Education

Springs Adopts 2022-23 Budget

On May 17, voters in Springs will cast their ballots for or against a $32,888,886 spending plan that stays within New York State’s cap on tax-levy increases.

The school board adopted that budget proposal at its April 12 special meeting. The year-over-year spending increase is $2.088 million, or 6.78 percent. The associated tax-levy increase is 5.46 percent. According to budget documents shared last week, if approved, the school tax on a house with a market value of approximately $1 million would rise by about $366.

Waking “Sleeping Beauty”

The Hampton Ballet Theatre School will perform “Sleeping Beauty,” featuring talented students alongside professional dancers, plus original choreography and hand-sewn costumes, for four shows starting on Friday, April 29.

Finding itself at least $300,000 short on revenue, the Eleanor Whitmore Early Childhood Center petitioned the East Hampton School District to add $250,000 to its upcoming budget vote to support day care and prekindergarten for its 100 students, most of whom will one day attend school in East Hampton.

East Hampton High School has a track record of taking proactive steps to protect the health of its students, addressing topics such as vaping and mental wellbeing in recent years. Now, with administrators reporting more and more students struggling with substance abuse and addiction to electronic devices, they are again tackling difficult thorny issues with openness and the help of experts.

At precisely the moment last Thursday when the United States Senate voted to confirm Ketanji Brown Jackson as the first Black woman on the Supreme Court, about 45 female students from nine East End high schools were gathered in the cafeteria of the Stony Brook University Southampton campus to learn about the roles of female elected officials in politics.

Shortly before the school board voted to hire Kathy Masterson as its new athletic director, Joe Vas, East Hampton’s current athletic director, handed her a maroon-and-gray Bonac baseball cap — a symbolic passing of the torch.

The South Fork Natural History Museum in Bridgehampton has lined up some seasonal outdoor activities for kids and teens next week, plus a big celebration of Earth Day.

The Sag Harbor School District introduced a full-day prekindergarten program for the first time this year, receiving a glowing report card this week from school board members, educators, administrators, and parents.

“It’s so well rounded. It’s incredible,” said Jakki O’Neill, a mother of two, in a phone interview. She said her daughter, Lilah, is getting a solid foundation in letters, numbers, and other skills, and that she is thriving in general there. “The program that they are presenting is just phenomenal.”

A deep dive into expenses and revenues over the last four months culminated Tuesday night in the East Hampton School Board’s adoption of a $76.5-million budget plan for the 2022-23 school year.

The proposed budget adheres to New York State’s rules for tax-levy increases, with a 1.75-percent increase, for the tenth time over the 11 years that the tax cap has been in place. The district will need a simple majority of voter approval on May 17 for the budget to pass.

The Sag Harbor School Board on Monday adopted a $45.99-million spending plan that will be put up for a community vote on May 17. The proposal is unchanged from the last time it was discussed, on March 21, with one notable exception: New York State’s governor and Legislature have reached an agreement on their own budget, which will lead to more state money for Sag Harbor.

When the fire alarm went off at Southampton High School at 9:24 on Monday morning, it was not a drill. Everyone was evacuated safely in three minutes and 34 seconds as firefighters rushed to the school: A burning smell had been reported in the building, a fire department official said afterward, attributing it to a burned-out motor in a heating and ventilation unit. That incident was hardly major, but it underscored the importance of safety codes and procedures in schools.

Here’s the buzz out of Bridgehampton High School this week: Ayanna El has been named its 2022 valedictorian and Grace Turza its salutatorian.

By this year’s graduation ceremony, Ayanna will have completed nine Advanced Placement, honors, and college-level courses. She is a consistent member of the high honor roll and the recipient of a perfect attendance award. A skilled volleyball player, she received a Suffolk Zone Award for achievement in physical education and a Thomas Cutinella Memorial Foundation Service Award, which goes to athletes showing high character.

Having used two of its three inclement-weather days so far this year, the East Hampton School District announced this week that school will be in session for students and staff on Friday, May 27, and Tuesday, May 31.

Easter is right around the corner and Mind Offline, a children's boutique and activity studio in Sag Harbor, will welcome the eponymous bunny and friends for a day of whimsical fun on Saturday, April 16. There will also be an egg hunt at the Ladies Village Improvement Society on Saturday.

Students at Pierson High School in Sag Harbor will perform "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" at the Pierson auditorium this weekend. The four show times are Thursday and Friday night at 7, and Saturday at 2 and 7 p.m.

Springs School District officials have reached their goal of trimming enough money from their 2022-23 budget proposal that it complies with New York State rules on tax-levy increases and will need only a majority vote to pass.

The Country School in Wainscott, which has offered pre-nursery and prekindergarten programs for children since its founding in 1990, has announced its expansion to a second campus for students up to second grade.

Poised to have a surplus of more than $900,000 at the end of the current fiscal year, the Amagansett School District is planning to put much of it toward next year’s budget to offset the rising costs that nearly everyone — municipalities, businesses, consumers — is facing.

Coming off a year that saw its over-the-tax-cap budget pass on the second try by a single vote, the Bridgehampton School District’s proposed spending plan for 2022-23 adheres to the state limit on tax-levy increases.

High school graduations are about three months away, giving the valedictorians and salutatorians plenty of time to work on their speeches. At East Hampton High School, those speeches will be given by Evan Masi, the valedictorian, and Anika Petruccelli, the salutatorian.

Whether new to yoga or already familiar with the practice, teens can breathe in all of its benefits on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Mandala Yoga in Amagansett. And there's so much else for kids and teens to do this week.

Robotics competitions these days are complex affairs, filled with obstacles to overcome and tasks to complete, and the stakes are higher as teams of students from around the world face off against each other. After a two-year hiatus brought on by the pandemic, South Fork robotics teams eagerly rose to the challenge this month.

As thousands of young people rallied at Citi Field last week against Florida's Parental Rights in Education bill, which, among other things, prohibits discussions of L.G.B.T.Q.+ identities and issues in kindergarten, first, second, and third-grade classrooms, the Bridgehampton School’s Genders and Sexualities Alliance group staged its own rally on the school’s front lawn.

Provided that Sag Harbor voters agree, the athletic facilities at Mashashimuet Park will be considerably upgraded following several months of joint discussions between Sag school officials and the board of the nonprofit park.

East Hampton’s varsity Academic Team stands unbeaten this year and will next compete in the regional Quiz Bowl finals sometime in April. Having fun, while giving their brains a good workout, is the goal for the whip-smart members of this group, each with their idiosyncratic areas of expertise.

For parents and high school students, there's an online program Wednesday on how Covid has changed the college admissions landscape. Also this week for younger kids: programs on native frogs, STEM workshops, arts and crafts, story times, and more, much of it free.

The Montauk School District is proposing a $21.03 million spending plan for the 2022-23 school year, once again staying well below the state limit on tax-levy increases.

As they struggle to build a 2022-23 budget that stays within New York State’s cap on tax-levy increases, Springs School District administrators said they have now zeroed out their earlier drafts and started over.

The East Hampton School District’s new transportation center on Springs-Fireplace Road is proof that the future of school busing here is much more than bright yellow buses and a place to park them.

As construction on its new 7,000-square-foot building nears completion, the Bridgehampton Child Care and Recreational Center is bumping up against unexpected costs that have left the organization “a couple of hundred thousand dollars” short of its $3 million budget. That’s why every little bit helps, its executive director said this week as she acknowledged a meaningful donation from the Hamptons United Methodist Church in the amount of $25,000.