Schools

High School Students Protest Outcome of Southampton-Tuckahoe Merger Vote

Students say voters need to realize the loss to the school community if Tuckahoe School students have to go elsewhere.

A few hundred Southampton High School students held a peaceful sit-in on Friday morning to protest the way the Southampton-Tuckahoe school district merger vote went down earlier this week.

Sebastian Cuyjet, a sophomore who lives on the Shinnecock Reservation, which is within the Southampton School District, organized the protest after hearing from other student who were just as disappointed with the outcome as he was.

Southampton voters defeated the merger proposal 1,075-to-693, while Tuckahoe voters overwhelmingly supported the plan in a 535-to-35 vote on Tuesday. The decision leaves a question about whether Tuckahoe students will be able to continue attending Southampton due to tuition costs.

"I wanted to show the will of the student body," Sebastian said, taking a step away the protest, where students lined the hallway protest. About 200 of the 536 high school students — in all different grade levels and from across the hamlets that feed into the high school — ended up joining Sebastian, and it developed into an full-day affair.

Sebastian, 16, created a Facebook page inviting students to protest with him before first period on Friday morning. His mother, Robert Hunter, is on the Southampton School Board.

"We can't allow separation of our close friends. We are making an example of our dissatisfaction toward the adult community of Southampton. The prime objective should be to help the students however those who voted no think otherwise," the students said in a statement. "Severe consequences will materialize with not merging, that will outweigh any after effects of merging. We must give them a reminder that we are not only students of Southampton but WE ARE the future community of Southampton," they said.

"We're not angry, we're more disappointed," Stefania Gonzalez, a North Sea resident said.

At the very least, Stefania, along with Emily Pepitone, a Southampton Village, resident, said the protest helped to change the minds of their very own parents, who they said voted against the merger. Both students said their parents voted 'no' due to lack of knowledge, but they've since learned more about it through dialogue with their children, in part, due to the protest. "They needed to be told more information," Stefania said.

Emily said the sit-in was also important to show students from the Tuckahoe School District that they are an important part of the school. They are active in every facet of the community, from band to sports to AP classes, she said. "I would hate to be a participant in taking that away," she said. "This is something our whole entire community felt when they voted 'no'," Emily said. 

Plus, she said, "One of my best friends is from Tuckahoe and I just know personally it would break my heart not to have her in school anymore," she said.

Noelle Crough, a 17-year-old senior, was among the students from Tuckahoe taking part. "It meant a lot to me that not only the Tuckahoe kids want to continue coming to school here, but the Southampton kids really value us being here," she said. "I love Southampton. I've loved every minute of being here."

Although she won't personally experience the effects of the merger not occurring, she said her younger brother, a ninth grader, will be directly effected by the decision.

Both Southampton and Tuckahoe school districts said they will turn to help from state legislators, who are committed to seeing the merger take place. 

Mariah Meknez, a senior who lives in Southampton, said she was proud of the students for coming together and standing up for what they believe in. She was also thankful for the support from the administration and teachers. "I think they showed their support for what our we doing," she said.

Amy Pierson, a spokeswoman for the district, said administrators did not interfere with the protest. However, they made it clear to students that they would receive an absence for any classes missed on what was the last day of the first quarter, and that they would have to suffer any consequences if it impacted the absentee policy.

Some students did come and go from the protest to attend class.

Sebastian said he is encouraging students to turn out for the next Southampton School Board meeting, scheduled for Nov. 5. 

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