BY JEFF CHUDZINSKINorth Country This Week

MASSENA -- Future graduations at Massena Central School may be held in the auditorium after one board of education member suggested the change during a recent meeting.

Following a Policy Committee report, Board Member Patricia Murphy made the suggestion.

Officials on the committee said discussions were held to possibly create a new policy for graduations that stemmed from a school board retreat held earlier this year.

Board Member Zach Monroe commented that the committee is "planning to draft a potential policy for review" but noted that the policy needs further discussion for development.

One major concern raised by residents and Murphy as well is the cost to host graduation on the turf field as opposed to the auditorium.

“Each year that we’ve had outdoor graduation, it’s become more and more expensive for the district,” Murphy said.

Murphy suggested moving graduation into the auditorium so family members in attendance could watch in comfort with air conditioning and comfortable seats available, as opposed to sitting on bleachers for turf field ceremonies.

Murphy suggested the change would also save on manpower, with far less setup required if graduations were held in the auditorium.

Graduations have been held on Friday nights on the school's turf field for a number of years, with rain dates typically set for Saturdays. If graduations are rained out two days in a row officials have utilized the school gym as a backup option.

Prior to the turf field ceremonies, the district typically utilized the Massena Arena.

Though there may be support to move graduations to the auditorium, Board Member Daniel Tusa said a lack of seating may pose an issue.

“With the numbers that we get at graduation, I don’t think this auditorium would accommodate all those who wish to come. What would happen is that we would end up with potentially TV screens and community members and family members in our gymnasium sitting on bleachers watching the screen. They wouldn’t necessarily be able to see the ceremony in person. Space is an issue,” he said.

But Murphy suggested it may not be the worst move because many attendees watch the ceremony on the jumbo TV screens the district sets up for easier viewing.

She said the capacity in the auditorium has increased as well.

"When they did have larger classes, they fit all of the students on the stage and they had fewer seats here and they accommodated everybody. So, it’s just something that people have talked to me about. So, when you’re drafting your policy, there are some people out there who are in favor of that," Murphy said.

No timeline was given for the policy to be written and reviewed during the meeting but school officials did signal that the policy would be reviewed in the coming months.