001All right, good evening East Hampton School Board. We're streaming at YouTube. Phone lines are open. This meeting's being recorded. You may begin. Thank you very much. Have a motion to call the meeting to order. I make a motion. Second. All in favor? Aye. Please rise to the Pledge of Allegiance. >> [clears throat] >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you all very much. We've got a couple of hearings that set this evening. Um We'll have to open the public hearing. We opened for tonight. Jared We opened for next year. Okay. Ready to carry it and we'll just adjourn. Perfect. Thank you. So, I'm turning over to Ms. Fine. All
002right. It gives me great pleasure to present the East Hampton School District proposed budget for 2026-27. First want to thank the board for all their support and guidance in this process and thank the administration specifically for making some difficult decisions that supports and maintain all current programs in East Hampton Union Free School District. Sam will go and give you the technical stuff, but I just want to highlight some of the stuff that we've done. If you all remember, we have wheeled out a bunch of presentations over the last few board meetings just to show the great, you know, growth and star power of our students. So, this is just highlighting some of it. I'm not going to read all of it. The bottom line for us is every single one of the programs that we
003have in the school district are going to continue next year. Uh we've been able to move money's around to basically expand some of them, maintain others, but we are not making any cuts to these programs. This budget is 100% cap compliant. So, we are under the tax cap for the 26-27 year. Again, these this is important we preserve it we are preserving all academic programs for students pre-K to 12. We provide for unprecedented increases in mandatory unfortunately mandatory costs in including insurance, fuel, and equipment. As you know, our vendors don't operate with a 2% tax cap. Um they're allowed to charge us what they want, but we were able to maintain even with those increases. Uh it allocates money for boiler replacement at the middle school uh which we did last year for the elementary
004school. So, I'm just going to get you some of the details now, the money stuff. Mhm. I really appreciate Adam calling it the technical technical stuff because I think when she and I started together he called this part of the boring part. So, I feel like I've been upgraded to that. I appreciate it. Absolutely. Uh so, you can see here the change I think also I should mention that all this presentation is online along with all of the line-by-line budget the the community can look at it. It's all on our website line-by-line budget. We also have broken down into what's called the three-part budget. The presentation is online and uh it's also available in each of our schools in a binder somebody want to come and take a look at it if they don't like
005to look at it online. You can see here the changes uh from year to year uh year over year into our general areas as Adam is talking about that last line transfer of the funds. We're uh asking the voters to support a budget that will appropriate money to transfer uh to the capital funds so we can undertake a boiler replacement project at the middle school. Most of the uh explanations kind of speak for themselves. You can see the increase in transportation costs which is partially due to the spiraling cost of fuel that are essential for operating a bus. Uh so, this is obviously expenditure. How are we going to pay for it? This is the revenue budget. You can see that I think the major highlight here is our continued uh use and uh benefit
006of shared services. We're attracted to bring in more more than 1.3 million dollars next year in shared services partnerships with our area districts that are benefit to them and a benefit to us as well. So, that's the revenue budget. Obviously, the state aid number is a question mark. State legislature is now a month and 5 days late in passing the budget. So, we are going to the governor's numbers because we have nothing else to go with. I anticipate when the legislature finally enacts a budget, we might get an increase of 1% maybe, but that's essentially where we are. Uh this is an example of where somebody's property taxes would go on. This comes with the usual proviso that we talk about every year that you need to speak to the assessor if you have a
007question about how your home may have been assessed, maybe change an assessment. We do not assess homes. The the board is responsible for providing town the amount of money that is needed from taxes to levy. How that money is collected is solely in the jurisdiction of the town. But, for the assessor tells us that the average assessed home in uh the school district is $6,000, which obviously is not the street value, not what you would sell it for. It's how they choose to assess the property. So, you can see that for an average assessed home in the monthly cost increase in this budget is $7.36. Again, as I have said, this is property tax compliant. In addition to the budget, voters are again are also going to ask to weigh in on three important propositions.
008Yes, so uh talking about the bond again, as the uh board knows, we had uh four community forums uh on the bond, the last of which included uh representatives from the high school student leadership group. In addition to that, we had meetings with uh some clubs in the community. We spoke to the PTAs at the various schools to explain what was going on. So, one was the bond proposition one, capital improvements to all three schools, $63,964,974. That will have no impact on taxes. That's the one we talked about with expiring debt, which we need to replace. Bond proposition two and three. Two, an indoor pool built for at East Hampton High School for $45,680,000. That will also be available for community use. One of the things that I'll get to when we talk about the
009pool is the idea of community use so people can understand that it's also for the community. Bond proposition three, an indoor athletic space with a basketball court and indoor turf field built at East Hampton High School for $18,535,000. Again, will also be available for community use. It's important to note, as we discussed in prior meetings, proposition two cannot pass unless proposition one passes, proposition three cannot pass until proposition three two passes. Uh we talked about this uh at multiple meetings. We established uh the board established uh through listening to community input a number of needs and a number of wants. The administration came up with a lot of the wants, which are listed uh or the excuse me, the needs, which are listed in the bold. Those are stuff that we kind of said have
010to happen in this school district going forward. Uh again, I use the auditorium at the high school because a very uh easy example of a space that was built in 1970. Um that needs to be replaced. It's highly used by our students, our staff, and our community. Uh you see other stuff from the lead area, roof, uh hallway furniture on Marshall, Charlie's windows, um and then security. I have to get that in. Uh security upgrades at all of our buildings. After we completed the the needs list, we listened to more community input. We also heard from we sent out a survey. I had that survey was sent out also in the East Hampton Star. And then we had a number of other things that were listed you know to for the community for the school.
011We talked about there there's a cosmetology lab which we will run another CTE program for our students. Auditorium, middle school, life skills, classroom upgrades at the middle school, new multi-purpose room at John Marshall. We were able to fit every single thing in the $64 million except proposition two and three and I'll get to that. This is just a map All of this is on our website. This was the turf field that's outside. We displayed renderings that are again on the website and I think they were in the newspaper these past two weeks. The expansion of John Marshall for the multi-purpose rooms and sensory room. This is the footprint with the the pool and the um the athletic space with the turf which will be about a 30 yd by 40 yd turf field. There will
012not be bleachers. That basketball court is for use it's not for games. The pool will have two sets of locker rooms, one for the community, one for our students. There will be bleachers for viewing and there will be a diving board. Again, I've had some questions on community use. I refer to the Farmingdale School District which has a vast schedule of when they open it up to the community. Obviously, we're going to have regular hours for open swim. They do 6:00 a.m. in the morning. Then they run during the course of the day when the students are not in the pool, they run a full continuing education program for things like water yoga and other things, exercise things for the community. We designed the building so the security of the students is not compromised when
013the public's in there. I'm not going to obviously get into details about that. This would be the outside of the building which is in front of the district office you can see in the background the cafeteria and the district office. The pool is to the left. The right is the sports facility. Community entrance is also on the other side of the students and this is the pool with diving boards. Bleachers are over there. Again, these are renderings so it might look a little different. Indoor sports facility will be a mesh net similar to the ones we have in our gymnasium. Again, provided use for our community and the students to use our our teams for indoor practices. We anticipate being able to place a a net for driving range for the golf team. Uh drop
014down um facility pitching and batting cages for the the softball baseball teams. Obviously lacrosse, soccer and whatnot can go inside. It's another view of it. And I'll turn it over to Sam for the deep parts. Nothing important, Sam. Oh, I got to upgrade. Um okay, so again remember that same $6,000 assessed value home that we talked about a few minutes ago. So you can see there that for proposition well, for proposition one there is no impact on taxes because it is replacing expiring debt. So for no change in taxes the community is able to get all these really quite necessary upgrades to the buildings to help preserve the integrity the structural integrity of the buildings. We've talked about this before. As you would with a home, you have to make repairs and and improvements to
015it or it will deteriorate. And that's what much of the bold the stuff involved in proposition one will get. So, no change in taxes if you proposition one. Proposition two, the indoor pool, you can see that for average assessed home, it's about $200 a year. And for the average assessed home for the athletic facility, it's about $82 a year. That's the impact on taxes. Again, if you have a question about your specific home, the assessor's office is the sole authority to determine how it will impact your house. Yeah, good. All right. Uh this is a sample ballot of what it's going to look like. Wow. Uh there's a lot of words. Very busy. It is. There's a lot of words. Um but again, you know, uh they really really put this together. They did a
016great job. But again, the column all the way on the left is the budget. And then the three remaining columns are proposition one, two, and three, which is for no tax impact, average assessment $200 a year, average assessment $82 a year for necessary things, pool, and uh indoor athletic facility. Uh and then obviously at the back of the ballot is the election of Board of Education. Yes, and the uh voting will take place as it always does in the Board of Education room. Um if you have any questions, please about the budget or bonding, you can always reach out to me. Uh and the absentee ballot applications are available by contacting Julie Bisgrove and her information there. And all of this will be on the website tomorrow. It's already up there. It's already up there.
017We got to have Registration, can people still register or is it just Registration is Yeah. Until when? When's the cut? Adam? Yes, sir. There's an election of board members. Oh, no. That's what he said. It was very short. On the backside. Yeah. Yeah, so we're all we're running and good luck. You got to vote to do it. Yes. Does it Does Does anybody from the board have a comment? So, you have until the 12th if you want to do an absentee ballot. Is that what you're supposed or or register? To get an application. To get an application. Yes, and then I can either mail it to you or you can actually bring it in on the day of Absolutely. Day of the vote at 9:00. Okay. That's great. So, if anybody wants to have an
018ab- absentee ballot. And they can register. Mhm. I just have one last comment. I just have one comment. Um, it's for the for the pool. Uh, I was I spoke to a taxpayer today. And one of their concerns was, um, will the public get to use it? And, you know, we've mirrored it off some other districts that are similar to us and have newer pool. And >> [clears throat] >> we're not going to be the same. I think we'll be able to do I don't want to say better, but more. And then we we can be better, too, but, um, more for sure. And I I just want the public to know that we do have a commitment for public user. I do. I think the president wanted to let you guys speak for yourselves,
019but we do want to do that. Um, you know, And we designed it with with two with two in mind. And I think, you know, everybody knows it's it's the kids first. And then after that will be the public, you know, use. And And then this is one of the rare cases like our fields are not for adult public use because it's a little different and there's other places to go in town to use. This is very different. And I think there's not a lot of places to go and that's part of the problem. I think that's one of the reasons we need it more than anything is because there is no place else to go. So, I just want the public to know, uh, people that don't have kids, don't have grandkids, don't have
020anything else, this is going to be able to be used by those folks, the adults. So, there's it's it's set up. If you look at the design, it's set up specifically with two entrances, one in the front for the public, one on the backside or the school side of it for the for the uh students. It's got two separate locker rooms, so we don't have the issues that we've uh dealt with over the last, I don't know, 20 or 30 years with sharing a locker room. And we've heard that complaint, and I think we've we've um added it. Granted, it's cost money, but nothing's cheap. Education's not cheap, and it's just it is what it is. But, just wanted people to kind of know that the board does have that um cuz it when I
021spoke to the person, it was not clear to them, I think, that that was something we really were putting an effort into, and we and we are. We are. And I just want everybody to know that. Hopefully, someone will pay attention and watch, but I don't know. >> [laughter] >> Anyway, can I have a motion to close the uh budget hearing? I'll make a motion. Second. All in favor? >> Aye. And then, can I have a motion to open the uh amendments to the real property tax law? >> I'll make a motion. >> Second. All in favor? Aye. Okay. All right. Um So, real simply, obviously, uh we've done this before. When there's the state legislature has enacted uh uh uh several new categories of classes of people who had received an exemption or partial
022exemption from paying property tax. This doesn't mean that the district is not getting its full levy. It means that the burden that is not borne by the person who is exempted gets shifted out to all the other uh levy payers. So, there's three classes uh this is three different uh laws that the legislature enacted, the governor signed. One is for uh a partial exemption for the surviving spouse of a police officer who was killed in the line of duty. The second is a partial exemption for a surviving spouse of a volunteer firefighter or a volunteer ambulance worker who was killed in the line of duty. And the third is an expanded senior citizen partial exemption uh for certain seniors who have lower income levels. And there's a sliding scale depending on the income level of
023the senior and how much of the overall levy overall tax bill is exactly. I should say that the town has not yet enacted this the any any of these three. I'm told that they are contemplating and doing it doing it fairly soon. There is an item on your agenda later on that basically says that we agree to grant us the exemption of school taxes in whatever manner the town chooses to exempt for town taxes if and when they make that decision between now and I think there's a deadline of the end of the resolution. The town likes it when we kind of mirror same exemption so it brings clarity to the taxpayers. Those are really what the the exemptions are. In terms of what the impact will be for homeowners, it's very hard to say.
024The town isn't really prepared to put a dollar value on how many people fall into these categories. I you know I I I think it's Well, we can't approve it. What you're saying is unless the town approves >> No, no. The resolution is written so that basically you are saying we approve whatever the whatever the way they choose to do it. Yeah. Even when they do. Unfortunately, I think we can say that very few people fall into the first two categories. The third category is a is a wider field but not a hugely wide field. Like you're saying anything makes sense. Makes sense. Anybody have a public comment? On the hearing? Do we open the board members on the comment? Have a motion to close the hearing? I'll make a motion. Second? Second. All in
025favor? Aye. Okay. So, can I have a motion to go back into my regular regular meeting? I'll make a motion. Second? Second. All in favor? Aye. All right. So, the regular portion of the meeting is open and we are So, we're going to skip over to of right now. Um And Which one are you going to pick? Okay. So, superintendent's report and recommendation number one, So, uh I'm going to We're just going to turn over to you for this. Yeah, we're going to make a motion. So, So, I have a motion for uh cons- the agenda item number one, granting tenure. Make a motion. Second. Second. All in favor? Aye. And then I'm going to turn it over to Mr. Flynn. Yes, so it There's a lot of people here, and a lot of young
026people here with young children, so I don't want to make you wait. So, um if you could stand when I call your name, Stella has something for you. Tenure's not the only gift the board's giving you. We have a little pin and a little thing to take with you. We're really appreciative of all your work. So, uh Nancy Ayala, teaching assistant. Abigail Downs, teaching assistant. Alla Lazo, teaching assistant. Dennis Palacios, teaching assistant. Jamie Hanson, elementary teacher Bridget Eamon, English teacher Victoria Pomarado, speech and language facilitator Jenny Ross, family and consumer science Daniel Gomez Munoz, social studies Kimberly Hart, special education So, just a quick second I think we'll just stand up and give you guys a round of applause. Congratulations. Thank you all. Thank you. Congratulations. And you can also go to if you want
027to I'll give you a second to get Congratulations. All right, so we're going to move on to news of the school. Sarah. Perfect. Thank you. Sarah has a special night. She's our daughter. Trying to make half of a little league game. All right. You got it. You got it. But yes. Exactly. Exactly. Um so uh we started the week with celebrating our teachers for teacher appreciation week. Uh it was wonderful. Thank you to all of our teachers for all they do. And in our faculty meeting yesterday we were going through, you know, all of the opportunities and programs for our students and because of what our teachers do and the support from all of you it is second to none. So um we thank them uh for all they do every day. And I also
028would like to thank our PTSA for helping to celebrate them. They brought in uh the lobster roll lunch truck and uh we had lunch for them. Uh we're doing raffles throughout the week and then we are uh ending with the ice cream truck on Friday. So Adam says that Karen and I are in a competition about who gets to spoil their uh teachers more. So >> [laughter] >> but we couldn't do that without the PTA so we're very grateful for that. Um speaking of their fundraising >> [laughter] >> Um The uh fundraiser went incredibly well and um we uh they raised a lot of money, worked very hard, and all of that will go to students and scholarships down the road. So thank you to everyone who supported that. Um we had our science research
029symposium, uh which many of you attended. Thank you so much for coming and thank you to Dr. Forsberg, Dr. Robito, and Mrs. Maguire for pulling that off um for you know, just uh providing such an inspiring night of science. The level of scholarship on display uh from our students that night, Stella included, uh is just a testament to their hard work over 3 years, and also our teachers guiding them and their outside mentors um and just an inspiring night. So, thank you uh to everybody for coming and to um our students and teachers for making it happen. Uh Stella will tell you about jazz band um this past weekend. We also had last year um kind of on a whim, I think Mr. From sent out uh uh application for English teachers to go be
030part of the uh regions walk-through videos, and last Thursday and Friday, I know it's uh I don't think it's made it to uh Amazon Prime yet or a major network, but it is on the PBS Syracuse station, and uh last uh Thursday and Friday, our very own Katie Shrek uh was chosen as one of two English teachers to go do that. Um >> [clears throat] >> so, uh sort of unique honor, but a high honor for one of our own. So, it was very great. I think we will have a premiere party when it comes out, and we can say we knew Mrs. Shrek went. So, uh Um our students uh also did incredibly well at the Virtual Enterprise International Trade Show. In fact, uh Kevin Quito and Francesco Palomino won the uh Global Innovation
031Challenge from the whole thing, and they came in first place. So, it was outstanding. Um and that is all for the high school. Thank you. >> Yeah, thank you. Thank you. Yeah, she's cute. Dr. Soriano? Yes. >> [laughter] >> Good evening. This is a May is a very busy month. We have a lot going on these next three Wednesdays. So, tomorrow night you're invited if you wish to join us. We'll see some of you there. Um we have our sixth grade concert uh tomorrow night and that features our chamber orchestra, which is a select group. They played here for the board and they're doing really well. Mr. Thorrow is just as the Pied Piper with that flute. And the kids are interested and absolutely love it. So, that's tomorrow night at 7:00. And then the
032following week we have the concert for grades 7 and 8 combined. Um and that's Wednesday as well at 7:00. And then the Wednesday after that, which is the 20th of May, we have our 5K, which and it's run or walk and as always, you're all invited to attend if you want. We have a special assembly and get ready with the students at 8:00 in the morning, but for all adults who are participating, Mr. Fine included, we will see you at the Rudersham parking lot by John Pappas. That's the start across from the Hunting Inn. And that's at 9:00 is when we blow the horn. So, you know, there are a lot of folks involved in this. The PTA volunteers a lot of time and also is responsible for getting most of the fundraising. OMAC has
033been a big supporter for 20 runs. This is the 20th annual run. It would have been the 22nd, but we missed two because of COVID. So, it it it's a big one and it's a great t-shirt this year. You'll see it when it makes its debut. One of our students designed it, so that's that's something else to celebrate. Um our testing has gone very well. The first round for ELA, we didn't have any issues. However, as leading up to the science test for grade eight, it just the interface didn't work all that well. So, I decided to just suspend it and reschedule it. So, we're doing that tomorrow. And this is just for the eighth graders. And hopefully we don't have any issues, but this is something that's coming from the state. It's nothing we
034have any control over. However, the same day everything went down for the math test over at John Marshall, yeah. and then I were chatting about that. It's really unfortunate. I don't know why it's not working, but sort of no excuse in my book for that. Um and I believe that's all I have. Thank you. Hopefully we'll see you at the back table. Thank you very much. Okay. All right. I'd like to start by echoing Sarah's sentiments of gratitude both for our teachers and our staff and their hard work and dedication. And of course for our PTA who has been um uh appropriately showering our staff with treats and uh gifts for the hard work that they do. So, it's a it's a fun week at John Marshall. Um we are wrapping up um a big
035portion of state testing tomorrow with our fifth grade science exam. And as Charlie said, we had that, you know, day two of our math exam, which we postponed to the next day. And thankfully the state had the platform up and running and we were able to to go. And when it's running well, it's running well. So, uh we were grateful for that. Uh this Thursday evening is our annual heritage fair. It is by far the biggest event at John Marshall. Um uh we are keeping our fingers crossed that the weather is good. Um since we've done it as an indoor outdoor event, it has alleviated a lot of the congestion. It is such a fun evening. So many families come out and dedicate time and volunteer to be different countries. Um so, we're looking forward
036to having some fun with the community on Thursday. And next Saturday the 16th is our third annual bike rodeo. So from 9:00 to 12:00 we will block off the parking lot at John Marshall and invite families to come with their young children and their bicycles and helmets and they'll have a couple of courses to run in the parking lot. Um and I'd like to thank the Village Police Department who um partners with us both to do um uh car seat checks and um to talk about bike safety as our students are are participating in the bike rodeo. >> have car seat checks that day? They do. They do. Um and also a thank you to Khan um who always uh comes as well and helps any students who have any um technical bicycle Great. Thank
037you. Great. Thank you. Thank you very much. Yes. Isabella, yes. Isabella. So AP tests started um yesterday and they're going to be going on for 2 weeks. So kind of stressful, but I think everyone can be prepared. A lot of teachers do couple weeks of preparation before the test. Um same for the units before, so that's really nice. Um commitment day for seniors is last Friday, so obviously very exciting day. Um this past Saturday the jazz band advanced to the Battle of the Bands um competition after submitting a video submission. Um this is a competition from MADD, which is Mothers Against Drunk Driving, to raise awareness for drunk driving and um people who were lost to drunk driving. So our jazz band won best trombone section, best saxophone section, um Isabella Brecker for third place
038as well. >> [laughter] >> Molly Stillman won first place solo and we beat Hicksville for first place overall ensemble. Ooh, it's going to be in the paper on Thursday. >> [laughter] >> Isabella, did you make your commitment? Yes, I'm going to NYU. All right. So, public comment. Do you have Do I have a misconsent? It's about consent versus public comment. Yeah, we have a You're right. I thought public comment first, all right? Yeah, yeah. Any public comments for agenda items only? Does anybody have a public comment for agenda items? Good evening. All right. Uh for those of you that don't know me, my name is Kate Collum Gibbons. I am also representing my father tonight. He had hoped to be here, but at the last minute the decision was made it was best for him
039to not be here. I am part of the Collum family that for five generations and over 100 years have lived on the property that borders the high school. The East Hampton High School became our neighbor when the school was built in 1970. I've been a teacher at John Marshall Elementary School for the past 32 years. In 2002, I began the process to build my house on our family land. This was the way I could remain in this community that I grew up in and was teaching it. After a seven-year process, I was given permission to build my house. I'm here tonight to express my disappointment. Well, the disappointment doesn't quite capture my true feelings. My feelings might be better described as gut-wrenching and heartbreaking. Your decision to put stadium lights on the existing turf field
040that runs along our family property is heartbreaking and gut-wrenching for me and my family. There was an agreement that was made with our family that there would not be lights on fields. This was due to a time they had lights on one of the back fields and there were many problems that arose from the lights being there. That agreement means nothing to you. In June of 2023, I spoke at a board meeting to share our opposition to the possibility of lights because it was being discussed. At that meeting, I suggested that if it was absolutely necessary to have lights, you consider building a second turf field that was centrally located on the property and put the lights on that field so that the impact of lights would be minimal for all neighbors, not just a
041burden for our family. Here comes the sucker punch. In the past, anytime there was a possible discussion of lights on the current turf field, someone in the district would reach out and let us know so that we could come and voice our opinions. This time when the propositions were put together, no one reached out to mention that proposition one included lights. Not only does it include lights, but it includes a second centrally located turf field. What it didn't make clear was where would these lights be going? After presentation at a faculty meeting by Mr. Fine and Mr. Schneider, I began to wonder, where are these proposed lights going? I scheduled a meeting with Mr. Fine for what my husband and I hoped would be a reassuring meeting that my proposal from June of '23 had
042been considered and that the lights would be on this new centrally located turf field. My husband and I were both shocked. The response was no. The lights would be going on the existing field, not the new turf field. When we asked why, we were told it would not be possible to fit big enough bleachers by this new turf field. At a board meeting years ago, a member mentioned how it was such poor planning to build the current turf track field so close to the property line. As a board, here's your chance to not be involved in further or planning. Put the lights on the new turf field. If you care, you will figure out a way to put the lights on the new centrally located turf field. To say that the lights will not impact
043us, it's just not true. The lights will impact us. It's not only the lights on the field that are concerned for us, it's all the other things that come along with the events, including the additional noise, people urinating, other behaviors that we currently experience in the day, and now these situations and behaviors will be extending into the evening. Just one example of one of the behaviors we've experienced over the years is there were a group of children playing while at an event taking place on the turf. The children began throwing rocks in the direction of our house. The rocks hit windows, ripped screens, and littered our decks our deck. In the past, we've always tried to work with you and solve these problems and not bring these matters to the light in a public setting.
044But given what's being proposed, we felt it was time that we have to share what can take place. It's also hard for us to understand this real reason for lights. In the past, we've been told that lights are needed because teams are traveling from far away, arriving late, games are not able to be finished due to darkness. Yet when we asked, "Would you be lighting the tennis courts, the baseball field, and the softball fields?" we were told no. Make no mistake. I'm not advocating for lights at any of those locations. We're just trying to understand the need for lights. Sports such as baseball, softball, and tennis do not have time periods and can run much longer and would be the sports most likely to run into the issue of darkness. The sports that are played
045on the turf, lacrosse, football, soccer, field hockey, all have timed periods. So, that reason for needing lights on the turf doesn't quite make sense to us. It's also hard for us to understand why when neighbors on the other sides of the property have expressed concerns and opposition to plans, you were able to find solutions. When neighbors that would have been impacted by the transportation building expressed their concerns, you found an alternative. So, why is it that you won't work with us on this alternative? When a neighbor on Gold the Gold Street side called to ask if the tennis courts would have been lit, she was assured no, there would be no lights there. So, why is it okay for our side of the property to have lights? As a loyal employee and a good neighbor,
046to get up here today and express this is one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. But, when you're making a decision that's going to impact the quality of my family's life, the value of our property, and create the real possibility that we will have to attempt to sell our house if you move forward with this plan, you better believe I'm going to do the hard thing. Because right is right and wrong is wrong. And what you're planning to do is wrong. What's happening here is not my East Hampton and this is not the district I've given 32 years of my life to. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Thank you. Does anybody else have a public comment? Yes, Linda. Hello, I'm Tom Gibbons, Kate's husband, and thank you for giving us
047a few time few minutes to speak on the same topic, the lighting issue. Um, so about 2 weeks ago in a conversation with the school superintendent, our lives here in East Hampton have fundamentally changed. We had recently become aware of the new budget proposals and the lighting issue, we thought that they were going to go on the central field as Kate just mentioned. I'm hearing this news, shock and disbelief and we were told don't worry it's not going to happen right away. You've got about a year. This message was delivered almost positively almost happily as if as if 12 months was a good thing and certainly with no measure of understanding the impact of how this would really affect us. Kate's family as she had mentioned she's on this they've owned the same plot of
048land for over a hundred years to be told that you've got one more year left with the life as you know it very much felt like a death sentence to the future. We had planned together. I don't think the messaging that messaging was intentional but it was telling. And that's when it really struck me. What you're proposing is something that will actually devastate us that will forever change our lives but maybe you just haven't really thought about that impact on us perhaps like a blind spot on your driving. You haven't really seen us. You see with regard to the stadium stadium lighting being placed on the existing turf fields you're doing something where there are real victims. It's us. It's our family. The Columns have been exemplary neighbors who are here before the school throughout
049their lives. They've dedicated themselves to the noble profession of teaching in this community for decades. In doing so they've enhanced countless lives as well as the life of this community. When there's a fire or local traffic accident not one not two but three members of this family will stop what they're doing and rush to help others. And they're literally saving lives as lifeguards at the village beaches. This family has been a good neighbor and they've been good citizens. They've enriched educated and enhanced this community and protected its members. They should be thanked not overlooked and devalued. And so to return to what struck me from that aforementioned conversation. I don't think any of you are necessarily intending to harm this family that has given so much to this community, but the harm you are causing
050is real. And now you know. Kate has put almost everything she has earned as a teacher into this beautiful home, and what you're proposing will immediately devalue it and render the dream of a future here now a nightmare. Is this how the school district rewards loyalty? So, here's a question to shift the focus from the glitzy lights to the real life impact. I ask you, would any of you be interested in swapping houses with us? Would you be interested in moving your elderly parents or your adult children into this house? To be fair, we should disclose what you or what they would be stepping into. Bright lights not only pouring into your yard, but into your bedroom. It's not just the lights, as Kate mentioned, it's the noise. It's the people who are going to
051urinate along your property line behind the bleachers and behind the shed. People throwing trash into your yard and perhaps rocks into your house. Not a hypothetical. It's the filthy language shouted. It's the loudness of the speakers and the traffic. Oh, and your property will be devalued by a couple of hundred thousand dollars immediately after you move in because let's face it, nobody wants a raucous sporting event in the backyard or or bright blinding lights in their bedrooms. They want peace, they want quiet, they want to be able to sleep. Short, they want a home. And although promises may be made about limited limiting its use, promises um are not credible cuz the lights will eventually be used more and more later into the night over more time, not just for school teams, but maybe for
052community groups, too. A promise was made to this family and was not kept. And also any proposed written local written policy about lighting use is no guarantee um when the next board comes in. So, in closing, I ask you to take a moment and ask yourself, if you wouldn't want this for yourself or your families, why is it okay to do this to us? And as we and as the community know, there are other options. There's several viable options. Across the country, high schools want lights on their fields. And many of these projects, of course, move forward. But some do not. They're certainly not necessary for vibrant athletics program, nor do they create a better team, or [clears throat] create the memories that high school athletes will treasure years later. In many cases, it's about
053the athletics arm race. Some projects have been tied up in litigation for decades. Some districts have lost in court because there were other options. As is the case here. We will explore our legal options as you would if this happened to you. Your dream was being able to eventually retire in the community that you've known your whole life and invested so much time in, and suddenly get shattered, you would do something. So, tonight we shine the light on the proposed action and the harm it will cause us. If you wouldn't want this for your family and you're happy to do this to us, then I was wrong in my reaction on that phone conversation. It wasn't a blind spot. It was a lack of empathy. And that's something that will that will not remain in
054the dark. Thank you for your time. Anyone else? Hey guys. How are you? I'm Tom Cooper. I live at 7478 Conway. Um I'm not going to follow that really well. I'm just I did not come as prepared as they did, but I did have a list of questions that I want to kind of get through, and I have to say that I'm opposed to the as well to start, but when I start to look at it I I'm what really threw me first was you guys put it on your needs list. I would love to know where that start. Does anybody know how it start going on the needs list? Instead of wants. Sure, this is a in for public comment just so you're Okay. I'm you don't need to ask. All right. Okay. >>
055So in a needs, right? Um I we did this 10 years ago or so. You wanted the lights out. We came, we talked. We were we had a cordial conversation and you guys actually listened and you said, all right, the lights aren't needed, right? Now they're needed. I was told then it was to bring back football. I played football here. Your son played football here. I don't know where this nostalgia of Friday night lights comes from. I'm sure it doesn't come from here cuz nobody that went to school here had nostalgia Friday night lights. We didn't play, all right? So we played during the day. So I don't know what sport needs lights here, why it's so important. Um I think that what we've seen is one person Joe standing up saying, I'm going to
056coach this team brought us and you know, we did kind of a lot of success. We didn't need lights, right? We have a ton of kids playing soccer. We you have more kids trying out than you can even coach. So you don't need lights for soccer. So what is this need to constantly push that East Hampton is the place that needs lights on a field? I'm a 10th generation resident. Tell me cuz it seems it just seems crazy that we're letting other communities dictate how we're supposed to Um I have a lot of questions, but I I think Kate and Tom really spoke to it better. But there are there are definitely problems. I mean, even the cost, right? Last time it was going to be 2 million. I don't know what it is now.
057Like we're going to spend another 2 million when we could have the pools. I love the the outdoor the outdoor soaring. I want the windows. I want the roof. I want everything, right? I'm for the indoor facilities. I'm for the pool. I'm I think these are great things for us. But tell me where we need the lights. And I just I I'm sorry. I just can't see how that can be part of our community. Somebody else's. All right. Thanks. Thank you. Thank you, John. Hi. My name is Molly Pollum. Standsway, I am the one Pollum who tore it up. I moved away. And coming back, I'm coming back solely today to support my sisters and to support my dad. My dad wanted to come. It wouldn't have been but for him. It would have been
058upsetting for him. You know my dad, he loves his family dearly. He loves Kate dearly. He would do anything. And he felt like he was doing a disservice by not being here today to make you understand the impact. When Kate said she it took her 6 years to build her house, it was a battle. It was you don't have enough acreage. Come back to this town meeting. Variance, you need this variance. You need to hire engineers. You need to run the water down the entire line of Long Lane on your own. People can pay in if they want. There weren't a lot of neighbors to help her pay in. She invested her life savings in this house that is right back there. I sat with her yesterday. She read me what she was going to
059say to all of you today. I sat on her couch. I looked out her dining room sliders, and what do I see? Kids playing, running, having track practice. Could I hear them? Yes. Is that a problem? No, not at all. We love being near the high school. We do. They had a prom years ago. They held it outdoors. We were with my family on the deck having their own prom. We have We have embraced this school. I graduated from school this school. This is my cafeteria. I am astonished at the discrepancy between consideration for neighbors. There is a sign, or there was a sign at one time at the high school tennis courts, that says, "Please be considerate of neighbors." Playing tennis, a quiet sport. Is that sign at every other field? I don't know.
060I haven't gone and looked, but I'm sure I could walk the premises after and see. Is that consideration? Is it equity there? I don't know. Then the phone call that came from the woman on Gould Street. She was concerned about the lights, as any neighbor would be. "You don't need to fear. You don't need to worry." And I'm paraphrasing. "It's not on your side." So, is it okay because this side of the property is less populated than that side or the back side? And so, perhaps we might be less we might have less numerous fights if we go with the least populated side rather than saying we are putting in a new field. Let's think about this. Let's put bleachers that are big enough there. Let's put the lights there. It was interesting when you're
061presenting your renderings of the proposals. The one thing I didn't see was what are these lights going to look like? I live in Rhode Island. I live very close to the high school as well, ironically. There are stadium lights at our high school. There is not one neighbor on the perimeter of that. There's one behind the school. The school is a light. Those lights are enormous. So, I think it's the public knew what the lights are actually going to look like. Because they go from 50 ft. Is that what the the public's assuming when they filled out those surveys? Were they notified that there's 50 ft poles, 80 ft poles, 120 ft poles? Were they notified how many poles there would be? Were they notified how far away from somebody's property those poles would be?
062And were they provided a rendering? Because on the rendering on the website that I went to just to look at it, shows the property of the school. It doesn't show the residents around. I think that's an interesting thing for people to know. Some people might have empathy when they're doing the vote. I wouldn't want that in my backyard. So, I just ask you to consider that. I also I found it interesting that it's it is listed as a want amongst a lot of needs. Needs that people in their right mind would not say no to. Yes, this school needs a new roof. Yes, this school needs security. Yes, all these things are yes, easy easy yeses. But you bundled it with something that should be a no. And you made it small. It's not bold.
063It's not easy to notice. I just think that as a community, as an East Hamptonite, I will always be a Bonac worker. If that's what you're trying to create, then you need to be clear in how you treat your neighbors and how you treat your community members. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else? My name is Lauren Cooper. I did not intend to speak, but as I'm up here and I see you all, you are leaders. All of you are leaders of this school community and it makes me think of Stephen Covey and I hope I'm saying that properly, but the seven habits of highly effective people. And one of those habits is win-win. You can have a win-win situation here. That is up to you as a leader. Do you want to do
064it your way, my way, I get what I want, or do you want to have a win-win where you work with community? You come to the people who have a vested interest. You come to the people. We could be your biggest supporters. Did you think of that? Even the neighbors are supporting the lights on this new turf field. Even the neighbors are supporting your aquatic center. Did you ever think of that? Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else? I think the comment. Go on to Let's see where we are with the Martin family. We have no callers on this meeting either. Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot to ask you. No callers? Thank you very much. Appreciate that. So, we got the consent agenda. Can I have a motion to accept the consent agenda? I'll
065make a motion. Second. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Number I see we're in the superintendent's report and recommendations. We're going to go to item two cuz we started with item one earlier for the tenure. So, we're going to go to item number two, which is recommend the board approve the administrator appointment of Todd Todd I I I haven't pronounced your name DeLucio. Um so, I will get it wrong over the years, just so you know, but Anyways, uh to the uh what do we have here? Just popped this little dummy in there a second. All right. What do you have? Right, ma'am. The administrative appointment of Todd DeLucio, the assistant director director of athletics, physical education, health, and drivers education effective July 1st, 2026. Have a motion? Make a motion. Second. Any discussion? Congratulations.
066Congratulations. Thank you. Welcome. Thank you. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? And thank you for coming. Welcome. You set the precedent. We expect you in a jacket and tie the next hour while you're here. And he's got a room in You got We got the colors right. Thank you. I I just wanted to quickly just thank everyone on the board and the administrative the entire process. It really was I was more and more energized as we moved along the process. Technically speaking, with student athletes, it was really really energized for me. I'm just I'm really excited to be part of the team. I'm excited. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. You can you can you don't have to stay if you don't want to cuz you'll be at peace for the rest of your life now,
067so Take a win while you can get it. Go to dinner. Go to dinner. Thank you very much. Thank you. Okay. All right. So, So, All right. Recommend the board approve the 2026 summer school program staff appointments effective July 6th, 2026 for the 2026-2027 school year. Do I have a motion? >> a motion. Second. Any discussion? All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Item number four. Do it here. Item number four. Okay. See, recommend the board approve the following contract agreements. There's a list of contract agreements there. Can I um have a motion? Make a motion. >> Second. Discussion? Yeah, one of them uh Kathy Masterson has agreed to stay on a year and help consult and ease the transition. Uh Her and Todd have a very close relationship um and we were able to uh
068secure Kathy for a full year or until Todd gets sick of her. I don't know who ever comes first, but uh she is very happy to and very supportive of Todd. So, uh we're very happy that she agreed to this. It's something we've tried to do with all our high-level administrative positions to make that bridge that gap to make it an easier transition and a successful one. I guess. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Number five. Recommend upon the recommendation of the superintendent of schools, Board of Education hereby amends the real property tax law section 466-A, 467, and 471. Do I have a motion? I'll make a motion. Second. Any discussion? That's what Yep. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Number six. Recommend the board approve the second final reading of the amended policy inventories
069and accounting to fix that assets policy number 5620 effective July 1st, 2026. Do I have a motion? >> I'll make a motion. Second? Second. Any discussion? On favor? I, I, I. Any opposed? Uh I think that is for that. Yeah, so we're now at old business. Just a reminder, uh school budget vote election day Tuesday, May 19th, 1:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. It's your district office? Yep. As like it has been for the last quite some times. Yeah. Uh new business. As we discussed before, uh voter registration East Hampton Union Free School District voter registration day Tuesday, May 12th, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Julie, will that be in your office? Yes, right at the district office. Good. And then back to public comment again. Does anybody have a remote public comment? LTV, do you
070have anybody? For public comment? We have no callers on the line. Very good. Hey, can I have a motion to adjourn? Make a motion. I so move. Second. On favor? I.