MASSENA — An idea to “stack” elementary grade levels instead of spreading them out in neighborhood schools could require more buses, but would cut the number of grade level sections. That comes from a report Massena Central Superintendent Pat Brady gave to the Board of Education on Thursday, along with a slideshow from a Jan. 31 committee meeting to discuss possibly reorganizing the district buildings.

The committee, which includes educators, community members, administrators hired consultants, met that day at Madison Elementary.

“Stacking” refers to putting each grade level under the same roof, like what is now done at the junior high and high school. Right now at the elementary level, the district is carved into three neighborhoods, with each respectively going to Madison, Jefferson or Nightengale.

Brady said the committee found that about one-third of students now walk to school, but stacking would have more of them on buses.

“The key takeaways they found is about 30 percent of students walk to and from school every day, 70 percent are bused,” Brady said. “You would have about 300 students who are no longer walkers. They would need to ride a bus, which would mean an increase of six buses, and we wouldn’t be able to double trip at Madison.”

RIght now, Madison buses load up right when school ends, make their rounds, and return to school for a second trip.

“Each bus would be going to three different schools,” taking about 10 minutes to get to the next school,” Brady told the board. “The last school would be another 10 minutes, so students would be on the bus longer if you were a student on that second or third stop.

“There would be a cost there estimated to be eight buses, including drivers.”

Students are now on buses anywhere from 10 minutes to more than an hour per ride, with the average student on a bus for 40 to 45 minutes, according to a presentation shown at the Jan. 31 meeting and now posted on the district’s website.

However, the district wouldn’t need as many classes, the presentations says.

“The concept of grade center schools would reduce the number of elementary sections by approximately six,” the presentation reads.

The committee next meets March 1 at 6:30 p.m. at the junior high. It is open to the public.