By ANDY GARDNER

MASSENA -- Superintendent of Schools Pat Brady says he will reach out to administrators districtwide to gather their opinions as the first step of further exploring the proposal made last year to consolidate school buildings.

“We’ll start with the conversation with administrators,” Brady said. “There needs to be some outreach to the public, but you need possible directions before you reach out … we’ll look at a committee.”

The trustees all felt that they need to do a good amount of info-gathering before deciding a direction.

“I would like the administration ... to look at two points. First, does it save money and is there a pedagogical cost to combine our services … and does the outcome outweigh our costs?” Trustee Loren Fountain said. “If we’re going to spend a couple million dollars, can we maintain the educational program we have now?”

The board made public a Powerpoint presentation that includes four options.

The first involves closing the junior high and moving those grades to the high school.

The second, proposed last year by Bruce Fraser of the Rural Schools Association, would move grade eight to high school, five to junior high and close one elementary. They could choose to stack grades under one roof or put pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in one building.

Option three closes two buildings, puts pre-k through three at Nightengale, four through six at the junior high and everything else in high school.

The fourth option is to do nothing and make drastic cuts.

Trustee William Sommerfield said since each of the elementary schools “have their own character,” it might be worthwhile to try and save them.

“In a community area, you’ve got Nightengale, Madison, Jefferson, each one has its own characteristics … Jefferson has a large Native American population,” Sommerfield said, adding that although the junior high is tight-knit, it may be easier to shuffle that building or the high school.

Board Vice President Pat Bronchetti said he doesn’t think people want the junior high to go.

“Ending the junior high concept, ending the teaming concept don’t seem to be well-received,” he said.

Getting kids to and from school could bring challenges, in the event of reconfiguration.

“Some of the things you need to consider are what does it do to individual families who may be able to send their kids to one school and now we’re going to scatter them … and the transportation cost,” Bronchetti said.

“There’s the potential for a transportation nightmare,” Fountain said.

Trustee Rhonda Rodriguez said the board needs to listen to teachers.

“I’m curious too about input fro instructional staff … I would be curious to see what the teaching staff thought … do they perceive it as a benefit to have all the third grade teachers in one building as opposed to being scattered?” Rodriguez said. “We need to hear more from the people on the ground.”

She also suggested the reach out to other districts.

“I think we should reach out to other districts that have gone through this process,” she said, noting Gouverneur Central School District is undertaking a similar transition. “We should consult with how they made their decision and why.”