Springs Union Free School District | |
---|---|
Address | |
48 School Street
,
Suffolk County, New YorkUnited States | |
District information | |
Type | Public |
Grades | PK-8 [1] |
Established | 1784[2] 1813 (district) [3] | (first school)
President | Barbara Dayton [4] |
Vice-president | Timothy Frazier [4] |
Superintendent | Debra Winter [5] |
Business administrator | Michael Henery [5] |
Governing agency | New York State Education Department |
Schools | 1 |
Budget | $30,800,134 (2021–22) [6] |
NCES District ID | 3627900 [1] |
District ID | 580304020000 [7] |
Students and staff | |
Students | 723 (2019–20) [1] |
Teachers | 70 FTE (2019–20) [1] |
Staff | 42 FTE (2019–20) [1] |
Student–teacher ratio | 10.337 (2019–20) [1] |
Other information | |
Website |
springsschool |
Springs Union Free School District is a public school district located in East Hampton on Long Island, in Suffolk County, New York, United States. It educates students in the hamlet of Springs and the privately-owned Gardiners Island. [8] [9]
The district operates one school, the Springs School, serving grades PK through 8. [7] The total enrollment for the 2019–2020 school year was 723 students. [1] Students then complete their education at the East Hampton High School as part of a tuition agreement with the East Hampton Union Free School District. [10]
Christine Cleary is the school's principal and Debra Winter is the district's superintendent. [5] Cleary has been principal since August 2020. [11]
Springs is bordered by the East Hampton school district to the west and the Amagansett district to the south. [8]
In February 1784, East Hampton Town Trustees authorized the building of a schoolhouse in the "North Side" of the town. [2] It thought to have been located on the land of Elisha Miller, and was auctioned off to them in 1807. [3]
The second schoolhouse, which also served as place of worship, opened in 1807 at the authorization of a 32-man committee. [3] It was either constructed at or moved to the Village Green at the corner of Fireplace Road and Old Stone Highway. [2] The building was sold at an auction for $75 to Daniel King, who moved it to his home in Kingstown. [3]
The school district was formally founded in 1813 as School District No. 4 of the town of East Hampton. [3] The district also operated a school on Gardiners Island in 1884. [3]
The third schoolhouse, which was the first public school in the district, was built on the site of its predecessor in 1847 at a cost of $418. [2] [3] It was known as the "Little Red Schoolhouse." [2] In 1884, the school was expanded or rebuilt on the current site a cost of about $1,600. [3] It was sold to the Springs Historical Society in 1909 for $1 and is now part of Ashawagh Hall. [12] [3] "Ashawagh" is the Montaukett word for "meeting place." [3]
The fifth schoolhouse was the first school on the current School Street site. It was a wooden two-story building with four classrooms and was described as "one of the prettiest school buildings of its size in the county." [2] [3] The building burned to the ground in 1929, possibly due to an overheated chimney. [9] [3]
The current building is the sixth schoolhouse of the district. [3] It opened in 1931 and was expanded in 1960 to accommodate junior high students. [9] Previously, students were educated at East Hampton Middle School for grades 6 and up. [9] Later additions to the building were completed in 1966 and 1974. [3]
In March 2018, voters approved a $23-million expansion project. [13] [14] Phase 1 installed a nitrogen-reducing septic system and Phase 2 added seven classrooms, a regulation-size gymnasium and athletic fields, as well as upgraded existing facilities in the school building. [15] The project allowed for kindergarten and first grade classrooms, formerly in separate buildings on the campus, to consolidate under one roof. [13] Prior to construction, the school was educating 743 students in a facility built for 400 students. [13] Construction began in July 2019 and wrapped up in September 2021. [14] [16] Various errors in the construction project, which the district blamed on the architectural firm, cost at least $30,000 on top of the original project's budget. [17]
Eric Casale, the school's longtime principal of 15 years, was granted a leave of absence in August 2020. [18] Assistant Principal Christine Cleary became acting principal in his absence. [11] Casale resigned from his post in December of that year and received a $300,000 settlement from the district for unknown reasons. [18] In February 2021, Cleary's promotion was made permanent. [11]
The district's pre-kindergarten program moved to the Springs Youth Association building, located just behind the school facilities, for the 2020–2021 school year. [19] Previously, pre-K was contracted to the Eleanor Whitmore Early Childhood Center in East Hampton. [19]