Public Hearing On East Hampton School Budget Set For Tuesday

The public will have an opportunity to ask questions and sound off on the proposed 2013-14 budget for the East Hampton School District on Tuesday.

The board of education will hold a public hearing at the high school at 6:30 p.m. on the $64.2 million budget, which the board adopted on April 16.

The board is putting out the budget to the voters for approval on May 21. The proposal is $1.4 million or 2.2 percent more than the 2012-12 budget.

The proposal would mean a tax rate increase of 5.53 percent per $100 of assessed value.

The budget falls under the 2-percent tax levy increase cap due to exemptions to the estimated tax levy increase of 5.01 percent.

Despite the increases, the school board and administration worked hard over the past few months to cut portions of the budget, according to Superintendent Rich Burns.

"No positions are being totally eliminated," Burns said. Instead, programming in some areas was "fractionalized," or is being cut down a bit.

As a result six staff members are going from full-time positions to part-time with two less teaching periods per day, Burns said. The district also trimmed costs this year with two retirees — an American Sign Language teacher is not being replaced and a teacher's assistant is not being replaced. "That was a bit of a saving, too," he said. A math teacher who retired is being replaced, but the new teacher will cost the district less money.

In the high school, some sections in technology, art, and home careers were combined. The technology department will still continue with the same course offerings, and is even adding in a robotics class, but the sections are going to accommodate more students.

Students enrolled in the American Sign Language and Mandarin classes will complete the course, but there will be no new enrollment, he said.

At the middle school there is a reduction in some of the sections in science and also a reduction in one class in Spanish. The offerings remain the same, with one addition. Science Olympiad and introduction to coding will be offered.

"The numbers weren't that high," he said of the enrollment, calling the classes "a luxury in a 2 percent tax cap" environment.

Still, he said, "There's only so much pens and pencils we can cut." The board looked for other ways to reduce staff positions without laying off teachers.

At the high school, physical education curriculum was redesigned, leaving the need for one less teacher, who will move over to the elementary school, Burns said.

As for Driver's Ed, the program is no longer going to be offered during the school day. All students of a certain age may enroll in the program either before or after school at their expense.

Driver education was already an area in which the school board was re-evaluating over the past year. "We had a transition this year," Burns said. "Many students were already involved in that paid program during the summer, fall and spring."

Although he did not provide the figures, he said there were few students who were still involved in the traditional classes.

Most school districts on Long Island have already made similar changes, he said. "Maybe there's two other districts that still do it. We're the last ones to give this one up in a sense," he said.

Classes, which will be contracted out, will cost between $500 to $550. Payment plans are available. "So far no one has been barred from the program," he said.

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