Strong School Showing

Tuesday's school board elections and budget proposals, no matter how you feel about the specifics, are cause for satisfaction.

In almost every one of the eight districts in this area, interest seems to be on the increase, and for good reason. What happens today in the classroom affects what is going to happen tomorrow in the town, and there is plenty happening this year, from tiny Wainscott, which is contemplating adding two more members to its single-trustee board, to populous East Hampton, where tougher state educational standards and a series of administrative turnovers seriously challenge board members.

The difference between the 1997 school elections and last year's is reflected in the number of candidates running for board seats - 22 of them from Wainscott to Montauk at last count. Last year, seats on four of the six large district boards (Wainscott and Sagaponack excepted) were uncontested. This year, the only district where a candidate is unopposed is Springs. It would seem that the contentiousness of board proceedings in Springs during the last few years has made serving there seem like a nightmare.

In East Hampton and Bridgehampton, the question of leadership is paramount. East Hampton is about to choose a new high school principal and probably will have to hire a new District Superintendent as well, within a year. Bridgehampton is already in the midst of a Superintendent search, a commendable months-long effort that has reached out to the community at large.

Both high schools, like others across New York State, must prepare also to make some hard decisions about educational policy. There are limited dollars with which to meet stringent new Regents standards and to equip some of the schools with the computers and other materials needed.

The decades-old debate over the consolidation of local districts versus home rule also looms very large this year in East Hampton Town, where the new school boards will have to digest the results of a forthcoming state study and opt for further examination of the possibilities or for the status quo.

The duties of school board members have never been easy, but they seem to get harder every year. All these public-spirited citizens, who serve without pay, are owed a large debt of gratitude by their communities.

Because the questions confronting them are so complicated, incumbent candidates, with the advantage of years of experience, are often to be preferred to newcomers. Such is the case in Sag Harbor, where the fiscally conscious Thomas Horn and the child-centered Darlene Semlear deserve re-election.

In East Hampton, we have one clear choice. She is Laura Anker-Grossman, making another bid for a board seat after serving two terms and then losing an election last year.

Amagansett's race, where two people are vying for the seat being vacated by Patrick Bistrian after 30 years of service, has drawn a good deal of interest, as letters to the editor this week attest.

Both candidates have organizational skills. Rick Slater, Mr. Bistrian's son-in-law, is a past president of the East Hampton Village Police Benevolent Association and is interested in computer education, a pressing issue for all schools. His opponent, Lucy Kazickas, is a member of Amagansett's School's long-range planning committee and a former president of the White Plains, N.Y., League of Women Voters. We believe her fresh outlook would be valuable and favor her election.

In Montauk, where four candidates are vying for one seat, we lean toward The Star's former correspondent, Eileen Bock. She has been well informed on school affairs for years and is a moderate representative of the retired community. We also think Steve Pomerantz is a very good candidate, however.

In Bridgehampton, one of the incumbents, James Spooner, is only running reluctantly, while two others with new enthusiasm have stepped forward. We endorse the other incumbent, Patricia (Paddy) Noble, and Damon Darden, the more experienced of the new candidates. Although we are not endorsing him this time around, we also have to express admiration for Henry Hodge who, at 22, is a most welcome addition to the community.

Last, but not least, this year's budgets deserve to be passed.In Springs, there is actually a decrease and the others have risen only within reasonable bounds.

The happy combination of a strong candidate showing and a relatively uncontroversial set of budgets will, it is hoped, presage a large voter turnout on Tuesday and relatively smooth sailing in the next academic year.