GUILDERLAND — An issue that was fraught with tension a year ago — what to do about empty classrooms — concluded harmoniously Tuesday night as board members and school leaders all agreed to pursue housing pre-kindergarten programs in the district.

All eight board members at Tuesday’s meeting named pre-kindergarten as their top choice among four alternatives considered by a task force.

“Pre-K rises to the top,” said board member Catherine Barber. She said it was “logical” to rent to a provider, that there is high demand, and that it aligns with the district’s educational mission.

The other seven members agreed. The board’s new president, Allan Simpson, was absent; the session, with a full agenda, was efficiently led by Christine Hayes, elected vice president at the last meeting.

In June, the board had heard reports from four task force committees that considered, in addition to pre-kindergarten, adult day care, incubator start-ups, and commercial rental to fill the empty classrooms.

The task force had been set up after the school board, in a split vote, rejected scenarios from a consultant the district had hired to study the problems of declining enrollment — Guilderland has lost 12 percent of its students in the last decade.

In June 2014, Paul Seversky presented a controversial report that said pupil capacity at the district’s five elementary schools is under-used by about 14 percent; the middle school is under-used by about 25 percent; and the high school is also under-used by about 25 percent.

Seversky concluded with six scenarios: One maintained the status quo and the other five proposed saving money by closing an elementary school — four would have closed Altamont Elementary and one would have shut Lynnwood. Seversky calculated this would save $1.2 million annually.

Months of village protests followed and, last August, the school board decided to set aside Seversky’s recommendations. Rather than closing a school to solve the problem of excess space caused by declining enrollment, the task force of citizen volunteers and school leaders was charged with looking at potential alternative uses for empty classrooms.

The board members were supplied with a rubric that asked four questions of each option: Is there a need in the community; is it feasible in a school building; does it align with the districts mission and vision; and does it have the potential to generate income.

The committee on pre-kindergarten steered away from a district-provided program because of the high cost and recommended instead that the district partner with a private organization. The report concluded there was more demand for pre-kindergarten programs than supply.

On Tuesday, board member Judy Slack noted no more than 5 percent of a school’s capacity can be used by a for-profit organization, stating that “seems small.”

“If it’s not-for profit, we don’t have that same limitation,” said Superintendent Marie Wiles.

Assistant Superintendent for Business Neil Sanders noted there would be some initial start-up costs for the district to set up the space for a pre-kindergarten program, such as outfitting bathrooms or installing refrigerators. But, after the initial investment, the district would realize a profit from renting out the space.

Board member Gloria Towle-Hilt said that, when she and her late husband taught in the district, it “would have been a godsend” to have had day care available at the school.

Day care for the children of Guilderland employees would be “phenomenal,” said board member Barbara Fraterrigo.

“For me, pre-K rose to the top,” agreed board member Colleen O’Connell. “There is no currently full-time pre-K non-denominational available in Guilderland.”

She also supported housing incubator businesses at the high school. “We have the space to do both,” she said.

“It’s not revenue–generating,” said Slack of housing start-up businesses.

O’Connell conceded that was true but said, if it could be “revenue neutral,” she would support it because it would be tremendous for “our kids to interact” with the business developers.

“If it had a strong educational purpose, you could justify spending some money,” agreed Barber.

Christopher McManus, who served on the pre-kindergarten task force committee, lamented the program wouldn’t be in place “in time for my son.”

He said Seversky’s report had been “clouded” by its concluding recommendations. “We, as a district, don’t want to close schools,” he said. He noted the biggest spaces are available in the middle school and high school.

“The next step is to get agreement on how much space is available,” he said; then see who is interested.

Hayes, who agreed that “pre-K aligns best with the mission and values of the district,” concluded the discussion by outlining “what we need to go forward”; she listed: figuring the cost of implementation, determining location, identifying community interest, and considering more than one option.

Towle-Hilt suggested continuing the model of a citizen task force, working in groups, to hash out the details.

McManus asserted that the district needed to provide answers on location and space available.

“I do agree,” said Wiles, noting that Seversky’s report looked at the number of students in a school compared to its square footage as opposed to actual space that would be available to rent.

“We are currently using space for a variety of things that’s convenient for us,” said Wiles, asking, “Are we comfortable reclaiming that space?”

She also said it would be “a heavy lift” for school administrators to “go down four roads simultaneously” to find facts.

O’Connell said there were just “two roads” — pre-kindergarten and incubator start-ups — to explore.

“It’s OK to chose one initially,” said Towle-Hilt.

“Once that’s fleshed out, look at the next one,” agreed Slack.

“What is a good timeline?” asked McManus.

“To be totally honest,” responded Wiles, “we need to open school...Oct. 1 is reasonable,” she said.