Southampton School District To Hold Community Forums On Purchase Of New District Office

The Southampton School District will hold a series of community forums over the next two months on the potential purchase of 300 Hampton Road, which officials have their eyes on to house the new district office.

The purpose of the forums, which will be held in the same style as those that were held on the proposed merger with the Tuckahoe School District, is to provide community members with further details about the proposal, as well as to answer any questions they may have.

The first forum will be held on Wednesday, March 16, from 6 to 7 p.m. at the Rogers Memorial Library on Windmill Lane in Southampton Village, followed by another on Tuesday, March 29, from 6 to 7 p.m. at the Water Mill Community House on Montauk Highway in Water Mill. The series will wrap up on Wednesday, April 6, with a forum at the Southampton Cultural Center on Pond Lane in Southampton Village from 6 to 7 p.m.

District officials announced in January that they are interested in purchasing the property at 300 Hampton Road, which is on the market for $7.6 million. The district would pay for it from a capital reserve fund that currently has a balance of $8.2 million. Taxpayers approved setting up the fund in the 2009-10 school year for renovations to the bus garage as well as a new district office. The bus garage project has already been completed.

District officials have said that because the district already has the money, the purchase would not increase taxes. For the purchase to move forward, voters will have to approve the district’s request to tap into the reserve fund when they vote in May on the 2016-17 budget.

The space being used for the current district office—a decades-old trailer on the grounds of the intermediate school—is in disrepair, district officials have stressed.

Superintendent Dr. Scott Farina said this week that the forums will include a brief presentation, a question-and-answer period and commentary from Board of Education members. He added that he has already presented the proposal to the Southampton Rotary Club, which yielded a positive response.

“We’re holding them just to make sure the community is informed about the proposal moving forward,” Dr. Farina said. “We just want to get it out to all corners of the community.”