Sag Harbor School Board debates merits of class ranking

Long Island Morning Edition

Members of the Sag Harbor School Board and school administration debated the merits of a potential move to get rid of class ranking at the board’s latest meeting this week. It was not the first time the topic was brought up for discussion at a board meeting. The potential merits and drawbacks of eliminating the rankings were presented initially at a meeting over the summer, and the specific issues were debated again on Monday night, without the board coming to any definitive conclusions about what to do. Cailin Riley reports on 27east.com that Superintendent of Schools Jeff Nichols presented three options for the board to consider: keeping the status quo, where every student is ranked, and a valedictorian and salutatorian are named for the senior class; eliminating class rank but keeping the valedictorian and salutatorian designations; or eliminating class rank, keeping the valedictorian and salutatorian designations, and adding a “Latin honors” system, where students who hit certain grade point average marks will graduate either summa cum laude (100 or higher weighted GPA), magna cum laude (98 or higher) or cum laude (95 or higher). Mr. Nichols pointed out that the College Board states there is anecdotal evidence that suggests eliminating class rank from students’ transcripts can increase their odds of getting accepted into a college. Additionally, the College Board states that schools that got rid of class rank did so “because they feel it penalizes many excellent students who are squeezed out of the top 10 percent of the class and then overlooked by elite colleges.” Getting rid of class rank has been a trend in recent years, with less than half of all high schools now still reporting student rankings. Nichols also pointed to a survey of 220 colleges that found that only 9.1 percent of the schools gave rank “considerable importance” during the admissions process.

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The Sag Harbor Village Board of Historic Preservation and Architectural Review continued its review of four new houses proposed for a nearly 4-acre site on Marsden Street in Sag Harbor, focusing on two of the designs, at a hearing last week before adjourning the matter until October 10.

Stephen J. Kotz reports on 27east.com that the board agreed to consider two of the houses, one at 7 Marsden, which fronts on the street, and the other at 9 Marsden, which is on a flag lot off the street, at the request of attorney Denise Schoen, who is representing Matthew Pantofel of BJC Custom Builders of Southampton. Pantofel purchased the property from Pat Trunzo after voters last year rejected a Sag Harbor School District referendum to buy the land for school use. The houses proposed for the other two parcels, 11 and 15 Marsden, will be considered at the October 10 meeting. With the houses all in the range of approximately 5,000 total square feet, the board’s chairman, Steve Williams, asked Pantofel to try to reduce their mass when he returns before the board next month. The landscaping plans came under scrutiny from some residents, including Dawn Smith who said, “This home is considerably larger than anything in the neighborhood.” Except, of course, the 116 year old Pierson Middle School – High School which has been considerably larger than anything in the neighborhood since 1908 and is right next to Marsden Street.

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The League of Women Voters of the Hamptons, Shelter Island and the North Fork has arranged three virtual candidate debates on SEA-TV’s YouTube channel: Monday, October 7, 7 to 8 p.m. for NYS 1st Assembly District candidates; Monday, October 21, 6 to 7 p.m. for the 1st NYS Senatorial District; and Monday, October 21, 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. for New York’s 1st U.S. Congressional District.

Also, voter registration forms are available at the State Board of Elections website - elections.ny.gov.

Those with questions can contact the Suffolk County Board of Elections at 631-852-4500 or suffolkvotes.com.

Election Day 2024 is on Tuesday November 5.

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First-term Republican Rep. Nick LaLota has been sending the blended message that while he’s volubly backing Donald Trump for president, he also works "across the aisle" to benefit his district in a "bipartisan" way. Dan Janison comments in NEWSDAY that the East End congressional district LaLota represents, CD1, has many unaligned voters and moderate Republicans possibly up for grabs as the incumbent congressman works to fend off John Avlon, the Democratic nominee and former media commentator. On Wednesday at Nassau Coliseum, LaLota helped gin up the crowd for Trump. "Are we ready to win the House, win the Senate and bring Donald Trump back to the White House?’" he said to cheers. "Nine months ago I became the first congressman in a purple district to endorse Donald J. Trump ... because I believe America is the greatest nation that the world has ever known."

Now Avlon, who already had been claiming the middle, has announced the formation of a committee called "Republicans for Avlon." He characterized it as a boon to voters "looking for bipartisan, common sense solutions to rebuilding the middle class and the middle of our politics, lowering the cost of living, securing the border and reducing gun violence."

The chairman is Mayor Thomas Gardella of the village of Sag Harbor, where Avlon lives. Others include former Staten Island Rep. Susan Molinari; former GOP mayoral nominee and onetime New York City Deputy Mayor Joe Lhota.

Also for Avlon: Former United States Court of Appeals Judge J. Michael Luttig — a notably conservative jurist who denounced the unconstitutional effort by Trump to reverse the 2020 election results — and Mathew F. Pottinger, a one-time deputy national security adviser in the Trump administration.

This kind of cross-endorsing committee is not typical, at least for the district. The question is just how much of a swing district CD1 will prove to be. The seat has been held by the GOP since Lee Zeldin was elected there 10 years ago.

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The East Hampton Litter Action Committee will participate in National CleanUp Day tomorrow with a coordinated townwide cleanup effort. This initiative will see residents from Montauk to Wainscott come together to beautify the community in one of the largest single-day cleanup events in the United States.

National CleanUp Day, established in 2017, mobilized over two million volunteers last year. The East Hampton LAC is proud to contribute to this significant effort by organizing four cleanup events throughout the town. Cleanups will commence at 10:00 AM tomorrow and conclude by 12:00 Noon, with the exception of the East Hampton cleanup starting at 9:00 AM. The designated locations are:

• The Rt. 27 Rest Stop at Georgica Pond in Wainscott
• Ashawagh Hall (780 Springs Fireplace Rd, Springs, NY 11937)
• The East Hampton Senior Center (128 Springs Fireplace Rd, East Hampton, NY 11937)
• The office of Concerned Citizens of Montauk (6 S. Elmwood Ave. Montauk, NY 11954)

To support the cleanup efforts, the LAC will provide equipment such as garbage bags, safety vests, and garbage pokers, while supplies last. Residents are encouraged to participate in one of the organized cleanups or to arrange their own independent cleanup.

For more information, visit East Hampton Town’s website under the Litter Action Committee section. Questions can be directed to [e-mail].

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The Southold-Peconic Civic Association hosts a discussion of “Stormwater Mitigation: Past Success & Future Plans” with Southold Town Engineer Michael Collins tomorrow at 10 a.m. in the Peconic Community Center.

Saturday morning’s event is free and all are welcome.

The Southold Peconic Civic Association was founded in 2022 to preserve and enhance the unique hamlets of Southold and Peconic by promoting civic engagement, ensuring residents are given a forum to learn, consider and act upon issues that affect our communities.

Once again, the Southold-Peconic Civic Association hosts a discussion of “Stormwater Mitigation: Past Success & Future Plans” with Southold Town Engineer Michael Collins tomorrow at 10 a.m. in the Peconic Community Center.

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The State of New York finalized regulations this week to limit a chemical classified as a likely human carcinogen in certain household products sold in New York, making it clear no products will be able to get waivers starting in 2026.

But more than 1,000 products with higher levels of the chemical 1,4-dioxane manufactured by various companies — mostly shampoos, shower gels and body washes — are still allowed to be sold due to waivers issued from the state that expire at the end of the year. Lisa L. Colangelo reports in NEWSDAY that the law signed in 2019 required household cleaning and personal care products to contain no more than 1 part per million of 1,4-dioxane by the end of 2023. The limit on cosmetics of 10 ppm {parts per million} went into effect at the end of 2022.

Discussions over regulations continued through this winter as environmentalists and industry groups weighed in on how to implement the law.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has identified 1,4-dioxane as "likely to be carcinogenic to humans." The chemical is a byproduct in the manufacture of consumer products, as well as a synthetic industrial chemical used in several commercial and industrial processes.

"There is a legacy of contamination on Long Island," said Liz Moran, New York policy advocate for Earthjustice, an environmental law nonprofit group. "These are key regulations to make sure we are not adding 1-4 dioxane to products."

Even though New York has a law that limits the amount of 1,4-dioxane in drinking water, Moran said it’s important to limit the amount of those chemicals in products, before they get into water sources.

The regulations define the products covered by the law, the method of identifying 1,4-dioxane in them and outlining the waiver process.

In order to be considered for a one-year waiver, a company has to show it has taken steps to reduce 1,4-dioxane and is unable to comply. They can apply for one additional waiver if they show proof they have been trying to remove the chemical.

No waivers will be in effect after Dec. 30, 2025.