The Warren County School District is embarking on a master facilities plan — and the public will be involved in the process.

On Monday, the school board held a work session with representatives from Strategy Solutions to lay out a schedule and some key steps along the road. Of two possible schedules, the board opted for the more aggressive, “with the knowledge that we could slow it down,” board vice president Donna Zariczny said.

The next step is meeting with key stakeholders in February. There will be a public engagement, and board members assure the public that decisions will not be made before that input is in hand.

The first public session is expected to land in early March, with some focus groups and surveys to follow, and a second in early April.

For now, the board hopes to have enough information for a preferred action by late April. Another public session will follow once a plan is determined to “discuss the pluses, potentials, and concerns with the implementation plan.” So far, the board and administration are not focusing on any particular ideas.

“There have been no options put on the table,” Superintendent Amy Stewart said. “That’s the point of this process.”

“We’ll narrow it down and come up with a solution,” Zariczny said. “Tonight was the first step.”

The board has been looking at utilization figures for months that show the district’s school buildings are underutilized.

“Through COVID, a lot of kids were opting for that virtual option,” Board President Paul Mangione said. “Sometimes, 20 to 30 percent were opting for virtual.”

Adding the district’s year-over-year loss of enrollment has taken grade levels in some schools that had 30 students in a class down to 20, Mangione said. At a previous meeting, board members heard that some teachers were preparing for six different lessons every day. And, some of the district’s schools have been unable to offer courses some students want due to low enrollments. Despite the reductions in students, the district has also had trouble finding teachers.

“It’s almost a perfect storm – lack of students, lack of staff, and virtual,” he said.

The board and administration hope that reconfiguring the district’s offerings will alleviate some of that perfect storm.While all options may be considered, saving money on staff by making sure class sizes are leveled off is not the primary goal.

“We’re not looking at a process focused on saving” money, Zariczny said. The goal is to “provide opportunities to students and improve the work environment for staff.”