Details of Marsden Proposition Outlined at Recent Board Meeting; District Also Offers Updates on Potential New Cellphone Policy, Security Upgrades

As part of the latest round of budget presentations, Sag Harbor School District Business Administrator Jen Buscemi shared details about propositions that will be included on the May 16 budget vote, and what the implications would be for taxpayers, at Monday night’s Board of Education meeting.

Three additional propositions will be included on this year’s budget vote, and the one that, by far, has garnered the most attention and controversy is related to the district’s desire to purchase four undeveloped adjoining lots totaling nearly 4 acres on the north side of nearby Marsden Street and one roughly 1-acre lot on the south side of the street.

The district had been in talks for months with the Southampton Town Board to jointly purchase the property with a $6 million contribution from the Southampton Town Community Preservation Fund, but that potential hit several road bumps and, after realizing it would be tied up in procedural matters for many more months, with no guarantee of board approval, the district pulled out of the deal and decided to try to buy the land on its own.

If approved, the district will begin the process of seeking a $6 million bond anticipation note in July, and will also withdraw $3,425,000 from the district’s facilities improvement capital reserve fund to cover the cost of the purchase.

The $6 million bond anticipation note can be issued for up to five years before it must be converted into bonds. Interest on the BAN is due in the first year, and principal must be paid down in years two through five. The district would also be allowed to convert the debt into bonds at any time during the five years if interest rates become more favorable.

Buscemi broke down what the budget and tax levy impact would be on a home valued at $1 million based on current interest rates. There will be no impact to the budget or tax levy in the 2023-24 school year, and in the 2024-25 school year, the tax levy impact is roughly $18.14 for the year.

That tax levy impact will jump to between $28 and $29 for the 2025-26 through 2028-29 school years, and will move to just under $42 for the 2029-30 through 2043-44 school years.

It would amount to a total cost of $756.50 spread out over the course of 40 years for taxpayers with a home valued at $1 million, with no additional yearly cost to taxpayers after the 2029-30 school year.

There will also be a proposition on the budget to establish a capital reserve fund for technology equipment purchases, security systems, and technology infrastructure upgrades. The balance of that reserve cannot exceed $10 million, and the probable term of the fund is estimated to be around 10 years, and expenditures from the fund would require authorization from district voters.

The third additional proposition on the budget would be to authorize an appropriation for the general use, maintenance and capital improvement financing of the Sag Harbor Historical Museum.

If approved, the $75,000 tax levy for the museum will cost taxpayers roughly $6.48 per year for a home valued at $1 million.

The 2023/24 proposed budget of $48,063,027 represents a tax levy increase of 1.88 percent and, if approved, will cost taxpayers roughly $67.13 per year on a home valued at $1 million.

In his superintendent’s report, Jeff Nichols gave an update on the latest movement when it comes to the district’s desire to implement a new cellphone policy for high school students at the start of the 2023-24 school year.

The district will likely enter into a one-year deal with Yondr, a company that makes magnetically locking pouches for cellphones to eliminate distractions at concerts and events and, increasingly, in school districts. The program would be implemented in both the middle school and high school.

Students would each be issued a pouch for their phone and, upon arrival each day, would turn the phone off and place it in the magnetically locked pouch, under staff supervision. The students keep the pouch on them throughout the day, and at the end of the school day check in with staff members, who have the unlocking devices that allow them to have use of their phones again.

Implementation is estimated to cost $10,972.50, based on current enrollment. The pouch systems costs $19 per student, plus 10 percent shipping, and the middle-high school has a current enrollment of 525 students.

If the district chooses to renew, it would cost $7,441.88 annually, although renewal year pricing is subject to change.

Between now and September, the district would need to work on adopting a specific policy related to the implementation and daily usage of the system, including which students might need special exemptions or exceptions, but Nichols called the adoption of the policy “a step in the right direction.”

Board member Jordana Sobey, who worked alongside middle-high school Principal Brittany Carriero on sourcing information about Yondr and the system, said the $10K cost was “reasonable” for a trial period of a year.

No one on the board expressed any opposition to the plan, and board member Ryan Winter said he liked that the system would “take the onus off teachers and staff during the day in terms of having to constantly police student cellphone use and the distraction that it causes.

In light of yet another mass shooting in school in recent weeks, Nichols provided an update at the meeting about the district’s security measures, sharing that the district has made “significant investment” over the last eight years in “bringing the district up to where it should be with technology infrastructure.”

Without going into specific details that could compromise the safety of staff and students, Nichols shared a chart that broke down, by year, investments made by the school in upgrading security. From 2015 to 2023, the district has spent a total of $929,659.23 on security.

He said that despite that, the district is still actively working on finding ways to make even more improvements to its security systems, and to that end the board recently approved the hiring of an outside consultant to complete an evaluation of the entire system.

“We’ve been doing analysis year in and year out and want to see if we can do even better,” Nichols said. “The goal will be to provide regular updates to the board and implement recommendations once the board is made aware of them.”