Sag Harbor Board of Education Approves New Hires, Announces Return to Prepandemic Public Comment Protocols

At its most recent meeting on Tuesday night, the Sag Harbor Board of Education appointed 10 individuals to teaching positions, either as leave replacements or on a full-time basis as teachers or teacher assistants.

The board also approved the hiring of several guards, both full- and part-time, a school nurse, school resource officers and substitute teachers.

Superintendent of Schools Jeff Nichols said there was no specific reason for the large number of hires, saying it was a combination of factors.

“Retirements, leave replacements and the need for additional special ed services are the reasons for the hires,” he said, saying it did not represent an unusually high number.

“This happens often,” he added.

The new hires included Kyle Sheehan (social studies, 7-12), Laura DeSario (mathematics, 7-12), Cody Puglisi (special education, 1-6), Conor Smith (special education 7-12), Carly Ciervo (special education, 1-6), Jeanne D’Angelo and Erin Decker (teaching assistants), and Christina Fonalledas (school nurse).

Also at the meeting, the board announced that it would no longer allow public comment at meetings via Zoom, a policy it had instituted during the pandemic. Nichols said that, in an effort to make sure the board meetings were returning to pre-COVID protocols, he surveyed 12 other districts on the East End to find out if they were still allowing public comment via Zoom. He said only one other district was allowing public comment remotely, and was doing so via phone call rather than video conferencing.

“Sag Harbor is one of the few districts that still have COVID models in place,” he said.

In an effort to streamline the meetings, he recommended to the board that it continue to livestream the meetings to allow as many people as possible to watch them, but to limit public comment to in-person attendees.

The rest of the board agreed with the recommendation, and several board members pointed out that residents can always email the district with any questions they may have if they are unable to attend meetings.

The return to the prepandemic public comment protocol will begin at the next board meeting, which is scheduled for August 28.