Early Tenure for Principal

A unanimous East Hampton School Board awarded tenure on Tuesday night to its elementary school principal, adopted a calendar for the 2016-17 school year, and approved an energy performance contract that will begin the process of adding solar panels and many other energy efficiency features at all three school buildings.

Beth Doyle, who is in her third year as principal at John M. Marshall Elementary School, was granted tenure about five months ahead of the end of her initial probation period, which was to end in June. The district is allowed to grant early tenure under state rules, and the board did so upon the recommendation of Rich Burns, the district superintendent

East Hampton has had problems in recent years retaining talented educators and administrators, said Mr. Burns. “This is my way of expressing to Principal Doyle that she is doing an outstanding job and I hope she stays with us. . . . It is within my jurisdiction and discretion to grant her tenure early, and I am proud to do that.”

A community member had raised a concern about sticking to the initial probation period, but in response, Rich Wilson, a school board member, said Ms. Doyle deserved tenure early. Calling her “an outstanding educational leader,” he said that “she has the vision of where we are going and she has the ability to bring along the teachers. This is a great day to have Beth Doyle in our district.”

The board adopted next year’s calendar after seeing a draft of it for the first time. School will begin on Sept. 7, the Wednesday after Labor Day. Mr. Burns said the calendar was in line with that of the Eastern Suffolk Board of Cooperative Educational Services, and that it had been discussed with the sending districts. School will not be in session on Election Day, which officials said was good news, given recent concerns over security when residents come in to vote.

The energy performance contract that was approved is expected not only to make school buildings more energy-efficient but to save money for the district. The Milwaukee-based firm Johnson Controls Inc. has been hired to install solar panels and new transformers, switch to natural gas and bring in a co-generator at the high school, add weather-stripping, insulate pipes, and more. The work is projected to cost nearly $4.9 million, to be paid off gradually over the course of 13 years, and has the potential to save the district more than $350,000 a year.

“This is big. This took a long time,” J.P. Foster, the school board president, said.