The East Hampton Education Foundation and the Tyler Project have awarded more than $21,000 in grants to teachers in the East Hampton School District, supporting programs in science, physical education, special education, wellness, and more.
Nancy McMullan, the president of the foundation, told the East Hampton School Board on Tuesday that 2023 was a banner year for mini-grants, with more than $31,000 awarded to East End school districts, including East Hampton as well as Springs, Amagansett, and Montauk. Teachers and administrators are tasked with applying for these competitive grants each year.
“It was a robust cycle, and we’re very happy we have the help from our community” to support the students, Ms. McMullan said.
The John M. Marshall Elementary School’s special-education students will benefit from a $1,555 grant for a new “sensory regulation station,” and the prekindergarten classes will soon be able to play with brand-new building blocks, at a cost of $7,558. For Cara Nelson’s social studies classes at East Hampton Middle School, the foundation awarded $5,000 for a trip to see the Broadway play “The Outsiders.” East Hampton High School students will benefit from a $1,440 grant to purchase an artificial intelligence translation tool, as well as a $2,000 grant to take students to the World Food Prize Science Competition to be held at Cornell University. And the list goes on.
“Thank you for everything you guys do for us,” Adam Fine, the school district superintendent, told Ms. McMullan.
The school board also accepted $6,350 in cash donations from businesses and individual supporters for the high school science research program. Dr. Stephanie Forsberg, a science teacher who sourced the donations, said it will make a shark-tagging project possible.
Bryan Mitchell, a community member who has children in school here, donated four Babolat Pure Aero tennis rackets, which are valued at more than $250 each, for the high school physical education program.
Mr. Fine also announced on Tuesday that the buildOn Club, a group of students raising money to build a school in a developing nation, will travel to Nicaragua instead of Senegal next month to complete the project. Because of world events, Mr. Fine said, the district became “uncomfortable” with the specific travel plans that the Senegal trip would have entailed.
Also on Tuesday, the school board voted to boost a tax-exemption benefit for volunteer firefighters and emergency medical technicians who live and serve within the district. Previously, these volunteers could earn a partial property-tax exemption after five years of service, but now, the qualifying length of service will be two years. The benefit was made possible in 2023 through legislation enacted by the East Hampton Town Board; other area school districts have already enacted the policy.
“No one opposes that. We thank everyone for their hard work as a volunteer,” said J.P. Foster, the school board president.
The board also voted to buy several replacement school buses and a van from a new company, a contract worth $476,104, after the earlier vendor failed to deliver the district’s buses for 18 months. “It’s slightly more expensive per bus . . . but prices have also gone up” during that time, said Sam Schneider, East Hampton’s assistant superintendent for business. “We need buses. We have several that have already been decommissioned.”
Park Line Asphalt Maintenance, a paving company based in Brookhaven, was awarded a $1,085,812 contract to redo the parking lot at the elementary school. The same contractor redid the high school parking lot last summer. “We were very happy with this company,” Mr. Fine said.