Mattituck-Cutchogue admin offices moving into schools due to declining enrollment

Facing declining enrollment and more available space in its schools, the Mattituck-Cutchogue School District plans to move its administrative offices into schools and lease out its Depot Lane property.

The plan is to vacate the Cutchogue West administrative center by June 2027 and move offices into Cutchogue East and Mattituck-Cutchogue High School.

“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.”

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.

The district will be leasing the space to Just Kids Early Childhood Learning Center, a state-approved school for children on the autism spectrum aged 3 to 5. Just Kids already leases out space in Cutchogue East and runs the pre-K program there, at the old schoolhouse in Laurel, and at Riley Avenue Elementary School in Riverhead, among other places.

The lease will 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,” 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 on Depot Lane for over two decades, but were back in the junior-senior high school before that.

The tentative plan is that 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 go to Cutchogue East. 

There’s also been some additional movement in the 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 now be right across the hall, so there will be centralized guidance and administrative offices at the junior-senior high school. That work took place over the summer, and the school administrators and guidance counselors will be moving into their spaces for September. 

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

All of the movement comes after Mattituck-Cutchogue Junior Senior High School was ranked 15th out of 71 high schools in Suffolk County by The US News & World Report. 

Rankings are based on college readiness, state assessment proficiency, state assessment performance relative to expectations, underserved student performance, breadth of college-level coursework and four-year graduation rate.

“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.”