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Imagine living where the sound of a jet taking off never fades, as if the aircraft were eternally hanging in one spot in midair.

That, say residents south of Painted Sky Elementary School, 12620 N. Woodburne Ave. in Oro Valley, is how life has sounded to them since the school opened six years ago.

The noise from the school's air compressors whooshes right into their back yards.

Now, Amphitheater Public Schools wants to build a three-classroom, 2,700-square-foot addition to Painted Sky on the southeast corner of school property — and neighbors are not happy.

Before turning in a petition signed by 16 people representing 12 homes near or adjacent to the school grounds, Kathy Shaheen last week asked the Amphi school board to consider moving the planned addition to another place on the school property. Shaheen's home of 16 years backs up to the school on the southeast corner of the lot.

"While I am apologetic for bringing this request to the meeting that this agenda item is to be voted on, the neighboring homeowners were not notified of these plans by the school until last Monday," she said, referring to the afternoon of Feb. 27, when Painted Sky Principal Bruce Weigold canvassed the neighborhood with Doug Aho, Amphi executive manager of student operations.

The two were passing out letters announcing the district's construction intentions, said Shaheen's husband, John, in a later telephone interview.

Pending board approval, Amphi was planning to begin construction April 1 on the $610,000 project so the new classrooms would be finished by the end of July, in time for the beginning of the 2006-2007 school year, Aho said at the meeting.

Three other sites on the school property were considered, but he and the project architect agreed that the southeast corner was the best option after considering building cost, how disruptive construction would be to classes while they are in session, easy tie-in to existing utilities and after-school use, Aho said.

"We can build it anywhere, but what I look at is cost," he said in a later interview.

Aho's numbers show Painted Sky was built to serve 800 students but has a slightly lower average daily attendance of 773, he said.

Even so, two classes are displaced, one meeting in the school library and one meeting in the art room — which displaces the art program in the process, Weigold told the board.

The school appears to be bursting at the seams even though attendance is lower than the population for which Painted Sky was built because the district asked for — and voters passed — an override last May with a promise from the district that fewer students would be assigned to each teacher, Aho said.

The school needed the addition more than a year ago, but lack of funding prevented the project from taking off, he said.

As it is, money from a developer contribution fund — not the Arizona School Facilities Board — will pay for any improvements the district makes at Painted Sky, he said, because the facilities board declared the school doesn't need the extra space.

Knowing that the school district has known about the apparent overcrowding for such a long time is little consolation to the Shaheens and their neighbors, John Shaheen said.

Rather, it's a source of added frustration for them.

The discussion between the district and the school's neighbors should have begun six to eight months ago, he said.

"Why wasn't conversation started among all those involved at the time?" he asked. "It makes us look like the bad guys. It's their lack of planning, and that has to be known."

All members of the Amphi board seemed surprised last week by the news that neighbors were unhappy with the construction plans. Several of them asked for the architect and for Kathy Shaheen to bring their drawings and photos up to the dais for closer examination.

Three board members acknowledged that they were "torn" and had no idea how to vote on the issue.

Board member Nancy Young Wright asked to continue the vote for two weeks until the next board meeting, which is Tuesday. Meanwhile, the board is to gather more information about other prospective locations for the new classrooms.

Aho said he has no personal stake in where the classroom additions go.

Though changing the site will add to the cost and delay construction, he said, "That's the board's decision. Whatever the board instructs, we'll do."