Education

After several months of heated debate over the Sag Harbor School District’s controversial plan to buy five wooded lots on Marsden Street, Tuesday’s vote did not end in favor of the district. The tally was 1,081 votes in favor and 1,156 votes against — a difference of 75 as the issue drew a record voter turnout.

Also in the news this week: More administrative changes in Springs, free lunches in East Hampton, student film screenings, and writing contest winners.

From Bridgehampton to Montauk on Tuesday, school district voters supported most ballot propositions and all but one 2023-24 spending plan. The two key exceptions were in Sag Harbor, where the budget passed but the controversial Marsden Street land buy was rejected, and in Wainscott, where a tax-cap-busting budget failed by three votes.

"We didn't plan this, but it worked out beautifully," Chris Mandato, East Hampton High School's band teacher and music department coordinator, said of the special distinction Thursday's large-ensemble concert holds: The band, orchestra, and chorus will each perform an original song written by a Long Island musician with a connection to East Hampton.

The Springs and Montauk Schools successfully passed cap-busting budgets Tuesday night, but in Sag Harbor the Marsden Street purchase went down while everything else there won approval. In Wainscott, voters rejected a contested budget proposal.

From the impact of inflation and the lingering effects of Covid-19, to ever-growing concerns over safety and fluctuating student enrollment, school districts here are grappling with rising costs, as reflected in their proposed spending plans for the next school year. From Bridgehampton to Montauk, here is a district-by-district breakdown of spending plans, board candidates, and propositions.

Melanie Hayward and David Eagan are facing off for a seat on the Wainscott School Board in the district’s first contested board election in 12 years.

Three candidates are running for two seats on the East Hampton School Board this year, making it one of only two contested races on the South Fork. The contenders are Emily Agnello, a first-time candidate who grew up in East Hampton; George Aman, a former board member seeking to return, and John Ryan Sr., an incumbent seeking a 10th term.

The young dancers of the Hampton Ballet Theatre School in Bridgehampton will stage “Cinderella” tomorrow, Saturday, and Sunday at the Bridgehampton School. Plus: Kite decorating, recycled bottle art, toddler music and movement, and more coming up for kids and teens.

Epic Martial Arts is teaming up with the Retreat to offer a self-defense and safety awareness class on Monday, May 15, for women and girls 14 and older.

Family members, schoolmates, and administrators looked on as Leslie Samuel, a Bridgehampton senior who has had an outstanding track career under East Hampton High’s aegis, signed a letter of intent to attend the University of Hartford, where she will run and study nursing.

On May 16, voters in the Sag Harbor School District will be asked to say yes or no to the purchase of five wooded properties on Marsden Street for a total of $9.425 million. What's at stake? Short answer: a lot.

The Bridgehampton School's drama club performs "Lions in Illyria," there's an all-ages Spring Jubilee at The Church in Sag Harbor, a celebration of Free Comic Book Day at the John Jermain Library, and a family workshop Sunday at the LongHouse Reserve in East Hampton.

It is fair to say the Wainscott School District’s financial situation has reached crisis level: A budget with a 49.27-percent jump in overall spending — carrying a tax-levy increase of more than 95 percent — is on the table for the 2023-24 school year.

The Sagaponack School’s proposed $1.89-million spending plan for the 2023-24 school year “is a pretty straightforward, easy budget,” the district superintendent, Jay Finello, said this week. “It’s very close to this year’s, with a modest increase, without any major changes at all.”

The Sag Harbor School Board voted on April 19 to adopt a $48.06 million budget plan for the 2023-24 school year, though the plan — with a tax-cap-compliant 1.88-percent increase built in — is not expected to be the hottest item on the May 16 ballot.

Saturday’s Our Fabulous Variety Show performance will be followed at 7 p.m. by Drag Bingo and Game Night, hosted by RaffaShow and friends as a fund-raiser for the O.F.V.S. Crew’s upcoming performance at Walt Disney World in June. Plus: Arbor Day celebration, theatrical performances, movies, and more for kids and teens.

In a situation that has been brewing since 2016, this year is the first time the Montauk School District is putting an over-the-tax-cap budget proposal on the ballot: a $22.73 million spending plan that maintains all current programs and services but asks the taxpayers to support a tax-levy increase of 18.56 percent for the 2023-24 school year.

The Bridgehampton School District’s proposed budget ensures “the best possible program for our students while being mindful of our responsibility to the taxpayers to be fiscally accountable,” said Mary T. Kelly, the superintendent, in discussing the $21.74 million spending plan that voters will see on the May 16 ballot for the next school year.

In East Hampton's Methods in Research program, students conduct high-level scientific experiments and analyses that almost universally address — and often propose solutions to — problems the planet is experiencing, such as climate change, sea-level rise, ocean acidification, pollution, and decreasing biodiversity.

The Sag Harbor School District has scheduled a public forum "addressing the proposed acquisition" of five wooded properties on Marsden Street for Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. in the Pierson Middle and High School auditorium.

Book clubs for kids and teens will discuss graphic novels and other works. Plus: Garden exploration at Amber Waves, a teen clothing swap in Montauk, movies at libraries and Sag cinema, and Earth Day events galore.

Monday’s deadline for school board candidates to file their petitions has come and gone. Just two local school districts, East Hampton and Wainscott, will have contested races.

Tuesday will be an exciting day for the 43 students enrolled in East Hampton High School’s Methods in Research science program. They will welcome parents, friends, and community members to the school’s research symposium, the first to be held since the Covid-19 pandemic paused most activities, where they will display and discuss their projects and results.

The Springs School Board has an uphill mountain to climb as it seeks support from the community for an over-the-tax-cap budget plan that will need a supermajority of at least 60-percent voter approval to pass.

“We are both happy and fortunate to be under the tax cap this year,” J.P. Foster, the school board president, said Wednesday morning. “With rising costs across the board, it is certainly a challenge.”

Advocacy organizations and physicians are strongly encouraging families of children with autism to get genetic testing — not just in April, which is Autism Awareness Month, but as a standard practice in this branch of medicine, to gain insight into the spectrum of ways autism impacts kids. “Knowledge is power,” said Dr. Kolevzon, the clinical director of the Seaver Autism Center, who sees at least one South Fork family, the Egerton-Warburtons of Water Mill, in his practice.

Erik Kelt, a Shelter Island native who has been a principal in New Orleans, is coming home to the East End take on that role in Springs starting in July.

The coming week brings movie madness for kids and teens, from classic films to newer box office hits, along with plenty of other activities to learn and play.

The Springs School District’s over-the-tax-cap budget proposal for the 2023-24 school year continues to take shape as Tuesday’s state-imposed deadline looms. Schools must finalize their budgets by then.