This could be the year, Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School administrators say, that the school is finally accepted into a state-funded building program that could pay up to 40 per cent of the cost for a new school on the Oak Bluffs campus.

The Massachusetts School Building Authority, which has turned the school down for the past six years, has indicated that it’s ready to consider the high school for inclusion in 2022 — but only if all six towns can agree, high school committee chairman Amy Houghton said at a school committeee meeting last week.

“The MSBA has . . . asked us to show them our best foot forward, and the way that we need to do that is to assure them that we would make a good faith effort in trying to move through the feasibility study process and put forward a project,” Ms. Houghton said at the Jan. 20 meeting.

“They have come to us and said ‘You are on the short list,’” Ms. Houghton also said.

Built in 1959, the high school was last updated in 1995.

Maintenance costs have been on the rise in recent years as school leaders pay for a variety of repairs due to deteriorating infrastructure.

“We need to figure out how to build a new school,” Ms. Houghton said. “We’re putting dollar after dollar into systems that are antiquated . . . we have water dripping in.”

The state building program is funded by $.01 from every 6.25 cents in state sales tax, Ms. Houghton said, and provides much more than money to the schools it accepts.

“They bring expertise on building, expertise on funding strategies, expertise on design development, feasibility, procurement — all of those things. That’s the business they’re in . . . to build schools and to provide resources so that school districts are able to make necessary improvements to their schools,” she said.

A feasibility study, at the towns’ expense, is the first step toward developing a building project for which the MSBA would pay about 35 to 40 cents on the dollar, Ms. Houghton said.

In 2019, funding for a $1.4 million feasibility study at the school passed at every town meeting except Oak Bluffs, where voters — chafing under what some say is an unfair high school funding formula — overwhelmingly rejected it.

But in recent months, Ms. Houghton said, representatives from all six towns have taken part in meetings aimed at getting the high school project back on track.

The funding formula remains a stumbling block, with Oak Bluffs maintaining it is unfair to assess communities on enrollment alone without taking property values into account, while other towns balk at the prospect of higher assessments.

But Ms. Houghton said any extra financial burden to towns would be lessened greatly if the MSBA accepts the high school.

“The amount of money that the state would provide . . . is so significant that it may diminish any differences if the funding formula were to change,” she said.

To convince the state agency that all six towns are willing to work together this time, high school officials have asked the select boards to join in signing a letter of support drafted by school superintendent Dr. Matthew D’Andrea.

“We . . . agree to proceed through the process with a good faith effort,” the draft reads in part.

“We recognize that there is a significant need to explore construction alternatives and work with the community to develop a project that upgrades our systems and supports our school’s educational plan and Island population,” it concludes.

The West Tisbury select board has already voted to sign the letter of support. Oak Bluffs has the matter on its Tuesday board agenda and Tisbury’s board is holding a special meeting Wednesday to vote on the school committee’s request.

Other towns are also expected to act this week, with Mr. D’Andrea requesting responses by Jan. 28 in order to meet the state agency’s deadline.