Puppets in Montauk

A prince, a princess, a chipmunk, and missing jewels each play a role in the Montauk Library’s original puppet show, “Lost Jewels and Tree Nuts,” which will be presented on Saturday. The show, created over the course of several sessions at the library, runs from 3 to 4 p.m. and is open to all comers.

For Mom?

This weekend will be a full one at the Children’s Museum of the East End in Bridgehampton, with two craft programs on Saturday and a story time on Sunday. Kids 6 to 10 can make a yarn-covered vase inspired by the yarn paintings of Mexico’s Huichol Indians and create paper flowers from coffee filters during a drop-off program on Saturday from 10 to 11:30 a.m. The cost is $20, or $15 for members.

Families with younger children ages 2 to 6 can decorate flowerpots and plant flowers in them that day from 10:30 to 11:15 a.m. Did someone say Mother’s Day gifts?

On Sunday, the storyteller Sima will stop in at 11:30 a.m. for a free reading of “Spring Is Springtime.”

Math Help, Minecraft

Middle and high school students who want a little extra help with math can get it for free at the John Jermain Memorial Library in Sag Harbor. On Saturday from 2:30 to 3:45 p.m., the library will offer a math review for middle schoolers.

Starting on Monday, Chase Mallia, a tutor and teacher, will begin a series of Regents math review classes in both English and Spanish. Classes will meet Mondays from 4:45 to 6:15 p.m. through June 16, with the exception of Memorial Day. They are open to all patrons, but registration in advance would be appreciated.

A Minecraft camp for kids 6 and up is on the schedule for Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to noon. This one is for the iPad version of the game. Participants have been asked to take their own iPads with the Minecraft app, but the library also has a few to lend. Advance registration is a must.

Bird Is the Word

Avian-related programs for aspiring birders are on tap at the South Fork Natural History Museum and the Hampton Library in Bridgehampton this week. Kids 10 to 14 can learn about migratory birds and the challenges they face, then map the path of one of our local birds on Saturday at 2 p.m. at the museum. There is a $3 materials fee in addition to the museum’s entry fee.

On Tuesday at 7 p.m., kids 8 to 12 hoping to attract birds to their yards can make milk jug birdhouses at the library. Reservations are required for both.

Though many local school board races have only incumbents running unopposed, Bridgehampton is an exception, with three residents vying for two slots.

Michael Gomberg, Jeffrey Mansfield, and Kathleen McCleland are in the running after Elizabeth Kotz and Gabriela Braia, two incumbents, decided against pursuing additional three-year terms.

“It’s our duty as a community to provide the best education for our students,” Mr. Gomberg, 41, said of his decision to run. He has owned a house in Bridgehampton since 2003, and lived before that in Manhattan, where he worked in finance. Two years ago, his family relocated full time to Bridgehampton, drawn to the “small, nurturing community.” His two children, ages 8 and 6, attend the Bridgehampton School. He continues to work in finance in Southampton.

“I think there’s always room for improvement,” he said. “I’m hoping to attract people back to Bridgehampton School.”

A native of Great Neck, he attended Washington University in St. Louis, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting and finance. His wife, Anne Tschida Gomberg, works as a consultant for the Bay Street Theatre in Sag Harbor and serves on the school’s parent teacher organization.

“I want to be an advocate for the school,” said Mr. Mansfield, 49. “We take great pride in our town, how Main Street and our beaches are kept up. In my opinion, the community hasn’t given the school the same support as we’ve given other public institutions and it’s time for that to change.”

He is the president of the Bridgehampton School Foundation, a member of the school’s PTO and its long-term strategic planning committee, a vice president of the Sag Harbor-Bridgehampton Little League, and a member of the Bridgehampton Citizen Advisory Committee. Mr. Mansfield also serves on the Southampton Town Audit Advisory Committee. Last fall, he unsuccessfully ran for Southampton Town Board.

For 17 years, Mr. Mansfield worked on Wall Street. After getting married, he and his wife, Micki, wanted to raise their children outside the city. They moved to Bridgehampton from Manhattan in 2008. The couple’s three children, ages 3, 6, and 7, attend the school. Mr. Mansfield is now a full-time father. His wife works at Ralph Lauren in East Hampton.

He grew up in the tristate area, spending summers in Bridgehampton, and attended the Manhasset public schools. He later received a bachelor’s degree in history and a joint law and business degree from Syracuse University.

“I would like to see more positive recognition of our school,” Ms. McCleland, 43, said of her decision to run. “We have to make sure that the kids are getting everything possible. We want kids to be able to compete in the work force and college. We’re creating citizens of the future and we want them to be successful members of the community.”

A Bridgehampton native, she has two children in the district, ages 3 and 6.

After attending McGann-Mercy High School in Riverhead, Ms. McCleland attended Colgate University, where she studied international relations. She lived in Manhattan for several years, working as vice president of corporate event planning at Goldman Sachs.

Her husband, Sam McCleland, is the chef and an owner of the Beacon and the Bell and Anchor, where she works as a pastry chef. For the past decade, she has also worked as a personal chef.

The Bridgehampton School Board voted in recent weeks to pierce the state-imposed cap on property tax increases. It approved a $12.3 million spending proposal for the 2014-15 school year — an increase of $1.1 million, or 9.93 percent, over the current year’s $11.2 million budget. Additionally, the district is proposing a $10.6 million tax levy, an increase of 8.8 percent, or $855,819, over the current year’s $9.8 million levy.

Under the proposed plan, the tax rate is expected to rise 7.7 percent, from $1.55 to $1.67 per $1,000 of assessed valuation. For instance, homeowners whose properties are valued at $500,000 can expect to pay approximately $56.64 more in taxes.

Four school districts across Long Island, Bridgehampton, East Hampton, Sayville, and West Babylon, have proposed similar overrides. Each requires the approval of 60 percent of residents who show up to cast their ballots on May 20.

Under state law, which went into effect in 2012, caps are calculated at either 2 percent or the 2013 Consumer Price Index — whichever amount is lower. This year’s figure is 1.46 percent.

Among the 124 school districts across Long Island, 17 districts attempted overrides in May of 2012, with seven districts voting to pierce the cap last spring. Across Long Island, most attempts have failed to gain the support of 60 percent of voters.

Come May 20, if a budget fails to pass, the district will have one opportunity for a re-vote. The board can decide to propose a new plan with decreased spending or try again with the same budget. If the budget fails to pass a second time, however, the district is forced to adopt the budget from the previous school year, with huge cuts expected in both Bridgehampton and East Hampton.

A public hearing took place last night. The annual budget vote and school board election will take place at the Bridgehampton School on May 20 from 2 to 8 p.m.

At a public hearing Tuesday night of the East Hampton School District’s 2014-15 budget, which was sparsely attended, the district superintendent and several board members spoke passionately in favor of piercing the state-imposed tax cap. Overriding the cap requires the support of 60 percent of voters in order for the proposed $65 million budget to pass.

Even after board members cut $1 million from it, the budget exceeds the state-mandated 1.46-percent cap, which allows school districts to increase their budgets by either 2 percent or the consumer price index (the 2013 consumer price index is 1.46 percent), whichever amount is lower.

Spending is up by 1.3 percent, or $837,247, over this year’s budget. Homeowners whose properties have a median assessed value of $6,000 would see their school tax increase to $56.68, or about $5 more a month.

Had the district stayed within the state-mandated cap, the budget would have increased by only $255,000. That would have meant cutting into instructional programs and laying off still more faculty and staff. As it is, cuts were made to equipment, materials, supplies, conferences, and field trips. Seven paraprofessionals were laid off, one full-time guidance counselor was reduced to part-time hours, and two retiring teachers and one retiring paraprofessional were not replaced.

East Hampton is one of four districts on Long Island proposing tax cap overrides. The others are Bridgehampton, Sayville, and West Babylon.

Seventeen of the Island’s 124 school districts attempted overrides in May 2012. Last year, seven districts voted to pierce the cap. A majority of these attempts have failed to gain the needed 60 percent supermajority.

If the budget fails to pass, the East Hampton district will have one opportunity for a revote. The school board can either propose a new plan with decreased spending or try again with the same budget. Should it go down a second time, the district will be forced to adopt a contingent budget, based on last year’s numbers.

“We’ll be making at least a million in cuts if we are forced into a contingent budget,” said Richard Burns, the superintendent, warning of larger class sizes and fewer electives. “There’s not much more in terms of paper and pencils. It will definitely be personnel at that point.”

Patricia Hope, the board president, who is up for re-election, called his presentation “cogent, comprehensive, and clear.”

Paul Fiondella, a resident, questioned the budget’s over-$1 million increase forpersonnel. “Next year, aren’t you going to face the same problem?” he asked. “If you believe you have no way to cut administrative costs, what will you do next year?”

“It’s a conundrum. It’s a dilemma,” said Mr. Burns. Schools, he said, are labor-intensive undertakings, with labor costs accounting for 75 to 80 percent of East Hampton’s annual budget. “That’s our business.”

No one spoke out against piercing the cap.

“Good education costs money. I think it’s money well spent,” said Jackie Lowey, a board member who is also up for re-election. “These are our kids, and we’ve got one shot at them. They’re going to be the backbone of the future of East Hampton.

This is what it takes to run this district, and this is what it costs. I will happily pay the additional $50 in taxes and will give up my Starbucks coffee once a month.”

Compared to districts elsewhere on Long Island, said Ms. Lowey, geographical isolation makes East Hampton “the only game in town.”

Mr. Burns also spoke about the strain on educators expected to be mental health practitioners following cuts in state, county, and local resources. “We are spread too thin,” he said. “We are the be-all and end-all.”

“As a community member, I am supporting this budget,” said Lauren Dempsey, a former board member.

“I say go, go, go, and let’s make sure it’s going to pass.”

Shortly before adjourning, the board stood to applaud Mr. Burns.

The annual budget vote and school board election will take place on May 20 at the high school, from 1 to 8 p.m.

John Catsimatidis, the owner of the grocery chain Gristede Foods, made a six-figure donation this week to the Bridgehampton Child Care and Recreational Center.

Mr. Catsimatidis, who lives in Quogue and Manhattan, gave $105,000 to restore and refurbish one of the center’s four buildings. Its 12-acre property is just off the Sag Harbor Turnpike.

Earlier this spring, the nonprofit reached out to Mr. Catsimatidis, who also heads the Red Apple Group, a real estate company, to ask for his support.

In March, Forbes magazine ranked the mogul among the richest people in the nation, with a fortune estimated at $3 billion. Last year he ran for mayor of New York City on the Republican ticket, losing to Bill de Blasio.

The child care center, founded in the 1950s as a safe haven for the children of farm workers, now provides year-round child care for working families as well as classes in computer, chess, dance, choir, and art for pre-school to high school-aged youngsters during after-school and evening hours.

Mr. Catsimatidis’s donation will renovate a dilapidated structure that has been unable to be used for several years. The center’s board of directors has voted to rename the building Margo’s Cottage, in honor of his wife, when the renovation is complete.

Two other buildings await similar repairs. Another donation of $105,000 would restore a rundown structure of similar size. Another building, an old farmhouse, now houses administrative offices. The fourth, which houses Bridgehampton Head Start, was last renovated in 2005 following an annual benefit hosted by the late Peter Jennings.

The hope is that the restoration of all four buildings, which sit around a shared quadrangle, will help bring the historic property into the 21st century.

David E. Eagan, who is running unopposed for an additional three-year term on the Wainscott School Board, on which he serves as president, has refused to comment on his having been charged with criminal tax fraud, saying everything he had to say was in the introduction to an informational brochure sent to taxpayers about the forthcoming vote on the district’s proposed budget.

Mr. Eagan, a senior partner in the firm Eagan and Matthews, which represents the East Hampton Town Trustees, was appointed to the board in December of 2005 after the death of a prior member. During his arraignment on Feb. 28 in East Hampton Town Justice Court, a state auditor said Mr. Eagan had failed to file New York State personal income tax returns for 2010. He entered a denial to the class E felony, which carries a maximum sentence of up to four years in prison. Justice Steven Tekulsky released him on his own recognizance, and he is due back in court on June 26.

Repeated attempts by reporters for The East Hampton Star to speak with Mr. Eagan have been rebuffed, and the introduction to the brochure does not mention the charges against him. 

 Personal legal issues aside, the Wainscott Common School District was criticized after a state audit in December found that its $2.4 million surplus was 68 percent of its current budget and more than 17 times the amount allowed by state law. The audit by the state comptroller’s office showed that the district had consistently over-estimated expenses and under-estimated revenues dating back to 2007.

Following the audit, Mr. Eagan defended the district, saying it had a five-year plan to reduce its surplus and taxes, and he called the state law, which limits the amount of surpluses to no more than 4 percent of a budget, “arbitrary.”  He said the law did not work for a small district, where expenses can fluctuate widely from year to year, depending on enrollment.

According to the informational brochure, which is on the school district’s website, the budget for 2014-15 is $3.1 million, a $345,370 decrease from this year. The tax levy is to decrease 10.84 percent, and the tax rate is to go down 11 percent. It continues to be among the lowest tax rates in the districts that send students to East Hampton School District schools.

“The board of trustees has reduced the overall school budget in each of the last three years and has reduced the amount of our tax levy in each of the last two years: in both cases, the reductions represent the largest cumulative school budget decreases on Long Island,” the message reads.

On Tuesday afternoon, voters can cast their ballots from 2 to 8 p.m. at the Wainscott School on Main Street.

Stop-Motion Fun

An exploration of stop-motion animation will be the highlight of a Family Fun Night at the Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill tomorrow. Artists from the Good School, described as a “mobile arts education school” that teaches “commercial and traditional art-making skills and technological understanding via stop-motion filmmaking,” will head up the program.

Participants will make sets and have a chance to try out professional stop-motion software. Attendees can also visit a sort of animation photo booth and do other art projects inspired by works in the museum’s galleries. The fun goes down from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. and is free with museum admission.

Be the Solution

Turtles, pollution, and beachcombing are on the weekend’s agenda at the South Fork Natural History Museum in Bridgehampton. Children 3 to 5 will learn about the museum’s turtles, play a turtle game, and search out painted turtles in the pond out back on Saturday at 10 a.m.

At the same time, kids 12 and up can put their heads together in a Pollution Solution marine science lab with Melanie Meade. Young scientists will consider possible fixes for a hypothetical oil spill in a marine habitat, then take on the role of government officials and scientists as they work to clean up the mess. The program carries a $4 materials fee.

On Sunday, kids 5 and up will gather shells, feathers, and other beach finds and then cast them in plaster of paris. The program begins at 10 a.m. Reservations have been requested for all museum activities.

Frogs, Dogs, and Butterflies

As the weather warms, local libraries are turning their attention to the creatures we start to see again in springtime. The Cornell Cooperative Extension will bring some live butterflies to the Amagansett Library on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. to teach kindergartners through sixth graders about local butterfly species and habitats.

Next Thursday, the East Hampton Library will offer a butterfly story and craft time from 4 to 5 p.m. for kids 4 to 6.

Children 7 and older can learn to make origami frogs at a workshop on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. at the John Jermain Memorial Library in Sag Harbor. Also at John Jermain, but on Saturday, emerging readers age 6 to 10 can practice their skills by reading to Cody the dog. Five-minute sessions will be scheduled in advance between 10:30 and 11:15 a.m. The library can be called to book a slot.

Planting Time

The seedlings that have filled the entryway of the Children’s Museum of the East End in Bridgehampton will be moved to the museum’s garden on Saturday at 10:30 a.m., and families have been invited to help. In the process, they will learn some plant and gardening basics. The cost is $20, or $15 for members.

Author, Author!

McKenzie Willis, a children’s book author, will share his new book, “Tales of the Rainbow Forest,” with kids on Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Hampton Library in Bridgehampton in a program that includes songs, artwork, and a subtle lesson on bullying.

Looking ahead to Friday, May 23, at 4 p.m., another author, Victor Joseph, will read from “Danes Are Great” accompanied by his own Great Dane companions, Brando and Kruger. Reservations have been requested for both programs.

Helping Hands

Montauk middle schoolers looking to earn some community service hours can do so at the Montauk Library on Tuesday from 3:15 to 5:15 p.m. Students will help construct craft packets and update the children’s room puzzles. Permission slips are required for those who plan to take the bus from school to the library. Parents must pick up their children at the library.

The proposed 2014-15 Amagansett School budget, $10.47 million, represents a spending increase of 2.5 percent over last year, Eleanor Tritt, the district superintendent, told the school board at a budget hearing Tuesday night. The tax levy will increase by 1 percent, slightly under the state-imposed cap. A vote on the budget will be held at the school on Tuesday from 2 to 8 p.m.

The proposed budget, Ms. Tritt told the board, is “a representation of how we can provide our mission and our goals for our students and the community.” Those goals are to maintain “the quality, well-rounded educational program that we have for all students” that will prepare them for success in life by providing “the necessary resources to develop 21st-century skills,” she said. At the same time, she said, the administration strives for efficiency in operations and management.

Benefits and support staff for children with special needs are among the main reasons for the budget increase, Ms. Tritt said. “We really tried to hold the line or cut back in every area we have control over,” she said. “The teachers took a salary freeze, so that was an enormous help to the budget.” State aid, she added, has remained relatively unchanged for several years.

Implementation of new, state-mandated data systems and incorporation of the Common Core curriculum standards are costly, Ms. Tritt said. “Luckily, we have good technical support, but as we keep adding programs and new items that are connected technologically, it requires expanding our bandwidth and servers.”

Costs continue to shift to school districts, she said, while costs related to security systems and health care and retirement programs continue to escalate. “Every new program imposes costs on us in terms of training and materials, people being out of the district to gain that information, and providing the resources to meet those mandates.”

“We feel it’s a reasonable budget,” Ms. Tritt said. “The increase is very slight, and taxpayers should feel a very small increase.”

Along with the budget vote, three candidates — Patrick Bistrian, Phelan Wolf, and Patrick Bistrian III — are running unopposed for the school board.

Kendall Stedman, a sixth grader at the Montauk School, won the Brookhaven National Laboratory elementary science fair in her division earlier this month. The win was a first for a Montauk student at the competition, which is held annually on the first weekend in May.

Kendall’s question was, “Do different types of music affect your heart rate?” Based on her results, she was able to prove that classical music slows a person’s heart rate, while pop music and rock ’n’ roll increase it.

“She nailed it,” said Joe Malave, the Montauk School’s science teacher.

Kendall’s was one of 470 projects from 500 students representing 120 schools at the fair, with three others from Montauk. In all, an estimated 27,000 students competed from Suffolk County in kindergarten through sixth grade. To make it to Brookhaven, the competitors were required to have won science fairs in their own school districts.

There were 50 judges this year, including Mr. Malave, and each was paired with a scientist from the Brookhaven lab.

“Kendall’s project met all the criteria and she received extremely high marks for it,” Mr. Malave said.

There are two candidates running for the Montauk School Board seat that Lisa Ward is giving up after serving two five-year terms. Ms. Ward’s daughter, her youngest, is to graduate this year from East Hampton High School.

Jason Biondo has three children, two of whom are in the school and one who will be entering next year’s prekindergarten class. A former reporter for The East Hampton Star, Mr. Biondo owns Hammerhead Construction and the Antique Lumber Company.

He coaches his children’s sports teams and wants to become more involved in the school, he said. Never one with political aspirations, Mr. Biondo said he is simply running for the kids. “To me, it’s clear I have that tight connection with the kids through sports. They all know me.”

Calling himself a huge advocate for education, Mr. Biondo clashed with current school board members when they increased class size last year. During that time, he noticed that other parents were reluctant to speak up at meetings. “My voice would speak for many,” he said.

He sought approval from his wife, Lauren Biondo, before throwing his hat in the ring, and once she agreed, “That’s all I needed,” he said. “I hope I get it.”

The other candidate, Cynthia Ibrahim, has a daughter in the fifth grade. She has been involved with the school since the start of her daughter’s education there, and was instrumental in getting the prekindergarten program up and running. Her daughter was in the first pre-K class, she said.

She is a member of the PTA and served as its treasurer from 2008 to 2010. She continues to volunteer at PTA functions and helps out on teacher appreciation day. She is now the treasurer for the Montauk Playhouse Community Center Foundation and was recently licensed to sell real estate.

“The Montauk School is a great school, and the school board is the backbone of the school,” she said. “I’ve always been involved with education and have three college degrees. I absolutely love learning and hope I have instilled this love of learning in my daughter.”

The vote is on Tuesday from 2 to 8 p.m. in the school gym.

At the same time, residents will be voting on the Montauk School’s 2014-15 budget proposal in the amount of $18.6 million, a decrease of $100,000 from this year. The district will pay off debt it had incurred to expand the school building and increase parking in 2000. The tax-levy increase is .43 percent, under the state cap.

A proposition will be on the ballot that if approved would authorize the school district to spend $400,000 from its capital fund to replace two modular classrooms that were installed some 40 years ago. At the time they were expected to last for only 10 years.

A pair of drug-sniffing dogs from the Suffolk County Police Department’s K-9 Unit paid a surprise visit to East Hampton Middle School last Thursday. During the unexpected sweep, students remained in their classrooms as the dogs roamed the hallways and adjoining lockers, searching for illegal substances.

Ultimately, a small bag of marijuana was seized from a locker in the girls’ locker room and turned over to the East Hampton Village Police Department. According to Capt. Chris Anderson, the matter is now being handled internally by the school.

“Police confiscated the bag and the district conducted an internal investigation,” said Superintendent Richard Burns, in remarks disseminated by Syntax, a media relations firm that works with several Long Island school districts.

“The district maintains a zero-tolerance policy for students who choose to bring illegal drugs to school, and the responsible student will be disciplined appropriately,” said Mr. Burns in his statement. “The safety and security of our students is top priority and it’s why the district puts these proactive initiatives into place.”

Shortly after the sweep started, Charles R. Soriano, the principal, sent an email to parents advising them that a lock-down had begun and that they could not enter the school until the search had ended. He added that similar searches were likely to occur in the future, at random intervals. “While the search is a surprise, searching school property is not meant to be a secret,” he concluded.

In a follow-up email to parents and staff later that day, Dr. Soriano said the district “will fully cooperate with law enforcement officials and continue to investigate and monitor this matter internally. The safety and security of our students is a top priority and it’s precisely why we put these proactive initiatives into place.”

“Illegal drugs are a reality in the larger community, and the school is a reflection of that world — even among middle schoolers,” he continued, asking that parents use the sweep as an opportunity for a frank discussion about drug and alcohol use, including the consequences of poor decision-making.

Dr. Soriano had sent letters home last month telling parents that searches were likely to occur and that the school hoped the prospect would be seen as a deterrence. He explained that students would not come into direct contact with the dogs. He also said that the school owns all lockers, locks, and combinations,  and that students should not have “any right or expectation of privacy for anything stored within school lockers.”

Last November the East Hampton School Board unanimously voted to allow drug-sniffing dogs on its campuses. At the time, a group of vocal parents urged that individual students — not just hallways and lockers — be searched as well. They were unsuccessful in their pleas,

Two months later, in early January, two dogs from the county unit scoured East Hampton High School. The dogs scratched and sniffed at several lockers, which were subsequently searched, but no illegal drugs were found. A second search occurred in March. Again, no drugs were found. Adam Fine, the principal, has promised that the dogs will return at regular intervals.

At the November meeting, Mr. Fine warned that in the event of illegal drugs being found, a student would face an automatic five-day suspension and a superintendent’s hearing, as well as possible arrest.