Education

There’s a lot at stake in Tuesday’s school budget vote, not only for school districts, but also for Project Most, the nonprofit organization that offers after-school programs at the Springs School and the John M. Marshall Elementary School in East Hampton.

How much money does it take to run a nationally recognized Blue Ribbon school? At the Amagansett School, for next year, the answer is $13.44 million, according to administrators. Now it's up to the voters to decide the fate of that spending plan, which carries a tax-cap-busting 7.77-percent increase to the tax levy.

The Ross School’s middle and high school performers will bring the musical classic “Mary Poppins” to the stage of the school’s Court Theater tonight and tomorrow night at 7 and on Saturday at 2 p.m. Plus: Aromatherapy workshop, story time, art exhibits, guitar basics, and more coming up for kids and teens.

This year’s Bridgehampton school ballot features two incumbent school board members and two new challengers vying for three seats on the board. The candidates are Merritt Thomas and Nicole DeCastri Zabala, who are both seeking an elected office for the first time, along with Jo Ann Comfort and Angela Chmielewski, who are seeking their third and second terms on the board, respectively.

Springs students report the news of the school.

The Springs School District is the only district in East Hampton Town with a contested school board race this year, with two candidates vying for one seat: Barbara Dayton, the incumbent, and Dermot Quinn, a newcomer.

This year, school budgets across the South Fork are hit hard by an economic inflation factor of more than 4 percent, drastic increases to health and retirement benefits for teachers and staff, and the need to serve students still recovering, academically and emotionally, from the Covid-19 pandemic without the benefit of relief money from the state and federal governments.

The Springs School’s upcoming budget vote was the focus of an April 28 school board meeting, but before talk turned to that, the Journalism Club wanted to talk to the board and the community about how important the club is to them and why it matters so much.

Test scores unveiled Tuesday by East Hampton School District administrators show that in 2023, students in the Advanced Placement program made up for, and even surpassed, the decline in performance that occurred during the Covid-19 pandemic, posting results that on average also surpassed their peers across the U.S. and the world.

The Amagansett Library and East Hampton Library have programs coming up for kids curious about wildlife. Plus: A grandparents play date at CMEE, junior lifeguarding, baking lessons, skateboarding, and more coming up for kids and teens.

Small class sizes, extracurriculars, and sports are potentially in danger of being lost at Springs, the South Fork school district that stands out for shouldering an unusually heavy burden, as home to a large concentration of school-age kids while simultaneously having a pinched tax base and fewer taxable businesses. Its 2024-25 spending plan, carrying an over-the-tax-cap increase, needs at least 60 percent voter approval to pass — and there's a lot at stake.

Myriad rising costs are impacting the bottom line in the East Hampton School District, where, for the first time in a decade, and only the second time in the history of New York State’s cap on tax-levy increases, the district is seeking voter approval for an over-the-tax-cap budget plan.