Anthony Piccirillo, who worked as a substitute teacher for the East Hampton School District from 2007 through 2010, has launched a wrongful termination lawsuit against Raymond Gualtieri, district superintendent, Charles Soriano, assistant superintendent, and Keith Malsky, the former high school assistant principal who recently has become principal of the Middle School.

The federal suit, filed in early July in Eastern District Court in Central Islip, claims that Mr. Piccirillo, who is 61 years old, was let go because of his age and because he is of Italian descent. It states that his ethncity had been a matter of discussion.

Reached this week, Dr. Soriano said, “It’s my practice to not make any comments about pending legal matters. What I can say is that the district does not discriminate against people, period.”

School officials confirmed that Mr. Piccirillo had been suspended once because of what were found to be inappropriate comments to students, including a joke about victims of domestic violence, which was reported by students who were offended.

    Raymond Gualtieri has only one week left as superintendent of the East Hampton School District, and the school board has been on active duty searching for an interim replacement. The appointment would last for one year.

    According to Patricia Hope, a new member of the school board who was on the high school faculty for many years, the board has finished interviewing candidates who are employed by the district, as well as George Aman, a board member who was recently elected its vice chairman. Dr. Aman is a former superintendent of the Amagansett School District and had been a math teacher. The board will start looking at candidates from beyond the district next week.

    “We’ve had very good interviews,” Jacqueline Lowey, another new board member, said yesterday. “I am very encouraged about the prospects of getting a great superintendent.”

    Julia Kayser, an East Hampton resident who attended the meeting, wanted to make “very sure” that the board did not intend to provide the interim replacement with “a car, a home, gas money,” or other material items, which apparently have been part of Dr. Gualtieri’s contract.

    “Absolutely not,” Laura Anker Grossman, the board president, said.

    The next school board meeting is on Aug. 2. The board hopes to have chosen an interim superintendent by then, and to be able to announce who it is.

    Another matter concerning the replacement of a district employee engaged the board at Tuesday’s meeting, as did the cost of student meals, among other matters.

    Geri Fromm, the district’s head clerk for 20 years, plans to leave on Sept. 19.

    The superintendent’s recommendation is that the board abolish the position of head clerk and hire a principal clerk instead.

    Head and principal clerk are Civil Service categories. Since this was the first that the board had heard of the superintendent’s recommendation, there was some head-scratching as to the difference, and a decision on it was postponed.

    “Obviously, no one can do it in the manner that Geri has,” Ms. Grossman  said. Asked for an opinion, Adam Fine, the high school principal, said he would want to “take a look at the position, and farm out some of her work to other clerks.” He added that he would prefer “hiring from inside.”

    Board members agreed that expecting someone, even someone who is already on the staff, to jump into Ms. Fromm’s job and have similar knowledge of the district would be next to impossible.

    The difference between head clerk and principal clerk is that a principal  clerk has a lower salary and fewer job duties. But even after Kerri Stevens, the district clerk, left the room and brought back Civil Service information, there was plenty of perplexity.

    “I’m all about saving money but I just want to make sure that this position is filled correctly,” Alison Anderson, a board member, said.

    Ms. Hope had something else to add to the discussion. “They [the district’s clerks] were told that the board supported the downgrade. And that’s not the fact,” she said. Dr. Aman, who opposed tabling the matter, was outvoted.

    When school meals came up on the agenda, they opened a proverbial can of worms. A motion to raise the prices of student breakfasts and lunches — breakfasts going up a quarter and lunches 50 cents — was carried, but it was contingent on improving the quality of food at the elementary school.

    The district serves about 90,000 lunches a year, and approximately 30,000 breakfasts, according to Isabel Madison, the district’s business administrator. She said the increase in price would be the first since 2008 and would not affect the free-lunch program, but would help offset a $21,000 deficit in student meals.

    Another discussion was about musical instruments the district owns that are not repairable. Whether they were recyclable remained unclear.

    Jim Moeller, a resident and one of the few district residents who, with his wife, Mary Ella, regularly attends board meetings, welcomed the new members.

    “I hope this board will continue to consider the taxpayers who support this whole operation,” he said.

    Soldier Ride the Hamptons will be dedicated on Saturday to Lance Cpl. Jordan C. Haerter and will benefit the Wounded Warrior Project, a nonprofit that makes financial, medical, and emotional assistance available to United States soldiers wounded overseas.

Registration will get under way at 7:45 a.m. at the Principis’ Ocean View Farm on Montauk Highway in Amagansett. The dedication and blessing, given by the Rev. Steven E. Howarth of the Amagansett Presbyterian Church, will begin at 8:45, and the riders will set out at 9.

The shorter, 30-mile route will take riders into Sag Harbor, where a ceremony will be held at 11 a.m. in part of which marines from Lance Corporal Haerter’s battalion will accompany the wounded vets as they cross the bridge there that was named for the lance corporal, who grew up in Sag Harbor and was killed in action in Iraq in 2008. For walkers, the 4.5-mile course will begin and end on Long Wharf. The event has grown not only as a way to provide assistance to young, wounded American servicemen and women, but also as a way for them to meet one another, which in itself is a source of support, and engage in the uplifting and physically restorative activity of bicycling.

The longer ride, 60 miles, will take riders to Montauk and then back to the farm in Amagansett, where, also at the Principi farm, they will be treated to a barbecue and a concert, Rock the Farm, with, among others, the reggae legends Toots and the Maytals. Tickets to the concert alone are sold separately online at RockTheHamptons.org.   

Playful Book

     Mariah Bruehl, an author and founder of the playfullearning.net Web site, which has received the Parent’s Choice gold medal, is celebrating the publication of her latest book, “Playful Learning: Develop Your Child’s Sense of Joy and Wonder.”

    The book, which will be in stores on Tuesday, offers simple activities that parents can do with their children to develop math, reading, and other skills while instilling a love of learning.

    Ms. Bruehl’s store, Playful Learning in Sag Harbor, has also expanded its services. The shop sells toys, books, and crafting supplies, and also puts together learning adventures for families to bring home, and offers workshops for children and parents.

Laughing at Ross

    Laughing Pizza, a band that includes a mother, father, and daughter, will perform with the Broadway Dance Center Kids on Friday, Aug. 12, at the Ross School in East Hampton.

    The band plays original pop music to get families up and dancing. Tickets for the concert, which will be held in the school’s Center for Well-Being on Goodfriend Drive, cost $20 for kids and $25 for adults. Showtime is 4 p.m.

Ross Scholarship Benefit

    Tommy Mottola’s and Ryan Ross’s Gallery Valentine in East Hampton will hold a benefit for the Ross School Chamberlain/Fairweather scholarship fund for the arts on Saturday evening from 6 to 9.

    Attendees will have a chance to glance at works by Picasso, de Kooning, Warhol, Botero, Jim Dine, and many others. The fund was founded to benefit Ross students who are interested in the arts and in need of financial aid.

    A percentage of the evening’s sales will go toward the scholarship fund, and cocktails and hors d’oeuvres will be served. The event is free, but reservations have been requested at [email protected].

KidFest Continues

    Guild Hall’s KidFest continues on Wednesday with two events — a circus and a chance to create art.

    The Handsome Little Devils will present the “Squirm Burpee Circus” at 1:30 and 5 p.m. The production, according to a release, “is an exhilarating, fantastical adventure featuring classic vaudeville comedy, high-skill circus acts, and a plot rooted in American melodrama.”

    Acts include a Human Cannon, the Ladder of Love, and chainsaw juggling. Tickets are $16 for adults and $13 for kids.

    Also on Wednesday, a hands-on arts and crafts workshop will be held for kids 5 and up from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. in the Boots Lamb Education Center at Guild Hall. Participants pay $10.

    Tickets can be purchased over the phone, at the box office, or at guildhall.org.

Montauk Fun

    The Montauk Playhouse’s FamilyFest will continue tonight at 7 p.m. with a performance by Skyriders, a trampoline team that performs acrobatics and “hi-flying hijinks” with skis, snowboards, and even hula hoops.    

    Tickets are $15 per person. Next Thursday at the same time, Comedy Sportz, an improv comedy group, will perform. Tickets are available by phone or at Willow in downtown Montauk.

Of Boats . . .

    Calling all sailors! Well, sort of. The Amagansett Library will hold its fourth annual Paper Boat Regatta on Saturday at 2 p.m. at the library.

    Families will construct their own vessels, then put them to the test in a race to the finish line. The event is free.

. . . And a Goat

    Two puppet shows are on tap in the coming week at the Goat on a Boat Puppet Theatre in Sag Harbor. Today, tomorrow, and Saturday at 11 a.m. Liz Joyce and a Couple of Puppets will perform “Little Red Ridinghood,” a hand-puppet show for kids 2 to 7 years old.

    Next Thursday, Friday, Aug. 12, and Aug. 13 at the same times, the Talking Hands Puppet Theatre will present “Little Super Heroes,” a show appropriate for children in preschool through fifth grade.

    Tickets to each show cost $10, $9 for grandparents and members of the theater, and $5 for kids under 3.

    According to the experts at Tuesday night’s East Hampton school board meeting, it’s going to cost somewhere in the vicinity of $100,000 to replace the ceilings in five classrooms and another small room at the middle school, where more problems came to light, literally, as ceiling tiles came crashing down during a mid-July weekend brownout.

    Brendan Broderick of the environmental firm J.C. Broderick and Associates explained to the board that heat and humidity caused some tiles affixed to the plaster by “glue dollops,” which contain asbestos, to loosen. They landed on the suspended ceiling, causing those tiles to fall as well.

    “All air samples came back clean,” said Mike Guido, the middle school architect, who spoke with Mr. Broderick. “The only thing hot is the glue, but it is not friable and does not readily come out.” Mr. Guido heads his own firm.

    Since the glue dollops contain asbestos, by law they have to be handled by a certified asbestos removal company, and that puts the cost of replacing the ceiling in those six rooms at approximately $71,000, with additional expected necessary work bringing the total to “just under $100,000,” said Eric Woellhof, the plant facilities administrator.

    The work would be performed by Branch Services - D.K.I., which offered the lowest bid to the board through the Board of Cooperative Education Services.

    “This would come out of the $320,000?” Alison Anderson, a board member, asked Isabel Madison, the district’s business administrator, referring to the reserve fund. Ms. Madison concurred, noting that an additional $650,000, part of the budget vote in May, would remain in the reserve.

    Also at the meeting, the board discussed a ceiling of another kind, the abolishment of the position of head clerk when Geri Fromm retires in mid-September. If that happens, then, for the time being, the highest position in the district would be principal clerk.

    The board reluctantly agreed to approve the superintendent’s recommendation. Initially, both Patricia Hope and Alison Anderson were opposed to the motion, “out of respect for the position,” said Ms. Anderson. Ms. Hope agreed. “It’s not a lot of bucks we’re talking about,” she said of the salary differential between principal clerk and head clerk.

    “Adam [Fine, the high school principal] has faith in this decision, we should respect it,” said Jacqueline Lowey, a board member. George Aman agreed. “This is a case of micromanagement,” he said. “This is a reasonable recommendation, it’s not gross mismanagement.”

    It was explained that keeping the civil service denomination of principal clerk while jettisoning head clerk would allow the board to hire from within the district, since there is currently no one locally who would be able to step into Ms. Fromm’s position. And, the board agreed, time is of the essence, so that Ms. Fromm can lead someone new through his or her paces before she retires on Sept. 19.

    “I know there are some bad feelings among the staff about this,” said Ms. Anderson, but she and Ms. Hope changed their votes after hearing that the job of principal clerk would allow them to “hire from inside,” said Kerri Stevens, the district clerk.

    It is almost beyond belief that because of known water-quality issues as long ago as 2005 the Town of East Hampton stopped posting lifeguards at a Lake Montauk beach popular with the parents of young children, but continued to tacitly allow swimming there. Although signs are posted declaring swimming prohibited, they are generally ignored.  

    South Lake had been closed to bathing on and off since at least the mid-1980s, but after 2005, when lifeguards were no longer assigned there, the Suffolk Department of Health discontinued regular water testing. Nevertheless, the town irresponsibly continued to allow access, with a residents-only parking lot.

    Underscoring the concern, the state has for some time prohibited shellfishing in the south part of the lake from April to December because of pollution. Water-quality standards for shellfishing and swimming differ, so a seasonal shellfish closure does not automatically signify a health risk. In the absence of testing, however, the public cannot be assured. Is it or isn’t it a good place for a dip? The official signal has been mixed.

    Another area popular with swimmers that is also seasonally closed to shellfishing is in Accabonac Harbor south of Wood Tick Island. A calm cove on the Louse Point side, it is especially popular with people who like easy, refreshing laps. Is it safe to swim there, despite the shellfish ban? Nobody knows. And East Hampton is not alone in this; Sag Harbor Village has long failed to give notice to swimmers about results from testing that showed traces of human waste at Havens Beach, nor has it moved forward fast enough with remediation proposals.

    The reason for the concern at South Lake, and perhaps at Accabonac, is that because the county does not do regular testing, no one has been able to say for sure if swimming is a human health risk. Fortunately, testing was to have been done by the county this week at the request of Supervisor Bill Wilkinson. It is the only recent testing at South Lake Beach that anyone appears to know about. The town board is to consider what to do pending the results.

    Odds are that the tests will show contamination of one form or another with a finding of human fecal waste likely, according to a former Suffolk Department of Health official. If this comes to pass, the town must explicitly and adequately alert the public. And, if access is to remain in place, the town should conduct its own regular testing.

    Tuesday night’s East Hampton school board meeting was a time of reflection for those stepping down from either appointed or elected posts, along with a handful of school employees who will be moving on, but it was also a night to celebrate those who are moving up.

    Those include Keith Malskey, the assistant East Hampton middle school principal, who will remove the “assistant” from his title and fill the shoes of the departing Thomas Lamorgese, effective July 1, and Lawrence Roberts, who will split his time between his current job as the district’s director of unified arts and his new job as assistant middle school principal. Gina Kraus, the current assistant principal at the John M. Marshall Elementary School, will be taking over as the principal when Christopher Tracey retires, effective Feb. 1, 2012. The district’s bilingual social worker and director of the alternative school program, Daniel Hartnett, will be taking Ms. Kraus’s spot as assistant principal of the elementary school.

    District Superintendent Raymond Gualtieri and the school board honored the departing principals and others who have tendered their resignation. Mr. Tracey and Dr. Lamorgese, both with 16 years of service, were greeted with applause from the board and the audience, along with Donna Halsey, who has been employed by the district for 13 years as a speech therapist, and Bernadette Brown, a 27-year district veteran. There was a posthumous salute to the former district clerk, Donna Russo, who died last November after a prolonged struggle with cancer.

    “If we don’t vote yes, will she have to stay?” asked Alison Anderson, a board member, when the board voted to accept, with regret, the resignation of Geri Fromm, who has been the head clerk at the high school and has been with the district for two decades.

    James Amaden, the school board president, and John Ryan Sr., another school board member, said their goodbyes as well. When the school board meets again for its reorganization on July 5, Patricia Hope and Jacqueline Lowey will be stepping up to the board.

    “It’s been a pleasure working with the current board members and past boards as well,” said Mr. Amaden. “It’s a big job being on the board, but it’s also a big job being a teacher. It takes a lot of people to make a good school district.”

    Notably absent from the school board was Stephen P. Talmage, who has been a board member for 14 years but resigned suddenly on Monday.

    “It’s been a time coming,” Mr. Talmage told The Star yesterday. “The public is demanding more — and I’m not in any way passing judgment on whether that’s right or wrong. It just takes more time.” Time, according to Mr. Talmage, that he simply can’t fit into his schedule.

    He referred to the committees, like the budget finance committee, a group of civilians formed to work on the school budget. “They give their time,” he said, “so it’s only right for the board to put in more time too. Executive meetings are longer than they used to be,” he continued, “and now the board will be choosing a new superintendent,” a process that is bound to be time consuming as well, Mr. Talmage said.

    Recently Mr. Talmage expressed his opposition to banners being sold to sponsors and placed around the football field for the Police Athletic League’s youth football games. But, he was quick to point out, that has nothing to do with his decision to quit.

    “Whether a few signs go up, or whether the parking lot is rented out won’t affect the students,” he said. “PAL is a great program and the people who run it are as dedicated in time as the school board. I just have a little different philosophy about it.”

    “A heated exchange doesn’t mean the school is broken,” he said. “This is not a broken school.” Mr. Talmage went on to praise the current and newly elected school board members.

    A Talmage has sat on some board, whether it’s town, village, school, or committee, since the town was formed, he said. With both Stephen Talmage and Thomas Talmage simultaneously stepping down from the East Hampton and Springs school boards, Stephanie Talmage Forsberg, an incumbent East Hampton Town Trustee and 12th-generation East Hampton resident, is the only one of her family left on a board.

    Asked how the board was planning to replace Mr. Talmage, Dr. Laura Anker Grossman answered that whoever was chosen would finish Mr. Talmage’s term, which ends in 2012. The conversation, she said, would be held in public, but with private interviews, and would be discussed further at the July 5 meeting.

    “I may run again some time, if there’s an issue that I really feel passionate about,” Mr. Talmage concluded. But for now, he said he’s going to “definitely” attend school board meetings and watch from the audience.

Student Discounts

    From today through Sunday, in honor of school’s end and the start of summer vacation, high school and college students can buy tickets to the MTK: Music to Know Festival to be held Aug. 13 and Aug. 14 at the East Hampton Airport at a 15 percent discount.

    To get a discount coupon, students need to “like” the MTK page on Facebook and click on the “School’s Out for Summer” tab. The coupon, along with a valid high school or college ID, must be presented at one of the locations selling concert tickets: Khanh’s Sports and Nichol’s restaurant in East Hampton; the Gig Shack and Solé East in Montauk; Sylvester & Co. and New Paradise Cafe in Sag Harbor; Indian Wells Tavern in Amagansett; Flying Point Surf Shop in Southampton, and Jetties in Westhampton.  Only one ticket may be purchased per person.

    The addition of Ellie Goulding to the roster of performers at the festival was announced this week. Other bands that will play include Vampire Weekend, Bright Eyes, Matt & Kim, and Tame Impala.

Cooking Fund-Raiser

    The Bridgehampton School Foundation is holding a fund-raiser tomorrow evening at the Buckskill Tennis Club in East Hampton, offering attendees a chance to see, and taste, some of the East End’s finest amuses-bouche being prepared and presented. Money raised will benefit the school’s programs, the new greenhouse, for example.

    A gaggle of local chefs will be on hand, preparing summer hors d’oeuvres and desserts for consumption, and local wines will be served. The price is $50 per person, or $75 per couple, and tickets can be purchased by calling JoAnn Comfort at (631) 537-1374.

Drip Painting Workshops

    Families can now tour the Pollock-Krasner Foundation, home of the artists Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner, along with Jackson Pollock’s studio, and then end their tour with a little art experimenting of their own. On Fridays from 10 to 11:15 a.m., a tour and family drip painting workshop is being offered at $25 per person. Reservations are necessary, and can be made by contacting Karyn Mannix, either at [email protected], or by calling (631) 329-2811.

Ross “Club Starlight Benefit”

    The Ross School will be honoring David and Sybil Yurman Saturday at the eighth annual “Live at Club Starlight.” This year’s event features the Cherry Poppin’ Daddies, a renowned high-energy swing band that has been awarded numerous platinum records. The event, which starts at 6:30 p.m. and is normally known for its high-profile attendees and school parents, starts with a red-carpet arrival, followed by a cocktail reception and silent auction, then a dinner, live auction, and dancing.

    Tickets are still available and can be purchased by calling (631) 907-5214.

Free Swimming Lessons

    The East Hampton Town Recreation Department will hold the first sessions of its two-week swimming instruction programs for children beginning on Monday at Havens Beach in Sag Harbor. The classes are for beginner through advanced swimmers 3 and older and are offered free of charge to residents.

    Classes will start at 10 a.m. and will run Monday through Friday through July 8, with no class on July 4.  Registration will be at Havens Beach on Monday before class. Parents have been asked to estimate their children’s swimming abilities and to supply swim goggles and water shoes.

    Other two-week sessions will be held at Maidstone Park Beach from July 11 to 22, East Lake Beach in Montauk from July 25 to Aug. 5, and Albert’s Landing Beach in Amagansett from Aug. 8 to Aug. 19.

    Got some creative kids with time on their hands? Guild Hall in East Hampton has a remedy for idle hands with its Wednesday KidFest programs, starting this week.

    KidFest will feature interactive workshops and arts projects for kids 5 and up, plus live performances for young children.    

    KidFest kicks off Wednesday from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. with a hands-on workshop in the Boots Lamb Education center. The cost is $10, or $8 for members.

    Afterward, at 5 p.m., the Paper Bag Players will present “Whoop-Dee-Doo!” an all-new interactive show for kids 2 to 7 featuring a paper-bag dragon. Tickets cost $16 for adults, $14 members, and $13 for kids, or $11 members.

    Tickets for adults are $16/$14 members; kids $13/$11 members, and tickets for the series of eight shows are available as well. Series tickets are available at a slight discount.

    This summer kids can also look forward to the National Marionette Theatre’s “Pinocchio,” the Magic of Doug Young, Doktor Kaboom, Gustafer Yellowgold’s “Infinity Sock,” the Handsome Little Devils’ “Squirm Bee Circus,” and the Fred Garbo Inflatable Theater Co.

    For older kids up to 13 who aspire to a life in front of or behind the camera, Guild Hall is offering a summer student film workshop in collaboration with the Hamptons International Film Festival and LTV. The week-long seminar starts July 25. Students will learn the entire process from development and writing a script, acting, blocking, production, cinematography, and editing with experienced filmmakers sharing their knowledge and craft. The workshop culminates in a screening of students’ work.

    A lot of shoes needed filling at Tuesday night’s East Hampton School Board meeting. After Jacqueline Lowey and Patricia Hope were officially sworn in as the newest board members, the group voted on a new board president and began discussions on who would replace Stephen Talmage, a board member who resigned at the end of June.

    They agreed to offer the position to Liz Pucci, who ran for the school board and came in third behind Ms. Lowey and Ms. Hope.

    When reached for comment yesterday morning, Ms. Pucci said that she had accepted the position.

    “I’m looking forward to stepping into some really big shoes,” she said, referring to Mr. Talmage, a board member for 14 years. “My goal is to try to get back on track — refocus on a great school with happy kids, happy teachers, and happy parents,” she said. Ms. Pucci has four children — a 22-year-old with learning disabilities, a child at Northeastern University, a 16-year-old junior, and a 13-year-old in eighth grade.

    “I hope I’m able to help bring the tension levels down, too,” she said.

    At the meeting on Tuesday, the vote for the next board president was initially tied — three for George Aman, a former school superintendent who is in his first term, and three for Laura Anker Grossman, the most recent vice-president of the board, who, with the departure of Stephen Talmage, has been at the table the longest.

    Dr. Aman voted for himself, as did Dr. Anker Grossman, but as the impasse continued, Dr. Aman changed his vote. Dr. Anker Grossman is the new president; Dr. Aman was voted in as vice president.

    For an interim superintendent to fill Raymond Gualtieri’s position until a full superintendent search is completed, the board may draw on a list of resumes that have already been given to the school by New York State’s Board of Cooperative Educational Services and SCOPE Educational Services.

    In addition to experience, “we need to ask about their financial requirements and their availability,” said Ms. Hope.

    The board decided to post a job description on the school Web site and to set a Tuesday deadline for resumes to be submitted. It scheduled an executive session that night to discuss the candidates. According to Dr. Gualtieri, the district already has about 20 resumes. On Tuesday, the board plans to narrow the list, and on July 18, it will conduct interviews. A decision on the interim superintendent is expected by the next official board meeting on July 19.

    Although Adam Fine, the high school principal, was not at Tuesday’s meeting, Dr. Anker Grossman has requested a full presentation, with a disaggregated school report card, to see why East Hampton High School was ranked 8th out of 10 on the East End.

Film Doc Deadline

    The Hamptons Take 2 Documentary Film Festival has announced a deadline of Friday, July 15, for filmmakers to submit their entries. The submission form is available on the festival’s Web site at ht2ff.com. The festival is directed by Jacqui Lofaro, who is a documentary filmmaker living in Bridgehampton.

    There are three categories: short documentary (under 30 minutes), feature documentary (over 40 minutes), and student documentary (maximum 20 minutes).

    The event will be held at the Bay Street Theatre in Sag Harbor on Nov. 19 and on Nov. 20 at the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center. New this year will be an opening night reception, film screening, and panel discussion on Nov. 18. It will honor Richard Leacock, a pioneering cinema verite filmmaker who died in Paris in March at age 89.