Superintendent cites safety in banning large beach trips; board signals it will allow seniors to go if lifeguard coverage is confirmed

The Southampton Union Free School District board debated whether to reverse an administrative decision that halted planned beach trips for students, ultimately instructing the administration to confirm lifeguard and chaperone coverage so the outings may proceed.

Superintendent Dr. Merl said she declined a request this year for a seniors’ beach trip because of safety concerns for a large ocean outing. "As superintendent, it is my primary responsibility to ensure the safety of every — all 1,152 students that walk our campuses every day," she said, adding that she did not feel comfortable sending roughly 100 students into an open-ocean environment without a clear, protected supervision structure.

Teachers and students urged the board to restore the trips. Virginia McGovern, a high school social studies teacher and senior class adviser, told the board the district’s beach traditions are central to student life and asked for transparency and a clearer explanation of the administrative change. "For our kids, milestones are marked and memories are made at the beach," McGovern said.

Student leaders echoed that appeal. Maggie Glenn, class co-president of the Class of 2026, described year-after-year class beach outings and said seniors should be allowed to end their year on the beaches "we grew up on." She said losing the trip would be especially painful for students for whom cost or housing pressures mean they likely will not return after college.

Board members pressed administration on operational details the board said would address the superintendent's safety concerns: confirmation that Cooper's Beach and other local beaches would provide certified village lifeguards and ocean-rescue coverage on the proposed dates, an adequate number of staff chaperones, swim-test results for students who had not already been cleared, and any necessary search-and-rescue arrangements.

Multiple members said they supported reinstatement if those protections were in place. "As long as we have the proper lifeguards that are on duty with those beaches," one member said, "there's absolutely no reason why this couldn't be another successful trip."

Administrators said the trips had been approved at multiple levels earlier in May and that most logistics (meals, transportation and vendor arrangements) remained in place; they agreed to double-check availability of ocean-rescue services and to confirm chaperone staffing.

The board did not take a formal roll-call vote specifically on the beach item during the meeting; instead members reached a consensus that the trips should proceed if administration can verify the required coverage and paperwork. The board then moved on to other business and later recessed into executive session.

Next steps: administrators will follow up to confirm lifeguard/search-and-rescue coverage and finalize chaperone assignments; the board expects a brief operational update rather than a new authorization vote.