Bramoff Will Be Sag Harbor’s New A.D.

Sag Harbor’s new athletic director is a familiar face with past experiences in the district that he hopes will allow him to “hit the ground running.”

Eric Bramoff, a 1996 graduate of Pierson High School who was a three-sport athlete, was appointed as Sag Harbor’s athletic director during Monday’s school board meeting. His new position, though, spans much more than athletics: Mr. Bramoff’s formal title is the director of athletics, physical education, health, and wellness, and supervisor of buildings and grounds.

He joins Sag Harbor after a year as a physical education teacher and athletic director at the Bridgehampton School.

The position at Sag Harbor “was probably the only job in the world that would pull me away from Bridgehampton,” Mr. Bramoff said after Monday’s meeting.

On Tuesday, he said is ready for the challenge of running the buildings and grounds in addition to the athletic department. “I promise to do a lot of listening at the beginning,” he said. “There are people that have been doing a wonderful job there for a long time and I can learn from them. It will be a challenge, but I’m ready for it, and everything I do is going to be based around the student. I’ve approached my whole career like that.”

Lois Favre, Bridgehampton’s superintendent, said in an email that the district “wishes Mr. Bramoff all the best in his new position.”

Ms. Favre also said she and other local superintendents, including Katy Graves of Sag Harbor, initially worked together to see if a shared athletic director position could be created. “In each instance it would have impacted our budget, as we also need a full-time physical education teacher,” Ms. Favre said. “So for our own efficiencies we created a position that combines a physical education teacher and the athletic director, which seems to be the most cost effective for Bridgehampton.”

She added: “We have advertised for our opening, and we had wonderful candidates during last year’s search, so I am confident we will find a terrific candidate.”

Prior to coming to Bridgehampton, Mr. Bramoff taught for nine years in a large school district in Syracuse, where he also won a county championship in boys basketball as a coach. His first job was as the middle school gym teacher at Pierson in 2003, where he said he enjoyed working side by side with the teachers he himself had while a Pierson student.

Before his appointment on Monday, Elena Loreto, the president of the Noyac Civil Council, stood up and asked why the position had been advertised as part-time. Ms. Graves said they wanted to see what other skills the candidates could bring to the table as a means of being fiscally responsible.

“We were looking to be as creative as possible under the tax cap,” she said, noting that a full-time position would not have been sustainable in the district. One person they interviewed was also a bus driver.

Ms. Loreto asked whether the part-time stipulation deterred people from applying.

“Anyone applying for the job had to take the potential it was a part-time job,” she said.

Chris Tice, a board member, said that of the 32 candidates interviewed 6 made it to a second round.

“I have never heard of having this many interviews,” she said, reiterating that the district wanted to find the best candidate while being aware of monetary restraints.

The board unanimously approved Mr. Bramoff’s appointment and congratulated him with a round of applause. Mr. Bramoff, who had brought his wife and two young sons, approached the board after the 20-minute meeting adjourned and shook hands with each member. He thanked them and said he was excited to work with them. Mr. Bramoff, whose salary will be $117,000, begins his four-year probationary term on Friday.

Sag Harbor gave him his first job, he said, and “I’m hoping they can give me my last job.” He acknowledged he had a difficult time leaving Bridgehampton, but is excited about Sag Harbor’s new coaching hires, including Bethany Semlear for varsity field hockey, Daniel Garvey for the middle school girls soccer team, and Kayla Yardley for junior varsity field hockey.

As Mr. Bramoff left the meeting and walked past the gym on his way out, he pointed to his sister’s jersey hanging on the wall. Optimistic about the future, Mr. Bramoff said, “This could be a golden age for Pierson athletics.”