Stella Maris Property Eyed

Less than a month after it received a real estate appraisal of the former Stella Maris Regional School property, the Sag Harbor School District has announced it will be formally exploring the idea of purchasing the property.

Katy Graves, the district superintendent, dubbed the process “an investigation” during Monday night’s school board meeting.

The details of the appraisal have not been released, but it was the focus of an executive session during the board’s July 20 meeting. Ms. Graves said Monday that the appraisal is “now in the hands of our architect and our attorney” and will be discussed in more detail during another executive session prior to the Aug. 31 school board meeting.

She said the investigation process would include collecting information and feedback from taxpayers, families, educators in Sag Harbor, and even school leaders from other nearby districts.

“We don’t want to jump to conclusions,” she said. “We have a growing population of students. We’ve got to ask folks their opinions and see if we have the support of our community.”

Ms. Graves gave examples of possible programs, among them expanded special education or advanced science, technology, or arts programs, that could theoretically be housed in the former Stella Maris School if Sag Harbor acquires the property.

The most recent listing price of the property, which is owned by St. Andrew’s Catholic Church, was $3.5 million. A representative of the church declined to comment on Tuesday.

Stella Maris was originally known as St. Andrew’s Parish School. It was founded by the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary in 1877, and it closed at the end of the 2010-11 school year after sharply declining enrollment and mounting financial troubles. The East Hampton Star reported in May 2011 that the school’s debt had reached nearly half a million dollars.