The decision a few years ago to hire two maintenance employees has paid off for the East Hampton School District.

During Tuesday night’s school board meeting, Mark Field, head custodian, said those two crew members have enabled the district to scale back dramatically on the sum it would pay contractors for the same work. Mr. Field said the savings amounts to approximately $109,000 in the proposed 2015-16 school budget.

“This is the first year that we’ve been able to put it on paper,” he said. “They have been able to save us incredible amounts of money.” The pair’s skills, he said, span several trades: heating and cooling systems, plumbing, electrical, locksmith work, and more.

Isabel Madison, East Hampton’s assistant superintendent for business, said this has meant the district had to turn to capital improvement funds less frequently.

“Usually, school districts go to a large capital improvement, because the maintenance is very poor,” Ms. Madison said. “We tried for this to not happen. They look after every penny. They are wonderful.” C.S.

Goat on a Boat Presents ‘The Joshua Show’

Joshua Holden, a puppeteer and performer whose production “The Joshua Show” won best performance and audience favorite awards at the Puppeteers of America’s National Festival in 2013, will perform at the Goat on a Boat Puppet Theatre in Sag Harbor on Saturday at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.

Mr. Holden brings a combination of puppetry, live music, tap-dancing, and physical comedy to “The Joshua Show,” which is a story about friendship and the importance of being yourself. Tickets cost $12, $10 for members and grandparents, and $8 for siblings and children under 3.

Pasta, Pizza, and Pajamas at CMEE

Special offerings starting tomorrow at the Children’s Museum of the East End in Bridgehampton will keep kids busy during the April break. Fresh pasta making is on the menu for a drop-off program for 4 to 7-year-olds tomorrow from 10 to 11 a.m. The cost is $24 including museum admission, $12 for members. Tomorrow night is Pizza and Pajama Night, with a reading of Frank Asch’s “The Earth and I,” watercolor landscape painting, and pizza, of course, starting at 6 p.m. It’s free for members, $10 for others.

Children of all ages can plant seedlings on Saturday at 10 a.m. in a program that is free with museum admission. Kids 4 to 7 have can make soda bottle planters with parents’ help on Monday and up-cycled birdfeeders in a drop-off program on Wednesday. Both cost $24, or $12 for members. Finally, next Thursday all ages are invited to work on a community mural at 10 a.m. The fun is included with museum admission; reservations are recommended for all CMEE events.

Creative Writing for Teens

Older students who like to write can fine-tune their skills during a weeklong creative writing workshop for teens with the Young Artists and Writers Project at Stony Brook Southampton. It runs Monday through Friday, April 10, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day.

Participants will work with professional writers on poetry, fiction, memoir, and dialogue skills and end the week with a completed piece of writing. The cost is $525 for the week, with some scholarships available. Registration is at stonybrook.edu/yawp or by email to [email protected].

Spring Break Week at SoFo

The South Fork Natural History Museum in Bridgehampton will have special April break programs all week. The first is a story time at 1 p.m. on Saturday that will include a reading of Alan Baker’s “Two Tiny Mice: A Mouse-Eyed Exploration of Nature,” and a walk in the field behind the museum. Nature and science programs for all ages are planned each morning at 10 a.m. Monday through Friday, April 10. Monday they’ll explore pond life. Tuesday it’s birding in the field behind the museum. Children will learn about insects on Wednesday, study the basics of electronics next Thursday, and take a spring field walk on Friday, April 10.

After ‘Wormy Cakes’ Comes ‘Frozen’

A solar printing workshop for kids 4 and older will be held at the East Hampton Library on Tuesday from 2 to 3 p.m. Kids 5 and older can make edible “wormy cakes” on Wednesday at the same hours. Don’t worry, no ­real worms will be used. Next Thursday, there’s a family movie night at 5 p.m. with a screening of the wildly popular “Frozen.”

Bridgehampton School officials, heeding a suggestion made at a March 11 public forum, recommended, at a March 25 meeting of the school board, tapping into reserves to avoid having to make $176,000 in budget cuts. The recommendation, which was met with agreement from members of the board, enables the district to keep its proposed budget increase within tax levy limitations.

Board members also took a look that night at the administration’s updated 2015-16 budget proposal. According to Bob Hauser, assistant school superintendent, the proposed budget now stands at approximately $12.82 million, down from about $12.9 million, which was the amount originally proposed on March 11. He called the new figure “a good, conservative budget.”

In an email on Tuesday, Bridgehampton’s superintendent, Lois Favre, explained that “the amounts in each of the budget presentations differ slightly, as we are not yet done with this school year, and we are guessing/projecting revenues and state aid amounts . . . so until we adopt, we continue to make adjustments.”

The $12.82 million figure would mean a tax levy increase of 3.51 percent, the maximum allowed for Bridgehampton. Tax levy increases must stay within a state-imposed cap, which varies from district to district. The tax rate would rise from $1.67 to $1.73 per $1,000 of a home’s assessed value. For example, a house valued at $400,000 would see taxes increase by about $23, while a house valued at $750,000 would see taxes increase by about $44.

Mr. Hauser said New York State will soon announce how much financial support Bridgehampton will receive. Official adoption of the budget is expected at the next school board meeting, set for April 22.

Rookie robotics students from the Bridgehampton High School are getting ready for national competition after an eighth-place finish at last week’s FIRST Robotics Competition, while students from Pierson High School and East Hampton High School are savoring a creativity award they received for their efforts at the same event.

Dubbed Team Supreme, the 11 robotics students from Bridgehampton were not sure what to expect when they entered their first-ever competition. They competed against about 50 other teams from across Long Island and from as far away as Brazil, Israel, and Canada, and were ranked as high as fourth during the various rounds before finishing in sixth place in the general tournament and then eighth in the final round. The team also took home an All-Star Rookie Team Award. Claudio Figueroa, a senior, and Dylan Breault, a junior, the Bridgehampton captains, said the results exceeded their expectations.

“It was awesome. Our first year, I wouldn’t have expected it,” Claudio said. “We all feel really accomplished.”

“Just to be there was a great experience in itself, and then to come out in the top six was unbelievable,” Dylan added.

Jamari Gant, a junior who is the team’s operator and mechanic, was named the team’s most valuable player.

“I’ve never been in a room full of people who also love what I do, too,” Jamari said.

FIRST, For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, challenges teams to build a working robot — in many cases weighing more than 100 pounds — over the course of six weeks using a standard set of parts.

With 38 members, the combined team from Pierson and East Hampton finished 29th and earned the Xerox Creativity Award from the judges.

“We used a vacuum system with suction cups that we made on a 3D printer that the program won earlier in the year. People were impressed with how well it worked and how simple it really was,” said Clint Schulman, coach of the Sag Harbor and East Hampton team, along with Trevor Gregory.

Sag Harbor’s team has been competing since 1995. Mr. Schulman said the competition emphasizes not only critical thinking and engineering and computer skills, but also concepts like teamwork and overcoming adversity.

“We definitely had our problems during the competition, and were able to fix the majority of them,” he said. “I hope they take the time to reflect on all the skills they have acquired throughout the year.”

Judiann Carmack-Fayyaz, a Bridgehampton teacher who supervises the team along with Ken Giosi, acknowledged the tremendous help that Team Supreme received from the Sag Harbor and East Hampton team both before and during the competition.

“Gracious professionalism is one of the basic tenets of the FIRST philosophy,” Ms. Carmack-Fayyaz said. “You help each other achieve your goals, even though you’re competing against each other. They gave us such great help.”

Bridgehampton advances to the championship round, to be held in St. Louis between April 22 and April 25, where the team will face 600 others from around the world.

With snow continuing to fall across the South Fork on Sunday evening, school administrators have decided to give students a little extra time to get to school safely Monday morning. 

There will be a two-hour delay in the East Hampton, Montauk, Amagansett, Sag Harbor, Springs, and Wainscott School Districts. The Bridgehampton School District, the Southampton School District, and the Ross School, which has campuses in East Hampton and Bridgehampton, will also open two hours later than usual.

The Sag Harbor School Elementary School's morning prekindergarten is canceled. The Montauk School's prekindergarten class will start at 10:30 a.m.

Government offices are also following suit. Southampton Town Hall will open at 10 a.m. There was no word yet Sunday evening about East Hampton Town Hall. 

A winter storm warning is in effect until Monday at 7 a.m., and 4 to 8 inches of snow is expected to fall before it's over.

The East Hampton Town Police Department warned residents about the dangerous driving conditions on its Facebook page Sunday evening. "Monday morning commute will be tough, please continue to use extra caution and drive safe," the department posted.

Food representing more than 25 countries and performances reflecting a range of cultures are planned for the Sag Harbor Multicultural Festival, which will be held tomorrow from 6 to 9 p.m. in the Pierson High School gym.

Parents of Sag Harbor students and supporters of the festival from around the area have signed on to prepare recipes representing their heritage, which will be served to guests from 6 to 7:45 p.m., after which the performances will begin. Among the tasting options will be dishes from Japan, El Salvador, Poland, Mexico, Peru, New Zealand, Russia, Norway, Bali, and Costa Rica. Performances planned include taiko drummers from Stony Brook University, Irish step dancing, Mexican folkloric dancing, and a martial arts demonstration.

The suggested donation is $5 per family. Children under 14 must be accompanied by an adult.

All proceeds will be split between the Jacaranda School in Malawi and the Joshua Levine Memorial Foundation. Cheryl Bedini, a co-owner of Java Nation coffee roaster in Bridgehampton and the mother of two Sag Harbor students, is among the event’s main organizers.

Soccer Skills and Drills

A skills and drills soccer program run by East Hampton Town for budding athletes in kindergarten through second grade began on Saturday at the Montauk Playhouse Community Center and will run weekly from 2 to 4 p.m. through April 11. The cost for the program is $25. Registration is at the playhouse or at the Recreation Department.

Leprechaun Hats

Before the short and family-friendly Am O’Gansett Parade on Saturday, kids can stop by the Amagansett Library to make their own leprechaun hats to wear while they watch. The materials will be out at 10:30 a.m. After the festivities, at 3:30 p.m., families can stop in again at the library for Irish tales and a chance to decorate a lucky shamrock box.

Prints and Compasses

At the Children’s Museum of the East End in Bridgehampton on Saturday, kids 3 to 6 can work with homemade paints to make patterned prints from 10 to 10:45 a.m. The cost is $22, including museum admission, or $10 for members. At the same time, 7 to 10-year-olds can learn the science of magnetism and experiment with compasses in a drop-off workshop that runs till 11. The cost is $15, not including admission to the museum, and $12 for members. Advance registration has been requested for both workshops.

Sima will be at the museum to tell stories on Sunday at 11:30 a.m. in a program that is free with museum admission.

For St. Pat’s

For St. Patrick’s Day on Tuesday, the East Hampton Library will have a holiday-themed story and craft time for 4 to 6-year-olds from 4 to 5 p.m. “The Lorax,” a new version of the Dr. Seuss classic, will be shown on the big screen downstairs in the children’s wing next Thursday from 5 to 7 p.m.

Fun With the MakerBot

Kids 7 and older will learn to create and print things on the Hampton Library’s 3-D MakerBot printer on Tuesday from 4 to 5 p.m. At 6, teens will take a turn with the printer. Space is limited in the workshops so advance sign-up is required. Tomorrow, kids 4 and older can make rainbow handprints from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m.

April Theater Camp

Looking ahead to the April school break, the Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor is planning another of its popular vacation theater camps for 7 to 12-year-olds. It will run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day from April 6 through 10 and will include acting, singing, dance, and general performance instruction with some improv and theater games thrown in. The cost is $385 for the week; advance registration is required at baystreet.org.

Tech Celebration

Tweens and teens can play Minecraft on the Montauk Library’s computers or iPads, or their own, during a tech celebration on Saturday. Students in grades three through six have been invited from 2 to 2:45 p.m. and older kids will be welcomed from 2:45 to 3:30 p.m.

Bambini Ball

Put on your dancing shoes and your party clothes. The Goat on a Boat Puppet Theatre’s Bambini Ball is on Saturday from 3 to 5 p.m. The fun will include music by D.J. Carlos Lama, snacks, puppet shows, and games.

The ball helps the nonprofit bring puppeteers and performers such as Gustafer Yellowgold, Chinese Theatre Works, and Randy Kaplan to its Sag Harbor space. Tickets cost $30 for adults and $10 for kids. They can be reserved in advance at goatonaboat.org.

For Little Foodies

Young foodies of all ages can learn how food is grown in the aquaponic garden at Page at 63 Main in Sag Harbor on March 28 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The free event will also feature a cooking demonstration and tasting as well as a discussion of healthy food choices.

Those who plan to attend have been asked to email [email protected] to reserve a place in advance.

It Glows

Kids 3 to 6 will use household ingredients and a few extras to make their own glow-in-the-dark bouncy balls on Saturday at 10 a.m. at the Children’s Museum of the East End in Bridgehampton. The class costs $24 including museum admission, or $10 for members of the museum.

Science and Nature

The South Fork Natural History Museum will offer kids in kindergarten through sixth grade a close-up introduction to reptiles and amphibians of the area on Tuesday at the East Hampton Library. The program runs from 4 to 5 p.m.

Next Thursday at the library, children 5 and older can make their own fossils while learning the basics of paleontology from 4 to 5 p.m. Tonight from 5 to 7, the library will screen “The Lorax” for families.

Think Spring

The snow may be hanging around, but now is the time to think spring, especially if you’re planting carrots. On Saturday, the Amagansett Library will help welcome spring with a carrot story and seed-planting time at 3:30 p.m.

On Sunday at 2 p.m. kids in third through sixth grades will make book pillows using recycled fabric. Kids in prekindergarten through third grade can drop by the library for some crafting today at 3 p.m.

The time changed a week and a half ago, spring arrives this weekend, and Easter will be here before you know it. Some major egg decorating will go down at the Montauk Library on Saturday from 2 to 3:30 p.m. The library will have dye, stickers, and more on hand, but you may want to take your own smock.

Pizza and a Movie

The Hampton Library in Bridgehampton will screen “Guardians of the Galaxy” for ages 12 and up tomorrow at 7 p.m. Pizza will be served.

After weeks of workshops, the Montauk School Board has come close to approving a final budget of a bit under $18.6 million for the 2015-16 school year. The board learned of a hefty fund balance of $1.2 million that they said Tuesday could be used for a slew of long overdue building improvements.

“It’s a problem, but it’s a good problem. Now we have to decide what to do with it,” Jack Perna, the school superintendent, said of the surplus. If the money were returned to taxpayers and taxes increased in the coming year, the school might have to pierce the state-mandated tax cap the year after, he said. Instead, said Mr. Perna, “We recommend taking part of the fund balance and adding it to the capital fund.”

The school building’s cesspools are acting up; a septic contractor was expected to inspect the system yesterday. A repair or replacement could be a costly project. “This cesspool issue is big in my mind,” said Diane Hausman, the school board president.

The board also discussed the parts of the building that need improvements, including repairing and repainting the stucco on its east and south sides, which was budgeted at $200,000. “But if we’re doing that, then we should also do the north and west sides,” Mr. Perna said. Jason Biondo, a board member and a building contractor, said the stucco repair would cost a lot more than what was budgeted and suggested they raise the amount to $300,000. No decision was made.

The surplus was attributed to several factors, a dearth of new students among them. When the district budgets each year for tuition fees for Montauk students attending other schools, it includes a safety net in case new students move into the district. Those funds were not needed this year. Also, one teacher took early retirement, making her ineligible for lifelong health insurance.

With teachers and parents alike anxiously waiting to hear if their spring vacation plans might need to be changed. the board also discussed making up snow days. Mr. Perna said after the meeting that students would have to attend school on April 3, Good Friday; May 22, and May 26. A fourth snow day will not need to be made up.

The next budget workshop will take place Tuesday at 4 p.m. in the school library.

Plans to move the original Amagansett schoolhouse, built in 1802 by Samuel Schellinger, a millwright, are proceeding. At a meeting on Tuesday, Eleanor Tritt, the district’s superintendent, told the school board that the State Department of Education’s Office of Facilities Planning had approved the installation of a foundation for the schoolhouse, which is believed to be the oldest on eastern Long Island.

“We’re very excited,” Ms. Tritt told the board. “Now we’re just waiting for the last legal paperwork.” Once the ground softens, she said, the foundation will be set. The plan is for the building to be moved to the school grounds from its present site, the Atlantic Avenue property owned by Huntington and Adelaide Sheldon, who announced their intention to donate it in October.

If all proceeds according to schedule, a “grand opening ceremony” will happen in the late spring or early summer, Ms. Tritt said.

The schoolhouse was originally on “Amagansett Street,” now Montauk Highway, about opposite today’s school building. It was moved to the west side of Atlantic Avenue, at what is now the southern part of the East End Cemetery, in 1864, and moved again in 1881, when it was auctioned to Marcus Hand. Mr. Hand sold it to Capt. Joshua B. Edwards, who moved it across the street to his backyard, which is now part of the Sheldon property.

In addition to a discussion of the 2015-16 budget and tuition rate, covered separately in this issue, the board announced that spring recess will be abbreviated, owing to the number of snow days this winter. Classes will be held on April 9 and 10. Unless families have travel plans that cannot be changed, students are expected to attend school on those days.

Ms. Tritt referred to education topics in the news, citing two recent articles in The New York Times. “If an Algorithm Wrote This, How Would You Even Know?” was, she said, “very sobering.” The article describes a new industry of automated narrative generation, in which algorithms and language generators create written content. This “is really going to be a challenge for all of our educators to help children research and really probe and think carefully about the information they are reading,” and its source, she said. “It gave me great pause to see what’s happening out there.”

Another article described the criticism leveled at Pearson Education, a publisher, for monitoring social media to identify students who might be leaking information about the tests it creates and administers. Administrators and educators, Ms. Tritt said, must “continue to be vigilant about what we allow students to do,” citing Pearson and other companies’ data-mining efforts and the questions of privacy those efforts raise. Parents, she said, must also “be aware of the consequences of what children are putting out there.”

Victoria Handy, the board’s president, opened the meeting by acknowledging the recent death of two former students, Eric Payne and Andrew MacNiven. Both Mr. Payne, who was 25, and Mr. MacNiven, who was 24, died on March 15. “It’s very sad,” Ms. Handy said. “Our hearts go out to their families.”

“I didn’t know Eric,” Ms. Tritt said, “but Andrew stands out in my mind, a wonderful young man who had everything to live for.” The school yearbooks in which the graduates were featured were displayed during the meeting.