NEWPORT BEACH

A special panel formed to address the Newport-Mesa Unified School District’s crumbling classrooms, leaky pipes and cracked roof this week continued to grapple with how to pay for the expensive repairs.

Members of the school district’s facilities advisory committee, a group of local business and community leaders convened by Supt. Robert Barbot, said they are nowhere near making such a decision yet. Last month, an architect hired by the district estimated that the total cost to repair and modernize schools would be at least $127 million, money the cash-strapped district does not have.

Financial options include selling district property, applying for state funds and asking voters to approve a school bond. Many committee members said they were concerned that the $127-million price tag does not include any seismic retrofitting.