School Budget Time

School district budget planning has recently been without customary fireworks. In part, this is because a state cap on how much taxes can be increased has taken the heat out of the process, with a supermajority of voter approval necessary to pierce the cap. This is not to suggest that school spending is unimportant; rather, as the work educators do gets ever more complex, how money is allotted remains key.

Hearings at which the budgets are officially presented to the public will be held on Monday in Sag Harbor, Tuesday in Wainscott and East Hampton, and Wednesday in Bridgehampton and Montauk. Springs residents will get their turn to learn about the 2017-18 budget on May 8, and in Amagansett and Sagaponack on May 9. In all districts, budget voting takes place on May 16. 

The hearings are excellent opportunities to find out about the respective districts’ plans for the year ahead. Parents and other interested residents should make every effort to attend.