Parents Rally for Sag Harbor Superintendent

More than 60 Sag Harbor parents turned out on Monday night for a school board meeting that gave many a forum to show their support for the Sag Harbor School District’s superintendent, Katy Graves, whose employment contract has been the subject of recent community discussion.

The nearly three-hour board meeting also featured a lengthy debate over the future of the school district’s athletic field at Pierson Middle and High School, where a synthetic turf field had been proposed but later stalled due to financial complications and opposition from residents.

Ms. Graves, who was given a three-year contract beginning July 1, 2014, received a pay increase in June but not a contract extension past June 30, 2017. During the week leading up to Monday’s school board meeting, a flurry of emails circulated among parents alleged that the school board had improperly voted in executive session to not extend Ms. Graves’s contract.   According to Ms. Graves’s contract, she was to have been notified at least one year prior to the expiration of the contract — which would have been June 30, 2016 — if the school board did not intend to renew her contract, so that she would have enough time to find a new position. It is unclear whether that notice was given, or if Ms. Graves waived her contractual right to receive that notice.

When it came time for public comment on Monday, Diana Kolhoff, the school board president, opened the session by saying the board was legally prohibited from talking about a specific person’s employment in a public setting.

What she did say was this: “Katy is still under contract. She is still our superintendent. . . . At this time, Katy’s contract has not been extended, but no decisions have been made.”

Ms. Kolhoff also said the board values the public’s input. And person after person stepped up to give that input — all in favor of keeping the superintendent on board.

Larry Baum urged the school board to extend Ms. Graves’s contract for the children’s sake.

“We want her to stay. We like her. We want consistency,” he said. “We elected you, the school board, to support our children. . . . I know that at most board of education meetings you don’t have this many people. I think this is a statement to what we the parents want for our children. It is imperative that our children have the right leadership to guide us though the next 10 to 20 years.”

Laurie Marsden, a parent of two, said she was “mystified” when she heard Ms. Graves’s contract had not been renewed.

“Katy is personable, professional, and diplomatic,” Ms. Marsden said. “She listens to parents as well as administrators and school personnel. She seeks solutions to issues as they arise. She shows up at many school activities smiling and engaged. She has shown leadership, strength, and an industrious energy that not only gets agenda items done but that leaves those around her feeling heard, their voices and opinions appreciated.”

Christa Schleicher urged the school board to “look deeper” when evaluating Ms. Graves. “Katy has a gift,” Ms. Schleicher said. “Katy has the art of connection. . . . If you’re not seeing it, than you have not connected with her yet, and if you haven’t then you are missing out.”

Reached by phone Tuesday, Ms. Graves declined to respond specifically to the parents who voiced their support, saying only that “Sag Harbor proves itself over and over again to be such a special community.”

“I’ve said it since the moment I arrived here: They truly love their school,” she said. “They love their children. I think that was reflected last night. They support their school in every way.”

Earlier in the meeting, Ms. Graves presented the school board with options for how to handle the Pierson athletic field, including moving forward with a scaled-back synthetic turf project by using reserve funds or abandoning the turf field altogether in favor of natural grass.

Because the cost to build the synthetic turf came in well over its initial estimate, proceeding with that option would require about $300,000 from the district’s capital reserve fund, which would require voter approval.

The natural grass option would be cheaper and would leave money to fix up a field at the Sag Harbor Elementary School, but would come with greater long-term maintenance costs. Voter approval would be required for this option, too, because the money originally came from a bond referendum that specifically approved a synthetic turf field. Sag Harbor school officials recently obtained permission, through special legislation from New York State, to hold a change-of-use vote.

After a handful of outside experts weighed in, telling the board it would be possible to get a good grass field that could handle most of the district’s needs by the middle of September 2017, an informal poll of school board members showed that most were in favor of the natural grass option. Administrators agreed to bring a specific proposal to the school board for a formal vote at a later date.

The school board also voted to accept another donation from the Bridge Golf Club in Bridgehampton, this one totaling $17,000. While performing the deep tine aeration they had pledged in a previous donation, golf club crew members had damaged Pierson’s irrigation system. The donation accepted Monday was to repair the irrigation system.