By ANDY GARDNER

MASSENA — Superintendent Patrick Brady wants to see the Massena school district reinstate a high school art teacher, a reading intervention assistant for at-risk students and two special education teachers in the 2017-18 budget.

No members of the public attended a public budget forum the board held at their Thursday meeting.

This is an area we are recommending to the board and we feel would take some of the pressure off the music department,” Brady said of the art position, which he estimates will cost $85,000.

He said the intervention teacher comes with a $60,000 estimate.

“These are teachers who provide instruction to our most at-risk students who may … have trouble graduating down the road,” Brady said.

He said the special education teachers will bring a savings because they will no longer have to use BOCES teacher assistants at Jefferson and Nightengale elementaries. He said the hires will keep them in compliance with state law to meet student body needs.

When voters go to the polls in May, the district is looking at asking them to approve a $52.5 million budget.

“We’re still at the proposal stage … we still don’t have the state budget,” Brady said. “They have two weeks to get this budget done to stay on time."