BY JEFF CHUDZINSKINorth Country This Week

MASSENA -- School realignment was again a topic of conversation with the Massena Central School Board of Education as district officials weighed how to best proceed forward with phase two of the process. 

Four proposals were put forth last month, each bringing unique challenges as the district attempts to navigate declining enrollment and rising costs. 

Assistant Superintendent for Instruction Nicole Flynn presented phase one of the realignment proposal to school officials last month. 

Under certain proposals, the district would move from the existing neighborhood school model that currently sees students in pre-kindergarten through grade six enrolled at Jefferson, Madison and Nightingale Elementary Schools. 

Grades seven and eight are currently in the junior high school, while grades nine through 12 are in the high school. 

Under some proposals, schools would be stacked by grade instead of neighborhoods. 

Two of the four proposals also called for the closure of the junior high, dispersing students between the current elementary schools and high school depending on grade levels. 

“We talked a little bit about this at the last meeting after Mrs. Flynn’s presentation on restructuring,” Superintendent Ron Burke said.

Burke suggested the district form a board-level ad hoc committee to begin the next phase and discuss the next steps of the process. 

“It would be a lot of work over the summer so we could really hit the ground running come the fall,” he said. 

Though a committee was proposed, now-former Board President Paul Haggett went so far as to suggest a board retreat over the summer to hash out the details. 

He said he felt the idea of a retreat may serve the purpose of the ad hoc committee which would incorporate the entire board of education to start with. 

"Then, as time goes on, that ad hoc committee could be added to from various other stakeholder groups,” he said.

Though the process will be a long one no matter what, Haggett said the retreat could be a way to "find direction" with several hours of work hashed out by the group. 

The retreat was a prospect supported by board members Daniel Tusa, who suggested an alternative, saying he would "put it on the back end" after more work was completed. 

“None of us work in the buildings every day and I think the first people that need to beat all the ideas around, because they know what could be feasible and what won’t be, are the people that are in the buildings every day,” he said.

Tusas said he felt once that work was completed with the assistance of students and parents alike the district could move forward with an ad hoc committee. 

He cited scheduling issues as a possible delay if the retreat came first. 

"We can sit and bat ideas around for hours and hours, but we’re not the ones working in the buildings and running the day-to-day,” he said.

For board member Bruce Beckstead, he felt the board was already in a strong position as they were "not starting with a blank sheet of paper" following Flynn's proposals last month. 

Now-President Kevin Perretta suggested the board meet with Burke and Flyn to discuss future goals and plan out specific details to accomplish them, saying it was important to have "their opinions on what their take is." 

"I think we have to start there. I don’t have any real clear vision right now as to the actual path to this, but I think that’s where we have to sort of collectively get our house in order and then let them go do the work after that with some participation from the board on that ad hoc committee,” he said.

Officials said they were open to the idea of potentially hosting a two-day retreat to work out plans sometime in mid-August, though no dates have been set as of press time. 

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