Local Schools to See Increase in State Aid

Apr. 13, 2015

Christine Sampson

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's new state budget includes more funding for public education, with the impact of that money expected to vary by district.

According to numbers released on April 1 by the state, the Sag Harbor School District will receive $140,835 more in the 2015-16 year than this year. Jennifer Buscemi, the school's business administrator, said it is slightly more than the district initially guessed it would receive.

"The additional funds will be used to fund any program changes" in the second draft of Sag Harbor's budget, Ms. Buscemi said in an email. "Since state aid funds less than 5 percent of our overall budget, slight changes in our year-to-year state aid do not have a significant impact on the delivery of educational programs for our students," she said. The second draft of the budget will be discussed during a workshop on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

The state numbers show that Springs School is slated to receive, overall, about $288,530 more than this year's total. Among other things, the money will offset the cost to send district students to the Child Development Center of the Hamptons charter school and help pay for special education services. Thomas Primiano, the school treasurer, said the increases were "a nice surprise."

"In our earlier budget presentations, we were trying to find areas to help close our budget gap," Mr. Primiano said. "Having more state aid than we thought . . . directly helps us do that." Another budget workshop in Springs is set for Monday at 7 p.m.

Amagansett will receive about $18,900 more next school year and Bridgehampton will receive about $38,200. Montauk will receive about $84,000 more.

East Hampton, where state support makes up about 4.3 percent of the district's total budget, will receive an increase of about $186,000.

"It's still up for discussion how the board wants to utilize the additional funds," said Isabel Madison, East Hampton's assistant superintendent for business. Another school board budget workshop in East Hampton is set for Tuesday at 6 p.m.