C.D.C.H. Space Off Table

The cure to the woes that ail the Springs School District will not be found in the former home of the Child Development Center of the Hamptons, the district’s lawyers have concluded. 

After researching the possibility of purchasing or leasing the Stephen Hand’s Path, East Hampton, C.D.C.H. building to alleviate overcrowding at the school, the district’s law firm, Ingerman and Smith, found that neither would legal, according to Barbara Dayton, the Springs School Board president.

“The state education laws prohibit the district from leasing space outside the district’s boundaries,” Ms. Dayton said. “The only exception is when a school district leases property from another school district, but C.D.C.H. is not another school district.”

The district can send its prekindergartners to the former Most Holy Trinity School space in East Hampton Village because it contracts with Scope Education Services, a Smithtown nonprofit, for the pre-K program and it is Scope that leases the space, not the school district, Ms. Dayton explained. 

Education law would permit Springs to purchase property only within its district boundaries, “but there is no authorization for purchasing property outside of a district. If we were to go ahead and do something, we would potentially be putting ourselves in the position of litigation from anybody who would feel it is not the right thing to do,” Ms. Dayton said.

The C.D.C.H. charter school closed in June amid financial difficulties and declining enrollment. Anticipating absorbing approximately 30 students from Springs who had attended the charter school, Springs officials said that month that they were exploring using the C.D.C.H. building in some capacity to address the district’s space concerns.

Ms. Dayton said the district must now turn its full attention to addressing the building’s needs. At its July 5 school board meeting, Springs hired B.B.S. Architects and Engineers to serve as its architect for a potential expansion of the school building.

“I’m hoping that most people are willing to take a wait-and-see approach as to how the process moves forward and ultimately what kind of space is put forward,” Ms. Dayton said. “Hopefully, people aren’t rushing to judgment on it when it’s going to take a little time.”

Springs is not the only local district to bump up against this particular part of state education law. The East Hampton School District, in its quest to build its own transportation depot, or “bus barn” as it has been called, recently considered acquiring space outside of district lines for such a facility, but was advised by its attorneys that it would not be possible to do so.