Wainscott Elects New School Board Member

William A. Babinski Jr. won a seat on the Wainscott School Board of Education on Tuesday night, while voters also approved a $3.5 million budget for the 2013-14 school year.

Mary McCaffrey, the district clerk, phoned in the results just 10 minutes after the polls closed at 8 p.m. The budget passed 41-to-1 and Babinski received 39 votes, she said. Bill Costello and Catherine Dickinson each received one write-in vote and one vote was a blank, she said.

Babinski, a farmer from a longtime Wainscott family, will join David Eagan and Kelly Anderson on the board in July. The board president, Nancy McCaffrey, Eagan's mother-in-law, is retiring at the end of June.

Wainscott voters easily approved the $3.5 million budget, the only budget in the Town of East Hampton to see a decrease — it's 1.3 percent lower than the 2012-13 budget.

The tax levy decreased by 1.55 percent.

The school district is the smallest in East Hampton. Next year, enrollment is expected at 14. The elementary school only goes to third grade. This year, there are 13 students.

The turnout in this year's election and budget vote was average. Last year, there were 43 votes cast.