In the absence of budget controversies and with a state cap on tax increases, the lead-up to this year’s school district voting, on Tuesday, has been uncommonly quiet. That is not to say that the balloting is insignificant; spending plans await approval, and two districts have contests for board seats.

In the East Hampton School District, in addition to annual expenses, taxpayers will be asked to bless an $8.9-million bus and vocational education facility. East Hampton also has the most interesting race for school board, with two seats in play. 

Christine DeSanti is seeking re-election, and Jeffrey Erickson and Sarah Minardi are vying for board seats. We are pleased that Ms. Minardi has chosen to run for elected office; she is smart, hard-working, and has experience in community organizations. Ms. DeSanti is the school board’s vice president and has been a strong advocate for the district’s growing vocational efforts. We endorse both. Mr. Erickson is a police officer with an interest in school security, but otherwise we know less about him, which makes him difficult to endorse. 

The $8.9 million being put before East Hampton voters covers the cost of purchasing three acres on Springs-Fireplace Road, where the town’s sewage plant had been, construction, and outfitting portions of the building for vocational training. The district’s buses are now parked both on school property on Long Lane and at a leased site on Route 114. Renting the Route 114 property, the former Schaefer Bus Company garage, costs taxpayers $200,000 a year, is in poor repair, and not suitable for educational purposes.

Students now travel to Riverhead at considerable additional expense for training in the trades. Keeping them in the district would greatly improve their school day, and in some cases, allow them time to play high school sports, something their travel schedules make difficult. For the business community, the bus facility’s educational role would prove a plus; many businesses struggle to find qualified workers. Students would have opportunities to be trained and licensed in such fields as auto repair, welding, and automotive computer programming, skills they could immediately use to find well-paying jobs or as stepping-stones toward even more lucrative careers. The bus bond referendum would add about $25 a year to the average property tax bill. It should be approved.

AMAGANSETT

In Amagansett, Mary A. Eames, who has spent countless hours keeping an eye on the school board and its spending priorities, hopes to unseat Dawn Rana-Brophy. While we respect Ms. Eames, we believe her presence would be disruptive on the five-member board of education, which could either turn out to be good or bad, while it is hard to make the case that the Amagansett School is in need of major change. Parents are generally happy, and taxpayers are, for the most part, without complaints. Though she sometimes expresses valid concerns, she appears to represent a limited constituency at best, and we see no compelling reason for the incumbent, Ms. Rana-Brophy, to be replaced. Whatever happens, Ms. Eames is sure to continue her valuable work as a watchdog, including posting videos of school board meetings online.

While there are few contests of note in the remaining South Fork school districts, it is nevertheless important that everyone who can vote does so. Taxpayers should be aware that only school district budgets provide them with a direct say on spending; municipalities make budget decisions after public hearings.

Poll times vary, so it is best to check with the respective districts. See you in the voting booths on Tuesday!

With the summer season approaching at long last, PSEG-Long Island hopes that homeowners with central air-conditioning take up its offer of free, remotely programmable thermostats that will cut electric bills and help the utility deal with high demand. It is a program very much worth considering.

The South Fork Peak Savers program brings a range of power-saving options to PSEG customers, including free Nest thermostats, rebates on more efficient pool pumps, and residential and commercial consultations at no cost. These are part of the company’s larger initiative to avoid the use of highly polluting diesel backup generators, which have been used in several locations here during the summer months, as well as to cut down on how much electricity PSEG must buy from the grid. A bonus: By reducing demand, the need for expensive and unsightly new transmission lines might be avoided. Then, too, each watt unburned in cooling a house or circulating water in a pool means a little less greenhouse gas emission.

For homeowners with central air-conditioning, the Nest thermostat deal is a no-brainer. Participants get the devices, then sign up for a program that allows it to make small short-term temperature adjustments, usually no more than one to three scarcely perceptible degrees, which can be overridden by hand. Customers who already have two or more Nest thermostats in their houses can get up to $500. Either way, participants get a $25 annual check just for staying with the program, in addition to savings estimated at around 10 percent. Over all, a Nest device reaches out to an individual thermostat about 6 to 10 times a year.

More information is available at southforkpeaksavers.com.

This editorial has been updated to more accurately reflect how often and when Nest could adjust a homeowner's thermostat each summer.

Several weeks ago the idea was floated that at least one of the often-packed ocean beach parking lots at Ditch Plain in Montauk be made residents-only. This came in response to complaints that the number of people had overwhelmed the lots, making it almost impossible on sunny summer days for East Hampton Town taxpayers to find a spot unless they arrived shortly after dawn. 

Town stickers are supposed to be valid for as long as the vehicle is owned by a resident or yearly renter, and an apparently unlimited number of permits is available for people from away. This adds up for a limited number of ocean parking areas. Given all that, it is no mystery why griping from all sides is the result.

There is precedent for making certain beaches residents-only to improve the parking situation. A few years back, after complaints that out-of-town renters were filling the residents-only lot at Indian Wells in Amagansett, a small shed for attendants was placed at the parking area entrance, turning back nonresident cars; order — and places to park — was restored.

Ditch Plain creates a different headache for town officials. It has one of the most popular surf breaks on the East Coast and is a favorite for visitors as well as those who call Montauk and the rest of the Town of East Hampton home. A hard-to-pin-down number of surf school operators have set up shop there, too, adding to the general mayhem. Change is needed. Our suggestion is simple.

On a trial basis, the town should make Ditch Plain’s three parking lots residents-only on Saturdays and Sundays from July through Labor Day weekend from 9 a.m. to noon. That way, taxpaying families would have a chance to get to the beach with their kids and all their gear. Nonresident permit holders could begin arriving at noon and likely find spots as the morning crowd moved on. Longer-term, the town might develop additional parking on Montauk Highway and offer expanded shuttle service — with surfboard racks! — to take beachgoers to the sand.

We believe that people who own property or actually live within the town’s borders year round must take precedence in meeting that demand. Visitors and nonresidents can be accommodated with a little creative thinking.

The million dollars it cost the Town of East Hampton to pile new sand on a row of massive sandbags on the Montauk ocean shoreline is perhaps the most immediate reason why officials are eager to find another way to respond to ongoing erosion there. But money is not the only argument in favor of a new approach. The so-called first row of motels, condominiums, and private houses, about 11 in all, are being protected to some degree by a seawall whose very existence comes at the expense of the public beach, one of the town’s greatest assets.

One answer may come from a plan outlined this week by consultants. Property owners along this threatened stretch would be given transferable development credits, or rights, in exchange for agreeing to walk away from at-risk sites. This would be a financial mechanism by which an earlier idea for replacing Montauk’s oceanfront structures hundreds of yards back from the beach could become a reality. Over time, the motels and other buildings would be taken down and high dunes created in their place. The property owners could build again on a safer site or sell their development credits to others.

As things now stand, taxpayers will be tapped indefinitely to pay to keep the sandbags covered. This is not only expensive; it does not protect the Montauk downtown from catastrophic inundation during a hurricane. Either way, the first row is going to come down eventually, whether through strategic, planned retreat or in chaos. The town is right to try to get ahead of this wildly expensive — and inevitable — disaster.

New York City could soon ban the sale of plastic water bottles in parks, beaches, and public golf courses to cut down on trash. Two cities, San Francisco and Concord, Mass., already have banned them, according to The New York Times, and are promoting the use of refillable bottles by residents and visitors. Given the unsanitary overflow of garbage receptacles at many South Fork beaches during the summer, the time apparently has come for a similar ban here.

On Earth Day weekend, the sheer number of plastic water bottles collected, at Montauk Point in one example, was stunning. Many had been capped and apparently thrown still partially filled into the brush along the paths, while others were carried in on the surf. Beer bottles were in the brush, too,  alcohol-addled jerks being what they are. But what of the thinking of some ostensibly healthy person who drinks half a Poland Spring then heaves it into the brush? It is much the same at other cleanups; volunteers in Greenport in February, for example, picked up more than 660 plastic water bottles.

East Hampton Village officials last week enacted a retail prohibition on foam takeout containers. This is a positive step, even though few village eateries package goods in foam. A more effective measure would be for the village to eliminate the sale of water in plastic bottles at its Chowder Bowl concession at Main Beach. Similarly, East Hampton Town might ban their sale at its beaches and recreational facilities. 

“But what will the people drink?” one might ask. In the cities that have banned plastic water bottles, officials have made fountains and reusable-container filling stations available. Reports are that people adjust quickly. On the other hand, bowing to industry pressure, the Trump administration last year reversed a six-year-old ban on the sale of plastic water bottles in national parks, claiming a need to “expand hydration options for recreationalists.” 

In truth, most of us are adaptable; this was underscored in a recent announcement about how quickly habits changed following a Suffolk County prohibition on disposable shopping bags. Montauk School students took on plastic drinking straws not too long ago and got several restaurants and takeout places to pledge to provide straws only upon request or switch to paper ones. In addition, Suffolk legislators are now thinking about limiting plastic cutlery and straws across the county.

If for no other reason than helping keep public spaces clean, a plastic water bottle ban makes sense, particularly since very few, if any, are recycled. East Hampton Town has struggled historically to keep up with the volume of garbage put in its beach trash cans during the summer, adding extra crews to make evening pickups at significant expense. 

Cutting down the number of these bottles would reduce the volume of waste the town has to haul away, and would, in and of itself, be a significant step toward a greener East Hampton. Vendors might consider selling water or other drinks to beachgoers in their own branded, reusable containers to make up for any financial loss. If Washington is going to head in the wrong direction on litter and the energy-wasting manufacturing of plastic, at least local governments, businesses, and consumers can — and should — battle back on their own turf.

At long last, it feels like spring! The last few days have brought sunshine and warmth after many months of cold, dreary weather. Spring fever is very real; people are getting outside, enjoying the fresh air, soaking in a little vitamin D, and stretching their sea legs. But, as enticing as glistening waters may be to kayakers, paddleboarders, and the like, it is still dangerous out there. 

With water temperatures hovering around 45 degrees, the bays and harbors still pose a serious risk for those who find themselves unceremoniously submerged for even a short period. The water does not have to be frigid to cause symptoms of hypothermia at these temperatures, and it doesn’t take much time for them to set in. 

Boating season is still a way off. But year after year, we see paddle-sport enthusiasts venture out in cold waters without proper insulating gear, not to mention the required life vests. Just look at what happened off Orient Point about two weeks ago. 

A boat three men were taking from Port Jefferson to Shirley struck rocks and sank in Plum Gut during a windstorm. The current took two of the men away from the swamped boat. They were later pulled in and treated at a local hospital. Crew members aboard a Plum Island ferry pulled in the third man, who was in more serious condition and unable to assist in his rescue because of the brutal effect of the frigid water on his muscles. Hypothermia had set in.

Safety regulations for boaters are widely publicized, but less well known is that there are regulations for paddlers, too. While it might put a damper on an idealized notion of paddling on the bay unencumbered, the United States Coast Guard considers a life jacket, VHF-FM marine radio, and personal locator beacon essential equipment for paddlers. 

And, paddlers, please: Invest in a wetsuit, supporting your local surf shop while you’re at it. You will thank us if you fall in.

Every April since 1970, many Americans have celebrated Earth Day. While the holiday does not have the buildup of Christmas or the whoop-de-doo of the Fourth of July, it has become tradition in many places to take a hike, clean up roadsides and wrack lines, or take part in other outdoor activities. Numerous local organizations have laid on events this year, among them the South Fork Natural History Museum in Bridgehampton and the Nature Conservancy’s Mashomack Preserve on Shelter Island.

No mention of nature on the eve of Earth Day would be complete without noting the hard work by members of the Southampton and East Hampton Trails Preservation Societies, as well as state, county, and town workers, who keep the trails mapped and accessible, assuring access to beaches and waterways, sometimes in the face of strong opposition from waterfront property owners. Important, too, are all the voters, who have consistently supported open space preservation for decades.

The East End is an outdoors lover’s paradise. This Earth Day, let’s all make a pledge to get out there and enjoy it — and to pick up a few pieces of litter as we do.

A massive water cistern planned for the Amagansett woods has the potential neighbors upset. This is understandable, as the 900,000-gallon reservoir would be built above ground on a Suffolk County Water Authority well site only a short distance from the road. The water authority said it would paint the 30-foot-tall tank a pleasing shade of green in the hope that it would blend in with its surroundings. But the woods are a leafless gray half the year and deer have eaten away what would have been a cloaking understory. 

We sympathize with the residents of this part of Amagansett who do not want huge, unsightly infrastructure in their backyards. But the project points to a much greater concern about growth; the demand for services, whether water, electricity, or waste removal, rises along with the population. Town leaders and those in the nearby villages of Sag Harbor and East Hampton have failed to take action to slow, if not halt, development. More people means more services are needed, and things like the hulking water tank proposed for the Devon Colony area become all the more inevitable.

Few residents take a broad enough view to call for population limits, but that does not excuse local officials from neglecting to think beyond the next election. The natural and spatial resources of the South Fork are finite. Sure, we might build out every square inch, but the costs of doing so, as we are seeing already, are significant. The Devon reservoir is just a symptom of a much larger problem.

Luis Marin-Castro’s arrest by federal agents while he was working in Wainscott on April 9 highlights the need for a rational immigration policy. Mr. Marin, 31, came to East Hampton from Ecuador as a child, attended high school here, graduated from Suffolk Community College, and was a valued employee, working his way up from bus boy to sommelier at Nick and Toni’s restaurant in East Hampton. Like many others who were not born here, however, he did not have legal status in this country, and, after pleading guilty to drunken driving about three years ago, ended up in the sights of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.

Already, more than $50,000 had been contributed to a legal fund set up to try to win Mr. Marin’s release. This is a tremendous statement of support and good will. Donations can be made online at gofundme.com by searching for “Luis Marin.”

What passes for policy on immigration today can be summed up by President Donald Trump’s longed-for wall and the fact that he opened his campaign by stoking racist fears of rapists and “bad hombres” coming over the southern border. Sadly, the pitch worked. 

A recent analysis by scholars at the University of Massachusetts found that racism (as well as hostile sexism) correlated strongly with the likelihood of someone’s having voted for Mr. Trump for president, outweighing the economy, populism, and other variables. Separately, Google data show that searches with racist epithets or jokes soared nationwide during the presidential primary in areas that ended up going his way in November. It is notable that in recent polls as many as 57 percent of Americans believe the president is a racist.

It is difficult to draw an absolutely direct line from Mr. Trump to Luis Marin. However, enforcement actions have increased dramatically since the president was inaugurated and reports are that ICE will continue its aggressive ways. While apprehensions on the border initially dropped, arrests inside this country surged by almost half in 2017. 

Mr. Marin may be just a number to the White House, but here, he is a son, husband, and key employee. That makes it clear that the current United States immigration approach makes no sense. With statistically full employment, businesses from one end of the country to the other are desperate for workers. Mr. Marin, through no fault of his own, came here as a child and, but for one youthful and unfortunate brush with the law, for which he has long since made amends, has been a model member of the community. 

As we move rapidly toward the fateful midterm congressional elections, repairing the current immigration mess should be at the top of voters’ minds. Finding a way to officially welcome immigrants is a national priority. America needs more people like Luis Marin, not fewer.

At a time when young people have taken leadership roles in the fight for sensible gun control, led the Black Lives Matter movement, and generally found new political activism, allowing them to have a voice at the local level is a logical next step. Guild Hall, for example, recently created a teen council, in which high school students receive a stipend for attending meetings to help shape cultural programs and build audiences of the future. That would be most obviously valuable in some form on school boards and perhaps in Town Hall.

There is a state precedent, of sorts. Students on the State University of New York’s 64 campuses vote each year for an executive board and student assembly president. The president automatically becomes a voting member of the SUNY board of trustees. This provides a conduit for undergraduate and graduate student opinion and ideas to reach the highest level of the state educational system.

Under state law, one must be 18 to run for school board, which would preclude most students from mounting a campaign. However, a student-elected representative could join in an advisory role. In most districts here, unelected superintendents sit with board members at meetings, often at the head of the table. Why not seat a young person whose peers believe he or she could represent them ably? Youth representatives could add a valuable perspective and enliven board discussions. 

Another important point about students’ involvement at school board meetings is representation, not just of the views of young people, but those of an expanding, new-resident demographic as well. 

In most districts, Latino participation in top-level policy discussions has been absent. If a student board participant from a largely Spanish-speaking household were selected, he or she could help bridge that gap. Moreover, the message to the immigrant communities that now make up a significant percentage of the school and towns’ populations would be one of welcome. Greater involvement could also lead to other forms of local government participation over time. For example, Latinos have been barely a presence in any of the East End towns’ leadership groups despite being an important presence in the region for more than two decades.

The Parkland student activists already have proven that youth can shift public policy. Giving our local kids a chance to make their influence felt is something worth working for.