VISTA -- The Vista Unified School District officials and the company it hired to build a new magnet high school campus in eastern Oceanside have come up with a new agreement to knock $2.5 million from the cost of the project, officials said Wednesday.

The school board is expected to vote on the contract amendment with the builder, EDGE Development, at its regular meeting May 15. A decision could end months of uncertainty over the future of the controversial Mission Vista High School campus.

Last month, district officials said they didn't have enough money to finish the project and would have to consider three options: ending the contract and seeking a new builder; scaling back the project; or negotiating a new deal.

District officials, including Superintendent Joyce Bales, met last week with the Temecula-based contractor and worked out an agreement, officials said.

The new deal would bring the total of the contract with to $55 million, said Donna Caperton, chief business officer for the district.

A variety of factors allowed the company to cut costs for the project, including reduced scope and market-driven savings, said Steve Rodgers, senior vice president of operations.

As the company was negotiating with the district, it was also negotiating with its subcontractor to bring the price down further, he said.

All told, district officials expect to pay more than $95 million on the campus. That price includes the $55 million contract with EDGE, roughly $11 million for modular classrooms, and the more than $18 million Vista Unified paid to buy the 66-acre site, near the intersection of Highway 76 and Melrose drive.

Vista Unified has enough money to build the campus as long as it uses $1.2 million in savings from building Maj. Gen. Raymond Murray High School, $2 million in left over from Rancho Minerva Middle School construction and $1 million from the general fund, Caperton said.

The $2 million from Rancho Minerva is money the district saved by using redevelopment money to pay for the multipurpose room at the campus, freeing up district construction money to pay for the magnet high school, district officials have said.

EDGE's work on the campus includes most of the site preparation work as well as building a gymnasium, theater and administrative building.

With the savings, the district will be able to pay for a brick-and-mortar administrative building instead of the modular construction they expected to use.

School officials said they are hoping that the $4 million the district has set aside for any unexpected costs will still be available at the end of the project to build a cafeteria, according to a staff report.

Work at the site has slowed to a near standstill as the company waits to find out what's going to happen with the contract, Rodgers said. They're ready to get back to work very quickly if the contract is approved next week.

"We hope that the project is able to move forward and we can go to work and get the school build," he said. "That's our goal."

Caperton said she expects the school to open on time next year, though all of the work may not be finished.

"School will definitely start in August of 2009," if the board approves the recommendation, Caperton said. "All of the classrooms and the sidewalks and the fields will be done."

Next week's meeting is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. May 15 at the district office, 1234 Arcadia Ave. in Vista.

Contact staff writer Stacy Brandt at (760) 901-4009 or sbrandt@nctimes.com.