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The Steamboat Springs School Board approved an agreement Monday with Steamboat 700 developers to share the costs of a potential new school.

The school could be needed to educate about 400 new students as a result of Steamboat 700, a proposed development seeking annexation just west of Steamboat Springs.

Board members voted, 4-0, to approve the agreement, which stipulates Steamboat 700 developers would pay 47.2 percent of the estimated $30 million cost - in today's dollars - to construct the school and expand Steamboat Springs High School. Board member Lisa Brown did not attend the meeting.

Steamboat 700 Principal and Project Manager Danny Mulcahy also couldn't attend the meeting because he was out of town. Superintendent Shalee Cunningham presented the agreement to the board. She said Steamboat Springs School District officials will ask Mulcahy to sign the agreement when he returns.

The kindergarten through eighth grade school would accommodate 600 students and cost an estimated $25 million. The high school would be expanded by 17,000 square feet, at an estimated cost of $5 million.

Steamboat 700 would pay for its portion of the project by dedicating a half percent real estate transfer fee to the district. That would be paid until the developer's share of the cost is met, regardless about how long it takes.

The agreement also stipulated that the district would not be responsible for the costs associated with an off-site pedestrian underpass at Routt County Road 42. Title companies would collect the real estate transfer fees and distribute them to the school district, which would deposit them in a separate account that would be tracked and reconciled annually.

Board member John DeVincentis asked whether Steamboat 700 still would pay nearly half the cost of a new school if building costs increased. Cunningham said it would.

Board members seemed pleased with the agreement.

"That was an awesome example in patience and understanding," board member Laura Anderson said.

The proposed Steamboat 700 development includes construction of about 2,000 homes in 20 years, on nearly 508 acres.