Just over a month after an out-of-court settlement was reached with abutters, work on the future site of the new $44.7 million Bancroft Elementary School has gotten underway, said Tom Deso, chairman of the School Building Committee. Crews began clearing trees along the portion where the extension to West Knoll Road will be located. The road extension is scheduled to be completed before the start of the next school year in September, Deso said. It will become the general public’s access road to the existing school building while construction crews take over Bancroft Road to access the new school’s site. Legal appeals from abutters concerned about potential flooding impacts and other project details delayed the start of construction that was scheduled for last fall in order to have the school ready for the 2013 school year. Now the school, which would replace the existing 42-year-old Bancroft building, is on track to open for the 2014 school year. Construction costs also went up during the delay period, forcing the School Building Committee to change the scope of certain parts of the project in order to remain within budget, Deso said. The Massachusetts School Building Authority is slated to reimburse the town approximately $17 million of the total cost of the new kindergarten-to-fifth-grade school.