for the building was the state of the roof, which leaked and was poorly insulated. At a special town meeting in December 2013, the town approved a $305,000 borrowing article to replace the roof. That work was completed in the fall.

At last year’s annual town meeting voters also approved money to upgrade the school’s security system.

But the overall question of what to do about the building remains. At a school committee meeting in May of 2014, discussion focused on a possible three to five-year project estimated at about $30 million, minutes show.

A facilities consultant toured the school in October and provided a list of recommendations, including replacing ceiling tiles and providing better custodial training. Discussion of the possible construction projects was put on hold until the state grant decision arrived.

Mr. Custer said that Wednesday’s meeting will be a chance to get back on track.

“It just sort of stagnated,” he said of the school building project. After the decision to pursue the MSBA option, the group decided to “see where that gets us. Our hope was, we need to wait and see.”

Now, Mr. Custer said, the school must be more proactive as it works on both its short-term and long-term goals.

“We could apply again,” he said. “Applications are due in April, and we may do that, but decisions aren’t really made until the following fall or winter . . . in the meantime, I think the school committee wants to look at some other options [like] what would the town be able and willing to do. Because we know we have to do something.”