SPRINGFIELD - The town of Springfield in Livingston Parish will get a new high school campus if voters in the area approve a $14 million bond issue.

The Livingston Parish School Board will announce plans to call an election in April Thursday night. Most buildings on the current Springfield High campus date back to the 80s. Throw in overcrowded classrooms and Principal Spencer Harris feels a new campus is long overdue.

"Well it's a desperate need for the community," he said. "We're overcrowded at the elementary levels, middle school and here at the high school. So we're just in dire need of expanding in a fourth school."

Harris says the new campus could be built within three years if voters approve the bond to fund the project. Right now, 15 temporary buildings house students across the three schools in the Springfield area. The elementary school is experiencing the most overcrowding, according to Harris.

"We don't have room to put another building on our campus. We're just at a point where we're landlocked. The community is growing and we're needing to accommodate that growth," he said.

The school system already has the land to build the new school, according to school board member Jim Richardson. Richardson says the committee behind a new school has been fundamental in spreading the word about the project to the community. School leaders say it is now up to the Springfield voters to decide on its future.

"Well one thing is it's important that we get out and support our schools. That's the future of our community. That's the future of our kids," said Harris. "If we're going to invest in anything. We need to invest in our students and our kids, because that's our future."

School leaders plan to meet with architects in the coming weeks to go over plans for the new campus.