Faces in Printmaking

    A printmaking workshop at the East Hampton Library tomorrow will introduce kids 4 and older to this creative technique. Participants will look at faces in prints by famous artists and then print their own faces and shapes using techniques designed for their age group. The class runs from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Advance registration is required. Children must be accompanied by an adult.

Scientists and Scavengers

    The Children’s Museum of the East End will take its Pizza and Pajama Night on the road to the Madoo Conservancy in Sagaponack tomorrow. While adults relax in the 2.5-acre garden reserve, kids will have a chance to explore the grounds and participate in a scavenger hunt. The program begins at 6 p.m. and is free for museum members, $10 for others. Reservations are required.  Back at the museum in Bridgehampton on Saturday at 10 a.m., budding scientists ages 2 to 4 can join an introductory Funtastic Science class. Taught by Andrea Van Dyke, one of the museum’s new educators, the class will introduce basic science concepts through playful activities. This week, kids will learn how to make a bottle fountain and then test out their creations. Classes will continue each Saturday in June. The cost is $22, or $10 for members. Advance registration has been recommended.

Crafts in Gansett and Sag

    At the Amagansett Library on Saturday, families will listen to stories about taking flight. Then they will make their own butterfly wings. The story and craft session will begin at 3:30 p.m. Reservations have been requested. Five to 9-year-olds will transform paper into beautiful beads during a craft workshop at the John Jermain Memorial Library in Sag Harbor on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. Advance registration has been requested.

Wagner for Kids

    “Wagner for Kids . . . and Everyone Else” is the title of Victoria Bond’s family-friendly introduction to Wagner’s “Ring” cycle of operas on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at the Montauk Library. “From a young person’s point of view,” the four-opera cycle “is an action-adventure saga” telling the story of the gods, heroes, and supernatural figures of Scandinavian and German myths and folktales, it says in a release. “More powerful than Terminator, tougher than X-Men, better armored than Iron Man, more agile than Spider-Man is Siegfried, who searches for a magical ring and a fabulous treasure while battling hostile dwarfs, ferocious giants, warrior-women, mermaids, and a ferocious dragon!” Ms. Bond, a composer and conductor, will include slides, audio clips, and a Bugs Bunny cartoon in her program, part of a library series commemorating the bicentennials of the births of Richard Wagner and Giuseppe Verdi. Saturday’s program is free, but reservations are appreciated.

Lessons From a Miller

    Kids can try their hands at milling grains on the water-powered mill at the Water Mill Museum each Monday from 11:30 to 12:30 p.m. this summer. The museum’s miller will teach children about the giant stone wheels and wooden gears that helped accomplish this important work in centuries past.  Admission is free, but donations will be accepted to help with the ongoing preservation and restoration of the landmark, which is the oldest commercial building on the East End.

Art Classes a-Go-Go

    A new session of classes for young adults began this week at the Applied Arts School for the Arts in Amagansett.  For the serious young artist, the school has portfolio-building classes, senior portfolio review, art school admission, painting, drawing, photography, and mixed-media art, as well as fiction writing. Prices range from $150 to $450 for a four-week class. A full list and description of classes can be found online at appliedartsschool.com. The school will also run a summer youth art program with five-day-a-week classes designed to give kids 7 to 14 a chance to explore their talents while they work in a variety of mediums — drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, sewing, textiles, photography, jewelry making, and ceramics. The program will run Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., with students divided by age group. Tuition is $425 per week and will include all supplies and a snack.

Pump It Up!

    Dozens of young dancers from the Dancehampton studio will take to the stage at East Hampton High School this weekend for their spring recital, “Pump Up the Volume.” The show will include ballet, tap, hip-hop, jazz, lyrical, and Irish step dancing, with a bit of musical theater thrown in, too.

    Performances will be on Saturday at 6 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. Tickets cost $15 and can be purchased at the door or in advance at Dancehampton, which is on Lumber Lane in East Hampton, across from the Y.M.C.A. East Hampton RECenter.

From Marine to Moraine

    Future marine biologists, mark your calendars. On Saturday Frank Quevedo, the executive director of the South Fork Natural History Museum, will lead a shark dissection workshop for kids 8 and older.

    Participants will dissect a small shark, known as a spiny dogfish, and learn to identify its anatomical parts to better understand how it swims, eats, and respires. The program begins at 10 a.m. and carries a $20 materials fee. Tools, gloves, and eye protection will be supplied. Older kids have been invited to join in a SoFo hike in Montauk at 10 a.m. on Saturday with Angela Firestone, a geologist and former curator of geology at the Cranbrook Institute of Science. Hikers will explore the Ronkonkoma terminal moraine, deposited on the South Fork during the last advance of the Wisconsin-Illinois ice sheet 10,000 years ago. Advance registration is required for all programs, as enrollment is limited. The museum is in Bridgehampton on the Bridgehampton-Sag Harbor Turnpike.

    As the school year draws to a close, concern about standardized tests and the companies developing them was the hot topic at Tuesday’s meeting of the Amagansett School Board.

    Eleanor Tritt, the school’s superintendent, discussed continuing concerns about field-test questions embedded in tests developed by for-profit corporations such as Pearson Education, which creates and markets educational materials, technologies, and assessments.

    Of particular concern, Ms. Tritt said, is how these questions — newly developed questions that are being tested and evaluated before they can be used to determine a student’s score — are compelling students to spend considerable time on questions for which they will not be graded. “They spend time on those questions, and become frustrated when they are difficult,” she said. “That impacts the way in which they respond to, and have time for, the questions that they’re really being graded on.” Consequently, she said, students become disappointed in their own achievement through no fault of their own.

    Pearson’s reach into public education also extends to testing designed to assess how well schools are teaching state-developed learning standards. There is continuing concern that “the tests are being used to rate teachers,” Ms. Tritt said.

    She referred to an article in the Buffalo News in which parents and educators likened such testing to child labor and the use of children as guinea pigs. In 2011, the newspaper reported, Pearson won a $32 million state contract to design state tests that every student in third through eighth grade will be expected to take. The company’s involvement in the development of tests also raised questions as to whether schools using Pearson textbooks would gain an advantage on Pearson-developed tests. The concern, Ms. Tritt said, is that a corporate entity “is really benefiting, profiting from the education market.”

    “There’s continued pushback about the way the tests are being used and the financial awards to companies like Pearson that are becoming involved in the technology and administration of the test,” Ms. Tritt sai

    It was a tearful exit, full of accolades, for Therese Watson on Tuesday at her last Montauk School Board meeting. She announced in March that after 29 years she was stepping down from her seat on the board. But it wasn’t Ms. Watson who was shedding tears; it was everyone around her.

    “A thank-you would not be enough. I thank you for your friendship, your wisdom, your guidance, your leadership, and for being a mentor to me when you handed over the presidency,” Diane Hausman, the board president, said, her eyes filling with tears.

    “It’s been my pleasure, it really has. It’s been a joy for me,” Ms. Watson said, seemingly eager to move on with the meeting.

    But it didn’t stop there. Jack Perna, the district superintendent, told Ms. Watson that she had helped him through many obstacles over the years and had given him the confidence to do his job. “Because of you and your insight, we pushed forward with many things in this district,” he said.

    Judith Pfister, a teacher, said Ms. Watson was on the hiring committee when she was seeking a job at the school 28 years ago. “I wanted to thank you for that,” she said.

    Bill Cullen, the school attorney, visited the meeting for the occasion and saluted Ms. Watson from the audience.

    Donna DiPaolo, a teacher, mentioned a private time in Ms. Watson’s life, when she took over the care of two nephews. “I looked up to you for that. You taught me what a family really is,” she said, tears running down her cheek.

    At that point, Ms. Hausman pulled out a picture of the Montauk School, framed and tied with a ribbon, and presented it to Ms. Watson, who received applause and a standing ovation from the school board, teachers, Mr. Perna, and others in the room. A large cake was then brought out.

    Marking her last meeting, all further resolutions were read by her. “We’re going to make you work today,” Lisa Ward, a board member, said.

    One of the resolutions was a final ratification of the teacher contract, which had been in limbo for over two years.

    “This is a committed, dedicated board, and we should appreciate them,” Mr. Perna said in praising the members’ work on the contract, adding that for the two years that the teachers worked without one you would never have known it because they were so professional.

    He commended Ms. Pfister for her service on the negotiating committee.

    “This is a wonderful faculty,” Mr. Perna said. He said he was glad they never took up the tactics that are often used by disgruntled teachers in other school districts.

    The board voted unanimously to approve the contract, with one abstention, by Kelly White, whose husband, Rick White, is a teacher at the school.

    In an e-mail message yesterday, Colette Clancy, the president of the Montauk Teachers Association, said that after two years of negotiating, both parties compromised with a modest proposal that satisfies both the board and the faculty. She said the association thanks the board members for their time and active role during negotiations.

    Another resolution that was unanimously approved was the hiring of a new physical education teacher, Will Collins, who was at the meeting and throughout the day had shadowed John Salmon, the current physical education teacher, who is retiring.

    Mr. Collins told the board that he grew up in East Hampton and is passionate about kids. He said everyone he talked to about working at the school told him how lucky he was to get the job.

    “They said what a great school this is, what a great family it is, and what a great community it is. With no reservations, I saw that today,” he said.

    Nearly all school districts on the South Fork performed well above average on the New York State Education Department’s annual school report cards for 2011-12, released last month.

    Every year, across the state, students in third to eighth grade take two exams: one in math and one in English language arts. Students in fourth and eighth grade also take a science exam. Each are scored on a scale of 1 to 4 — with a 1 denoting below-standard performance, a 2 indicating that a student has met the basic standard, a 3 noting the student is proficient, and a 4 denoting that a student exceeds proficiency.

    Earlier this spring, students across New York State took the first assessments that were aligned to the Common Core, a new, national set of learning standards that are meant to promote higher-order critical thinking. Students were tested on both fiction and nonfiction, not only through multiple-choice questions but also in the form of short essays. Because of the change in format, John King, the New York State Commissioner of Education, has acknowledged that statewide, next year’s school report cards are likely to show a large drop in test scores — some by as much as 30 percent.

    Beside test scores, the annual report cards also include information related to enrollment, class size, racial and ethnic demographics, teacher qualifications, and turnover, among other things. All are available to view online at reportcards.nysed.gov.

    Here on the South Fork, each report card provides a useful snapshot in terms of the wildly divergent school populations — and unique needs of each district. 

    For 2011-12, the East Hampton School District reported an enrollment of 1,841 students in grades prekindergarten through 12th grade, with an average class size of 21 students. Nearly a quarter of East Hampton’s students qualified for either a free or reduced-price lunch, in a student body that is 51 percent white and 41 percent Latino. Since 2009, the Latino population has grown by 5 percent, while the white population has dropped by 5 percent.

    At the John M. Marshall Elementary School, fewer third graders received a 3 or 4 on the English language arts and math tests than the state average; 44 percent scored a 3 or higher in English and 52 percent scored 3 or higher in math, compared to 51 percent and 54 percent last year.

    Among fourth graders, 65 percent scored a 3 or higher on the English language arts exam, compared with 67 percent the previous year. And in math, 79 percent of fourth graders scored a 3 or higher, compared with 75 percent from the previous year. In science, 88 percent scored a 3 or higher, a drop of 3 percentage points from the prior year.

    Calls to Robert Tymann, East Hampton’s assistant superintendent, who oversees curriculum and instruction, went unreturned.

    The Springs School District reported an enrollment of 650 students — an increase of 47 students since 2009. The average class size was 21 students. As in East Hampton, nearly a quarter of Springs students qualify for either a free or reduced-price lunch in a student body that is increasingly Latino; white students totaled 45 percent, while Latinos numbered 51 percent.

    Among fourth graders at Springs School, 58 percent scored either a 3 or higher on the English language arts exam, compared with 57 percent the year before. In math, 71 percent of Springs fourth graders scored similarly, compared with 68 percent the year before. And in science, 88 percent of fourth-grade students scored a 3 or higher, compared with 94 percent the year prior.

    Students in the eighth grade at Springs School showed incredible gains, with 74 percent scoring a 3 or higher, compared with 56 percent the year before — an increase of 18 percentage points. And in science, 96 percent of eighth graders scored a 3 or higher, compared with 79 percent the year prior — an increase of 17 percentage points.

    “Although it’s important to monitor, testing is not the be all and end all,” said Eric Casale, the principal of Springs School, at a school board meeting on Monday night. “I credit our gains to the hard work and dedication of my colleagues and my staff. We do it with good teaching and trying to be as individual as we can, knowing a student’s strengths and weaknesses, and tailoring the instruction to meet their needs.”  

    For 2011-12, the Amagansett Union Free School District, which enrolls 101 students in prekindergarten through sixth grade, reported an average class size of 15 students. None of its students were eligible for reduced-price lunches and its student body was 74 percent white and just 10 percent Latino.

    In terms of fourth-grade English language arts, 75 percent of Amagansett students scored a 3 or higher, compared with 80 percent last year. In math, 81 percent of Amagansett fourth graders scored a 3 or higher, compared with 87 percent last year. And in science, 100 percent of Amagansett fourth-graders scored a 3 or higher.

    The Bridgehampton School District had an enrollment of 140 students in grades prekindergarten through 12th grade and an average class size of 11. In a school where black, Latino, and white students each account for 31 percent of the student body, half qualified for either free or reduced-price lunches.

    Among Bridgehampton’s fourth graders, 64 percent scored a 3 or higher on the English language arts exam, compared with 38 percent last year. And in math, 71 percent of fourth graders scored 3 or higher, compared with 46 percent last year. Finally, in science, 93 percent of Bridgehampton fourth graders scored a 3 or better. Though students tested above the state average in third through sixth grades, fewer seventh graders scored a 3 or higher in both math and English than the state average.

    The Sagaponack School District reported an enrollment of 18 students in first through fourth grade. None of its students qualified for either free or reduced-price lunches in a student body that is 89 percent white and 6 percent black. All seven fourth graders scored a 3 or higher on both the English language arts and math exams. Six of seven fourth graders scored a three or higher on the science exam. 

    The Wainscott Common School reported an enrollment of 19 students in kindergarten to third grade. The average class size was six. Among its students, 68 percent are white and 26 percent are Latino. None qualified for either free or reduced-price lunches. Because only four students in third grade were tested, the school’s scores were not available.

    Finally, the Montauk School district reported an enrollment of 285 students in prekindergarten through eighth grade, where class sizes averaged 15 students. Among its student body, which is 63 percent white, 28 percent Latino, 5 percent Asian, and 4 percent black, none qualified for either free or reduced-price lunches.

    Among its class of 22 fourth graders, 73 percent scored a 3 or higher in the English language arts exam, compared with 65 percent the year before. In math, 86 percent scored a 3 or higher, compared with 77 percent last year. And in science, 100 percent of fourth graders scored a 3 or higher.

    “A love fest” was how Eric Casale, the principal of the Springs School, described Monday night’s school board meeting, during which two of its members bid a final farewell. But quickly talk turned to questions concerning his leadership in dealing with a cheating scandal when he was a principal in the Bronx.

    Monday marked the last time that Kathee Burke-Gonzalez and Teresa Schurr would hold court, after serving as board members for nine years and six years, respectively. Jeff Miller and Adam Wilson, their newly elected replacements, will begin their three-year terms on July 1.

    Joe Gonzalez, Ms. Burke-Gonzalez’s husband, first addressed the room of nearly 50 attendees, saying that the “nine years represented a lot of hard work and sacrifice at the house.”

    Timothy Frazier, a board member, described Ms. Burke-Gonzalez as a “leader and a champion of the Springs School community.” He added, “We thank you for your leadership, commitment, focus, and love for our school.”

    Of Ms. Schurr, Mr. Frazier said he would miss her “crystal-clear honesty,” as a colleague apparently known for speaking her mind.

    Both women received a standing ovation before the meeting briefly adjourned for slices of strawberry sheet cake.

    Before the celebration could begin, however, Carol Buda, a Springs resident, approached the lectern, and in so doing radically changed the mood of the night.

    “It’s not easy to get up here, especially on a night when you’re leaving,” Ms. Buda said. “Quite a few people didn’t want to come to the school board meeting because of the negative repercussions. It should be an open process and one where people feel comfortable expressing an opposing point of view.”

     Ms. Buda spoke at length concerning the recent resignation of Katherine Byrnes, the former assistant principal, and the rumors that have since swirled concerning both the school’s reporting of testing irregularities to New York State and the prior tenure of Mr. Casale at P.S. 91 in the Bronx.

FOIL Report

    According to a report from Thomas Hyland, a former deputy director of the New York City Department of Education’s Office of Special Investigations, Mr. Casale denied that he had knowledge of testing misconduct and that he failed to report it, per chancellor’s regulations. After submitting a Freedom of Information Law request, The East Hampton Star obtained a heavily redacted copy of the report.

    But the report’s conclusion, dated August 2005, cites two redacted names whose statements corroborated the initial complaint: “Mr. Casale had knowledge that Mrs. Lee engaged in possible misconduct by assisting fourth graders with test answers and failed to report the complaint.” It refers to Barbara Lee, an administrator and former teacher, who provided answers to students during a 2004 Regents exam.

    Following a costly legal battle, the city eventually fired Ms. Lee. Mr. Casale, the report notes, submitted his resignation effective June 30, 2005. Later that summer, he reported for duty at the Springs School.

    “My feeling is that people are not satisfied with the process and how it was handled,” Ms. Buda said. “If mistakes were made, they should be acknowledged. This is a public school, not a private school. It’s a small community.”

    At issue in recent weeks has been whether Springs School officials were aware of the cheating allegations when the district first offered Mr. Casale the job during the spring of 2005. The subsequent recollections of various committee members who vetted his candidacy have since presented a hazy picture.

    In mid-May, Mr. Casale sent a two-page letter to Springs residents, describing recent coverage as “an extremely upsetting situation.” The next day, the Springs School Board issued a letter of support emphasizing that it had exercised due diligence and properly vetted his candidacy long before offering him the position. While the letters were initially posted on the school’s Web site, both have since been removed.

    “I see that everyone wants to gloss over it, and I don’t think that’s healthy,” Ms. Buda said. She later urged that the school’s hiring process be amended, particularly as it concerns a candidate’s references and work history. “How it’s resolved is really not so much the issue as the process. People are dissatisfied with the lack of resolution — particularly because we’re talking about areas of leadership in children’s lives.”

Moving On . . .

    Later in the meeting, Mr. Casale addressed the school’s recent state test scores, the subject of another story in this week’s paper. Schoolwide, he said that 86 percent of Springs students are performing at or above grade level in math, with 73 percent performing at or above grade level in reading.

    In addition, Sema Mendelman, a Springs parent, gave a presentation about a summer program run by Camp Invention, an enrichment program that emphasizes math, science, and technology. Twenty-five Springs students are eligible to attend the program, which will run from Aug. 12 to Aug. 16. The camp is open to incoming first through sixth graders, at a cost of $245 for the week. Incoming seventh and eighth graders can apply to be counselors.

    Finally, Springs teachers emphasized the importance of summer reading, particularly for low-income children to help them maintain their academic gains over the summer months. Teachers said that extensive summer reading lists would be available at each of the local libraries. They include both fiction and nonfiction titles, with favorite authors grouped by grade level.

    Helene Fallon of Montauk, the project coordinator of the Long Island Parent Center, which is funded by the New York State Education Department to provide parents of children with disabilities with the information and resources available through professionals in the field, organized a symposium that was attended by over 200 people on June 7 at the Tilles Center at Long Island University in Brookville.

    The purpose of the meeting was to stress the importance of building effective educational teams for students with disabilities and to show how research confirms the importance of students and their families having a valued voice in education.

    On the panel were Michael Yudin, the acting assistant secretary of special education and rehabilitative services for the United States Department of Education, James DeLorenzo, the assistant commissioner of special education for the New York State Department of Education, and Rich Burns, the superintendent of the East Hampton School District, who was there to represent the New York State Superintendents Association. “In our opinion, Rich sets the standard for superintendents,” Ms. Fallon said. “He values the input of all students and their families. There couldn’t have been a better choice to sit on our panel.”

Puppets’ “Big Stink”

    Three native species band together to track down the source of a “malodorous substance” in “The Big Stink,” a children’s puppet show coming to Marders nursery in Bridgehampton this weekend. The production is the work of artists and puppeteers from Brooklyn and the East End and is, according to a release, “designed for a world where the average child can name more brand logos than animals living in their backyard.”

    The players and puppeteers include Christian Scheider, Britt Moseley, Nick Fusaro, and Tucker Marder, who also directed and produced the “The Big Stink.” Max Feldschuh will be on “vibes.” There will be free shows on Saturday and Sunday at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Marders is on Snake Hollow Road.

Czech and Slovak Folktales

    Vit Horejs, a master puppeteer, storyteller, and founding artistic director of the Czechoslovak-American Marionette Theatre, will bring Czech and Slovak folktales to life in a marionette show at the Montauk Library on Saturday.

    Mr. Horejs has written, translated, adapted, and directed a dozen plays for his theater. Among his many accolades was his recent Innovation Theatre Awards nomination for best director for his play “The Very Sad Story of Ethel and Julius” at Theater for the New City. He performs in films and on TV as well. The show in Montauk, which runs from 7:30 to 9 p.m., is for all ages and is free.

    Also at the Montauk Library, the Dig Into Reading summer reading club will start tomorrow. There will be clubs divided by age, including one for preschoolers and kids entering kindergarten in the fall. Readers can sign up between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. A dinosaur-themed kickoff celebration will be held from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m.

Seashell Walk

    Ever wondered what kind of creature made its home in that cool shell you found on the beach? Frank Quevedo, director of the South Fork Natural History Museum in Bridgehampton, will provide some answers during a family seashell identification walk on Saturday at 1 p.m.

    He’ll talk about how shells form and the lives of their inhabitants. Those who want to share some treasures from their own collections have been invited to take them along. Reservations are required and can be made by calling the museum.

Musical Theater Camps

    Stages, a Children’s Theatre Workshop is registering kids 8 to 18 for its summer musical theater camps, from July 1 through July 28 or Aug. 1 through Aug. 25. The camps, which will involve rehearsing and performing a full-scale musical production, along with instruction in acting, singing, and dancing, will run from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, at the Southampton Town Recreation Center. Final performances will be on July 26, 27, and 28 and Aug. 23, 24, and 25 at Pierson High School in Sag Harbor.

    The cost is $2,450 per session, or $4,500 for a pair of siblings or a two-session package. Some scholarships and financial aid are available. Registration is through the director of Stages, Helene Leonard, at [email protected] or online at stagesworkshop.org.

Lemonarf Stands

    The Animal Rescue Fund of the Hamptons is making its Lemonarf Stand starter kits available to kids who want to make philanthropy a part of their summer plans. The kit includes recipes for lemonade and cookies, a poster to let customers know the money raised will support ARF, a minibank to collect donations and keep them safe until they are taken back to ARF, and Lemonarf cups. The kits are available at the organization’s adoption center on Daniel’s Hole Road in East Hampton.

Safe Summer Evenings

    Southampton Town’s Safe Summer evening recreation program for teenagers will begin on Monday at Long Beach in Noyac. The program features supervised outdoor basketball, Ping-Pong, knock hockey, D.J. music, arts and crafts, a putting green, outdoor movies, football, soccer, and more on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday evenings from 8 to 11, with a number of special events planned throughout the summer. It is free and open to all kids 12 to 18 years old.

    Graduation and commencement ceremonies continue today, tomorrow, and Saturday as the school year comes to a close.

    Eighth graders from the Springs and Montauk Schools will have graduation ceremonies tonight. Montauk’s graduation will be at 6 at the school. The ceremony for the Springs School will be held at 6:30 in the East Hampton High School auditorium. A kindergarten “graduation” ceremony for Springs will be held tomorrow at 9 a.m. in the school gym, with a reception to follow in the courtyard.

    A moving-up ceremony for the Amagansett School’s kindergartners was scheduled for this morning at 9. Graduation for the sixth graders will be held tomorrow morning at 9.

    At the Wainscott School, a moving-up celebration for third graders will take place tomorrow at 8:30 a.m., and school will be dismissed for the year at 10.

    There are no fourth-grade graduates from the Sagaponack School, but first through third graders there will have a moving-up ceremony tomorrow at 9 a.m., with school dismissed at 10.

    Prekindergartners at the East Hampton Day Care Learning Center will graduate in caps and gowns tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. A moving-up day for Bridgehampton School students in kindergarten through grade five will be tomorrow at 9 a.m.

    Commencement ceremonies at East Hampton High School will be held on the school grounds on Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon. In Sag Harbor, Pierson High School’s class of 2013 will graduate on Saturday on the hill in front of the school at 5 p.m. Finally, Bridgehampton’s seniors will graduate on Sunday at 4 p.m.

    Adam Fine, East Hampton High School’s principal, began Tuesday night’s meeting of the East Hampton School Board with a summary of the findings of a recent school-wide survey examining issues such as security, diversity, and support. The survey, an anonymous 20-minute questionnaire, was conceived of by a committee of students, parents, faculty, and clergy following the suicide of David H. Hernandez, a junior at the school.

    The National School Climate Center, a New York City-based organization that helps schools establish an environment of emotional well-being, administered the survey, which cost the district $3,000. The school made it available to students, parents, and faculty members during February and early March. 

    Of the high school’s more than 900 students, 732, or nearly 81 percent, completed the survey. Among 125 faculty and staff members, 113 responded. Of 920 eligible households with parents, 252 finished the survey.

    Among the lowest rankings, the results indicate that the school needs to increase students’ sense of socio-emotional security. Specifically, several students said they had been bullied, teased, or harassed by classmates, and nearly 400 indicated they had witnessed such peer-to-peer abuse more than once.

    “It’s not bad, but it’s not great,” Mr. Fine had remarked a while ago, noting that such a climate was, unfortunately, typical of many high schools. “Still, it’s definitely an area in need of improvement.”

    Among the survey’s high points, safety and norms rated the highest, meaning that students believe there is plenty of adult support on the premises and they would have no hesitation in seeking it out. “The biggest fear in schools is that kids are fearful of going to adults,” said Mr. Fine.

    “Rather than have a program that drops in and disappears, this is making meaningful and lasting change in a high school,” he said. The principal plans to identify vulnerable groups and prioritize areas for action come September, and then to track improvement or downturn.

    Taken together, Mr. Fine viewed the findings as evidence of the school’s “great foundation.”

    “I just wish it got here earlier,” he said. “We were a school in need and we needed the help.”

    Following his presentation, board members discussed whether to implement a similar survey at East Hampton Middle School, with opinions mixed and no action taken.

    In other business, the board accepted the resignation of Philip Garypie, a mechanic, effective June 10. It also accepted the resignation of Joel Freedman, interim head school bus driver, effective July 8. Joseph Lipani was appointed as auto mechanic and interim supervisor for a probationary period of 26 weeks, beginning July 8. He will be paid an annual salary of $60,000 as auto mechanic and $50,000 as interim supervisor.

    Schools Superintendent Richard Burns mentioned the scrutiny the district’s transportation department has been under in recent months and said he was hopeful the department would be operated in a fair and honest manner with Mr. Lipani at the helm. Currently, public disciplinary hearings are under way for two suspended bus drivers, though, said Mr. Burns, they came to a “screeching halt” about six weeks ago. “Our counsel has not heard back from their counsel,” he said, despite repeated inquiries. “We’re patiently awaiting a response.”

    Jackie Lowey, a board member, asked that the district’s Web site be updated so that basic information was more readily accessible. And, following the death last weekend of Anna Mirabai Lytton, the Springs School eighth grader killed by a car as she was riding her bicycle, Ms. Lowey urged that the issue of pedestrian and bike safety be a topic of future discussion. “It’s a conversation our district should be involved in,” she said, adding that children in a rural community should expect to be able to ride their bikes to school. “How can we work together to make this a safer community for our kids?”

    The meeting, which had begun on a somber note with a moment of silence for Anna, ended with a standing ovation for three departing board members, George Aman, Lauren Dempsey, and Alison Anderson. Ms. Dempsey stood to deliver some departing remarks, and audience members thanked the trio for their years of service. Mr. Burns presented Ms. Dempsey and Ms. Anderson with bouquets of flowers. Dr. Aman, the board president, received a set of “special tennis balls, to help give you that extra edge.”

     “It’s been a pleasure working with all of you,” concluded Mr. Burns. “The new board is going to come into a really good, fertile environment, ready to move ahead.”

    Wendy Geehreng, J.P. Foster, and Richard Wilson, who were elected to the board last month, will begin their three-year terms at the next meeting on July 2.

    Congratulations to graduates and gratitude to teachers and the PTA were offered by Eleanor Tritt, the district superintendent of the Amagansett School, at the school board’s meeting on Tuesday morning.

    “We had a very wonderful closing of the school year,” Ms. Tritt told the board. “Thanks to the teachers for orchestrating a great end of the year. The PTA has continuously supported our school programs and faculty, and we thank them for everything they do. All in all, we had a very wonderful end-of-year-activities celebration.”

    Mary Lownes of the board said that the many Amagansett students graduating from East Hampton Middle School and East Hampton High School were a testament to the Amagansett School and its effectiveness in preparing students for their subsequent education.

    Ms. Tritt told the board that teachers are evaluating mathematics textbooks and testing materials from Singapore Math Inc. for grades three, four, and five. “The teachers tend to feel that Singapore Math is probably the series they would like to go with,” she said. “Singapore Math seems to have a practice for the students that follows a more logical progression.”

    The program, she said, is well established and has consistently delivered positive results. She told the board that the GO Math! program, which she said is in use at East Hampton schools, is also under review, and that a recommendation would be made to the board once more information has been received from the publishers.

Canning the Calendar?

    Also considered was a change to the school calendar that is traditionally printed and mailed to parents each year. Citing the cost of printing a color calendar, Ms. Tritt asked board members how they felt about ending the practice in favor of putting the calendar online. This, she said, would also streamline the process of creating and issuing the calendar, allowing it to be updated in real time. In addition, changes could also be issued in hard copy and mailed to parents, she said.

    “Mine was like my bible when my kids were here,” Victoria Smudzinski, a board member, said. The physical calendar, she said, was “a handy tool to have.”

    It was very useful, agreed John Hossenlopp, the board’s president.

    Ms. Tritt suggested an approach in which an abbreviated version would be printed and issued, and other content, such as plans and policies, posted online.

The Auditors Cometh

    The school’s auditors recently visited the school and will return in August, Ms. Tritt said. Ms. Lownes, who leads the board’s audit committee, reported on the committee’s meeting. “I think our house is in order,” she said. “We’ll be meeting again in September to go over the findings. If there’s anything that they find in the midst of it I’ll get a call, but we don’t anticipate that.”

    Ms. Lownes praised the “meticulous record-keeping” of Cheryl Bloecker, the district clerk. “Even though the state demands everything online, auditors still have to touch everything,” she said. “We have to keep all those files going, and they can go back many years. . . . Each time they come, they hit different areas, just to make sure that our house is in order.”

    The board also authorized Roxanne Ecker, the treasurer, to transfer $74,348 from the workers’ compensation reserve fund to the general fund for the purpose of payment to the East End Workers’ Compensation program.

    “Our expenses have exceeded the premiums we’ve been paying,” Ms. Tritt said. “The fund has notified us that we have several options: either to pay this $74,348 [in] excess expenses over what we paid,” or “to increase the premium that we pay over the next few years.” The latter option, however, would impact the budget, she said.

    “The purpose of reserves is to cover an amount such as this, so I recommend that it would be prudent to pay this amount. Hopefully, if at any point there are excess funds, we would try to replenish that.”