That reality became more grounded in recent weeks after Williston resident Susan Oyloe approached LaFontaine to talk about what was needed for an alternative high school.
Oyloe then offered to pursue a $137,000 grant from the Kathy and Jerry Wood Foundation in Annapolis, Md..
Oyloe sits on the foundation's board of directors and the foundation is overseen by her sister, Sallie Hamrick.
"The main thing that has been holding us up is a facility," LaFontaine said of creating an alternative high school. "Our schools are all crowded." Research and visits LaFontaine has made to existing alternative high schools reinforces an important aspect.
"They have all said they are more successful when they are separated from the main high school campus," she said.
The foundation grant funds are to go toward purchasing or renting a building to house the alternative high school, LaFontaine said.
She said alternative high schools are important because traditional high school programs and their setting don't work for some students.
"It isn't that it's going to be any easier than the regular high school, but it might be we can make adjustments to the day for the students," LaFontaine said.
One of the main goals of an alternative high school is to keep students in school to get a high school diploma by offering a different option. The flexibility offered in an alternative high school program allows students to attend classes for part of the day while working the other part of the day.
Alternative school programs also offer different options for learning, with many putting an emphasis on hands-on activities.
LaFontaine said district officials remain unsure about how a proposed Williston alternative high school may be structured.
That structure impacts the costs associated with operating the program.
Having individual instructors for math, science, social studies and English would allow a full alternative school curriculum to be developed, she said.
"If we would have four teachers working, that is about $200,000 a year," LaFontaine said. "Looking at purchasing a building is about another $200,000. Maintaining it would be another piece of it."
LaFontaine recently moved to Williston from Belcourt, which had an alternative high school program in its public school district.
"If you have struggling readers, or struggling kids with the math, we would keep the standards the same, but do more hands-on type projects that you can do with kids," she said.
Students who are not college bound also benefit from an alternative program by preparing them to be trained in a particular trade.
"We're really meeting the kids' needs, instead of saying they have to sit through this English class for a semester," LaFontaine said of an alternative high school program. "We want to help these kids learn."
She said in Belcourt, there were issues regarding absenteeism and discipline. Students in that alternative high school program could miss up to 12 hours with no questions asked, she said. There also were opportunities for students to build hours back up.
"If they got close to their 12 hours, they could stay after school and build up some time, stay at dinner time and build up some time," LaFontaine said. "They really were pretty responsible with their 12 hours."
Students punched a time clock to record their attendance hours, and those time cards were shared with parents, she added.
"We did exit some kids, but I tell you, when they were on the list a second time around and they knew we meant business, they came around," LaFontaine said.
She said students with discipline issues often had anger that had built over the years, creating a chip on their shoulder.
"If you do anything inappropriate, you are exited from the program," she said of what school officials told these students. "We also offered to help them too. If they felt themselves getting upset, take a time out. We also started to teach some anger management."
LaFontain said in some ways the rules were tough and hard, "but that is what some of the kids needed too."
Williston High School special education instructor Valli Helstad has developed a strong friendship with Oyloe in recent years and the talk of an alternative high school would surface during their conversations.
"Traditional high school doses not fit all students. I think we need to be able to offer another option, instead of having them drop out of school," Helstad said.
"I just think this is our next generation and we need to do whatever we can to help them find success," Helstad added.
Helstad's entire education career has involved working with at-risk students and believes an alternative high school would appeal to students who can't attend all the time.
"You can keep your job and still work toward your diploma," Helstad said.
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