Last week, when the Amagansett School Board posted Tuesday’s agenda online, it included a resolution to abolish four special-education teaching jobs. By the time the meeting rolled around, the resolution had been removed from the agenda, leaving some parents and teachers confused and even hopeful that there had been a change of heart.
But Richard Loeschner, the interim Amagansett superintendent, said by phone yesterday that “there was nothing nefarious” about pulling the item. Dawn Rana Brophy, a board member, had been absent during last week’s meeting and others in order to care for her mother, he explained, “so we wanted to explain it one more time to her, that’s all.”
Because of budget constraints, the four positions are still slated to be eliminated, he said. “There’s no question about that,” he added. “It will be on the next meeting agenda.”
The termination of four special-ed teachers has hit the community hard. One parent, Joe Karpinski, took to the podium Tuesday afternoon to level heated accusations of wrongdoing at district officials, among them the school board president, Kristen V. Peterson, who is in her 10th year on the board. Mr. Karpinski claimed that Suffolk County Board of Elections records show she votes using a Springs address, and that a drunken-driving charge years ago makes her unfit to serve as a board member. (The D.W.I. complaint was dropped in court soon after it was entered, Ms. Peterson said yesterday.)
During the call to Mr. Loeschner, he refuted the wrong-address assertion with certainty. Mr. Karpinksi’s information “is completely wrong,” he said. “She’s a voting member of the Amagansett community. I had to drop something off at her home last week, and her home is a couple of blocks from the school.”
“Personal attacks have no place,” Mr. Loeschner continued. “There was no reason to bring up any of those accusations . . . I’m really disappointed in that behavior. I will listen to anything and anyone who disagrees with decisions I make, but I don’t appreciate when people bring up things that have no bearing on any of the decisions.”
After the raised-voice exchange, Mr. Karpinski made another appeal to the board to adjust the budget upward so that the four special education teachers, including those who teach his own children, could be retained. The board, however, has already adopted a 2024-25 budget of $13.44 million, which carries a 7.77-percent tax-levy increase. The district will need a supermajority of at least 60 percent voter approval for the budget to pass.
Mr. Karpinski threatened to “go down to Lazy Point and get 250 people to say no to this budget.”
“You guys should do better and think of learning to remove positions by attrition when people retire,” he said. “Common sense seems to be lacking. . . . You guys could change this budget and be the heroes, but unfortunately you’ve made a lot of damage here.”
Other teachers are feeling the pain of the impending layoffs as well, according to Ashley Blackburn, co-president of the Amagansett Teachers Association. “It is affecting everyone,” she said yesterday. “Morale has been affected by the constant changes and definitely [the] cuts.”
In a follow-up call yesterday, Ms. Peterson emphasized that the board had to keep students, staff, and taxpayers all in mind at the same time. “We’re doing what is responsible and fair between the school and community, with no services being cut,” she said.
After Mr. Karpinski’s comments, the board adjourned into executive session to discuss hiring a new, permanent superintendent. Mr. Loeschner said members were pleased with the number of applications, which included one internal candidate. “I think they have a good pool of candidates to choose from,” he said.