Superintendents Praise Thiele for His Commitment to East End Schools

During the nearly 30 years he spent as a state assemblyman, Fred W. Thiele Jr. had a huge impact on the East End of Long Island, but one of the areas where his legacy shines brightest is in the field of education.

School administrators from Montauk to Westhampton Beach are effusive in their praise of Thiele, enthusiastic and eager to speak about the huge positive impact he had on their districts, helping secure state funding for a wide range of important academic, social and emotional programs that enhanced the lives of countless students and families in the community.

Jeff Nichols, the superintendent of Sag Harbor Schools, knows Thiele perhaps better than most. He not only worked with Thiele on several important initiatives for the school but also had a relationship with him as a parent: Thiele’s children attended Pierson. Thiele is also, of course, himself a graduate of Pierson High School, and has been the school’s graduation commencement speaker several times.

“I’m Fred Thiele’s biggest fan,” Nichols said. “I’m not a big fan of most politicians, but that guy is a dying breed. He’s always been a champion for the East End in terms of state aid.

“When the initial [state budget] numbers come out, I know Fred is the person up in Albany working on improving those numbers for the East End, and his efforts have worked over the years.”

Nichols also described Thiele as “an entirely reasonable, supportive and good parent,” and praised him for being honest and straightforward as a public official.

“He always has the best interests of not only the school but the community at heart,” he said, adding that Thiele was never one to boast of his achievements or take credit. “That’s a rarity in the world of politics,” Nichols added.

“We talk a lot here about our school mission statement, and what we want from a Pierson graduate,” Nichols said. “From my perspective, Fred epitomizes the type of person we want a Pierson graduate to be, in terms of commitment to the community, being honest and being empathetic.”

Lars Clemensen, the superintendent of the Hampton Bays School District, has similarly effusive praise for Thiele, and spoke about what the end of Thiele’s political career is like for him.

“I feel like I’m losing a friend, because that’s exactly what he’s been,” Clemensen said. “He’ll say to me, ‘I’m not leaving the planet’ — and I’m thankful, because we’ve had some conversations with the chief of police that we started in the fall about school safety, that Fred will help mentor us with and advise us through the legislative process. He’s been invaluable in terms of being an institution up [in Albany].”

Clemensen praised Thiele for caring deeply about the East End schools and their students, pointing out that he would often refer to the student bodies of the various East End schools as “his children.”

“He really took ownership in making sure his communities and school districts got what they need, and had their story told in the state,” he said. “He represents some of the most expensive zip codes in the country, but they’re also communities that have real need, and he is intimately knowledgeable about every corner of his communities.”

Adam Fine, the superintendent of the East Hampton School District, pointed to a time when Thiele was instrumental in helping the student body through a tumultuous time.

After the death of an East Hampton student by suicide, Thiele was instrumental in helping to form the South Fork Adolescent Behavioral Health Group, working to secure immediate funding from the state for the crisis service on the East End, which has been in existence now for 11 years.

“It is essential to our social-emotional support program for our students,” Fine said. “I can’t begin to tell you the number of lives this program has impacted in a positive way. It was a true game-changer for the East End.”

Fine said that Thiele’s work on expanding the South Fork Commuter Connection, used by many teachers and faculty in East Hampton, was vital to the farthest east district as well.

“Fred was always available to speak to about school-related issues,” Fine said. “He never made you feel that your issue or concern was insignificant.”

Thiele worked with another beloved superintendent, Rob Long, to bring universal prekindergarten to East Quogue residents in 2017. Thiele worked for a long time with Long, who died of cancer in 2022, to help secure state aid that has provided free prekindergarten for East Quogue families since then. Before securing that aid, East Quogue was the only district on the East End that did not offer some form of universal pre-K.

Long praised Thiele for his advocacy for the pre-K program back when it became a reality for the district.

“We’ve been backing the importance of [universal prekindergarten] for a very long time. It’s an initiative that we and our local representatives firmly believe in,” Long said at the time. “Assemblyman Fred Thiele has been so wonderful to our school district over the years. He works really hard for East Quogue — he really does.”