MADISON, Wis. -- In spite of the controversy over its name, Vang Pao Elementary is officially under construction.

Ground was broken at the new school site on Wednesday. School board members along with Superintendent Art Rainwater and the building designers all turned the first soil where the school will stand.

The new school will cost $12,923,000. The 86,396-square foot school will have 36 classrooms and house 690 students and 90 teachers. It's expected to be completed by September 2008.

The green building will be LEED Silver Certified, and will include geothermal day lighting and solar electric panels. The school will be located on Madison's far West Side off of Valley View Road west of County Highway M on Ancient Oak Lane.

"Green building construction really has taken off in commercial and industrial applications. Recently the U.S. Green Building Council set green standards for K-12 education, and we're the first public elementary school in the state that will get the silver certification for that," said Doug Pierson, director of building services for the Madison Metropolitan School District.

The district will pay more money upfront for the green building, but school officials said it will pay off in energy savings in 10 to 12 years. The new school will also have recycled materials incorporated in furniture, playgrounds, carpeting and sheet rock, WISC-TV reported.

Zimmerman Design Group is the school's architect and it is being built by Miron Construction.

Although ground has been broken, the debate over the school's name is continuing.

Dr. Koua Vang, executive director of United Asian Services of Wisconsin, Inc. and a member lf the Hmong task force that recommended naming the school after General Vang Pao, said he is willing to meet with parents opposed to the name but that he is not ready to compromise.

He said that drug trafficking and war crime allegations against Pao are false.

"When we came up with this name, it was not just by any one person. We actually gathered a large group of people and we came up with a name that we thought would be appropriate. So, that was the name the community chose," Vang said.

The attorney for the parents opposed to the school's name said that she hopes the Hmong community will work with them on a compromise, but that even if they don't, the parents will continue with a legal fight.