District Postpones Mailing
Sag Harbor residents who may have been waiting to learn more about the school district’s interest in the former Stella Maris Regional School will have to wait about two more weeks for a mailing that will contain information and a survey.
“We were hoping to have the survey out in January, but we are going to need a little more time to get that out to the public,” Jennifer Buscemi, the district business administrator, said. “It’s just a matter of putting it all together in one clean package.” At Monday’s school board meeting, she explained that the administration had not yet been able to complete the mailing because Sag Harbor’s superintendent, Katy Graves, had been sick for a few weeks.
Since last summer, the district has been exploring whether to buy Stella Maris. It has received a real estate assessment, spent about $11,500 for an architectural evaluation, and the school board has met at least five times in executive session to discuss the possibility.
The school board also heard an update on the district’s website redesign and accepted several donations at Monday’s meeting.
The website is several months away from being ready. Scott Fisher, the district’s director of technology, said in an email Tuesday that the new website would “provide a streamlined, intuitive user interface which will allow the district greater control over the content and display of the district and school sites.” SchoolMessenger, the company Sag Harbor now uses to send messages to parents and residents, will host the site. Sag Harbor will pay the company $2,000 a year for the service, which may be reimbursed through state aid.
Along the way, the district’s communications committee had reviewed more than 50 school district websites, including a proposed design submitted by Syntax, Sag Harbor’s public relations firm, which has website management contracts with dozens of school districts on Long Island, including East Hampton and Springs.
“In addition, the new site will allow parents and community members to customize the alerts they receive from the district and schools,” Mr. Fisher said. “The end product will be simpler and cleaner, with easier navigation. . . . All of the communications committee members agree that this solution from SchoolMessenger is a cost-effective solution, which will meet the needs of all users and visitors to the district and school sites.”
The donations the school board approved on Monday included $12,232 from the Donald E. Reutershan Educational Trust to support a Pierson High School student trip to Cuba. The group will leave next Thursday and return on Feb. 20. The district also received donations of a weight set valued at $1,000, a $25,000 donation to support extracurricular activities, and about $250 in Box Tops for Education funds for elementary school supplies.