Melanie Lekocevic is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media the second of three forums to discuss the proposed realignment of elementary schools in the Coxsackie-Athens School District was held on August 5. Under the proposal, all students in enrolled in pre-kindergarten through second grade would attend school in Athens, and all third and fourth-grade students would go to the school in Coxsackie. Approximately 40 people attended the first forum held at E.J. Arthur Elementary School; the forum at the high school attracted six people. The participants spoke about length of the bus ride required under the school reorganization, the need to assign aides to monitor the buses and Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction Kerry Houlihan addressed the academic concerns related to realignment of the grades. Regrouping of the grades was requested by some district teachers, and at the third forum, to be held on August 16, teachers will discuss their feelings on the proposal, Houlihan said. The district sent out a survey to district teachers from kindergarten through sixth grade asking if they would like the district to pursue the proposal and 66 responded, and 60 percent of the teachers supported the move. A third grade grouping forum is scheduled next week at Coxsackie-Athens High School and an online survey is planned to gather additional feedback from the community, Superintendent Randall Squier said. A public hearing will be held in late September with the board of education. The final determination will be made by a vote of the board. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.