At a recent Amagansett School Board meeting there was discussion of putting extra money into the budget in case new students enter the district after an affordable housing development there begins welcoming tenants. At the same meeting, the board also set a competitive rate for out-of-district parents who pay to send their kids to Amagansett.
Though unintentional, the juxtaposition might have given an observer the impression that the board might be more eager to welcome families who can afford the $12,400 cost than they are the children from families who could not. While we believe that this was not the board’s intention, any whiff of us versus them would be a bad thing. As budget discussions progress, school officials must be careful not to add to the already-simmering tensions in the district.