Mattituck-Cutchogue to move offices, lease building as enrollment falls

The Mattituck-Cutchogue School District is shrinking its administrative footprint and turning excess space into revenue as enrollment continues to fall.

The district plans to vacate its Depot Lane administrative center by June 2027, move offices into existing school buildings and lease the property to Just Kids Early Childhood Learning Center.

“It does several things for us. First, it creates an efficiency where we’re not paying for the heat, maintenance, and upkeep of these buildings,” Superintendent Shawn Petretti said. “And then we’re actually able to generate some revenue through leasing them out.”

The move is one of the clearest signs yet of how declining enrollment is reshaping the district’s operations.

Since 2012, districts in Southold Town have lost more than 700 students, according to state Education Department data. Mattituck-Cutchogue alone has seen enrollment plunge by more than a third, from 1,481 students in 2012 to 981 in 2024, The Suffolk Times previously reported.

Just Kids is a state-approved school serving children on the autism spectrum ages 3 to 5. The organization already leases space at Cutchogue East, where it operates the district’s pre-K program, and also runs programs at the old schoolhouse in Laurel and Riley Avenue Elementary School in Riverhead.

The new lease is expected to begin next summer.

“This will be used to serve special needs students here, so it’s providing much-needed services on the North Fork,” Mr. Petretti said. “Buildings do not do well when they sit vacant. When we were able to locate a tenant, that made this move very viable.”

Mr. Petretti said discussions to move offices began about a year ago. He said the state inspected the building to ensure it was suitable for Just Kids. 

“This is for children with severe autism, whose districts have decided that our placement will help their children the most,” Just Kids executive director Steve Held said. “We are privileged to be entrusted with that support, and we work closely with the districts that we serve. That allows us to grow the program.”

Mr. Held said Just Kids had been working with the district even before Mr. Petretti took over, but since then their “relationship with the community and the district has been fantastic.”

“They care deeply about the kids that are coming to our program prior to enrolling in their public school,” Mr. Held said. “They view us as partners.”

Administrative offices have been housed on Depot Lane for more than two decades. Before that, they were located in the junior-senior high school.

Under the tentative plan, Mr. Petretti’s office, the business office and the special education office would move to the junior-senior high school. The technology office and the director of curriculum and innovation would move to Cutchogue East.

The district has also reconfigured space inside the junior-senior high school this summer.

“We haven’t really had a main office in the high school since about 2000,” Mr. Petretti said. “With some additional space available, they’re turning the area that now houses our guidance offices into the high school administrative offices, giving us a central office.”

The guidance department will move across the hall, creating centralized guidance and administrative offices. School administrators and guidance counselors are expected to move into the new spaces in September.

“We’re just looking into the future and trying to make moves to best serve the district,” Mr. Petretti said.

The enrollment decline has not coincided with a drop in the district’s academic standing. Mattituck-Cutchogue Junior-Senior High School was recently ranked 15th among 71 Suffolk County high schools by U.S. News & World Report.

The rankings consider college readiness, state assessment performance, underserved student performance, access to college-level coursework and graduation rates.

“Being ranked 15th is a reflection of the dedication of our students, teachers, staff and families who work together every day to create a culture of excellence,” Mr. Petretti said. “This recognition is an affirmation of the outstanding opportunities we provide our students and our continued commitment to preparing every student for success.”