At the end of a Montauk School Board meeting on Tuesday that was attended by the school attorney, Bill Cullen, who is rarely at board meetings, a group of teachers remained in their seats after it was adjourned into an executive session. They stayed on to discuss a counterproposal that the teachers association presented to the board regarding teacher contract negotiations, which have been ongoing for more than a year. The teachers are now working under an existing contract.

    Yesterday morning, Jack Perna, the district superintendent, said there were no determinations made in the executive session beyond the fact that the board agreed to reduce two to three teacher positions to part time next year, which would enable the school to stay within the state’s 2-percent cap on tax levy increases.

    At a meeting on April 17, the board passed a resolution that specifically authorized Mr. Perna to take the “necessary and appropriate actions” for a partial reorganization of teaching staff and programs for the 2012-13 school year. It would go into effect on July 1.

    Teacher salaries and tuition to East Hampton High School make up an estimated half of the school’s budget proposal of $18.5 million for the 2012-13 fiscal year, with a little less than $5 million being paid to regular and special education instructors.

    When residents vote on the budget proposal on Tuesday, there will be a proposition on the ballot asking them to approve a five-year tuition contract with the East Hampton School District. The cost to educate Montauk students who attend the high school next year is listed at about $4.5 million. Voting will take place in the school gym from 2 to 8 p.m. Kelly White, a school board member, is running unopposed for a second five-year term.

    Board members learned Tuesday that in 1972 the Montauk School added four portable classrooms, which are now used as three classrooms and a storage area, on the east side of the building. They were supposed to last for 10 years but are still being used. When the cost of repairs came up, however, the board began considering ditching them and adding a permanent structure.

    “That was a superintendent’s dream,” Mr. Perna said after the meeting. He explained that new portables could be rented for three years before they are permanently attached. After the three years, any add-on structures would have to go before the public in a referendum.

    “It would make more sense,” Diane Hausman, the school board president, said, referring to purchasing new ones instead of paying the increasing cost of maintaining the old ones.

    “Get rid of them and expand the building,” Lisa Ward, a board member, said. “I prefer an add-on or something that becomes a part of the gym.”

    They decided to study it further and handed the research project over to Ms. Ward and Therese Watson, another board member, both of whom are on the building and grounds committee.

    Also at the meeting, Ms. Hausman read a letter from Lawrence Cooke, the chairman of the Montauk Indian Museum committee, asking the board for its support for a plan to improve an existing structure on the grounds of Second House Museum to house the Indian Museum. He wrote in the letter that the committee recently received site plan approval from East Hampton Town.

    “It will probably be something very beneficial and something the kids will use,” Ms. Hausman said. “I don’t see why we wouldn’t want it.” The board fully supported the project.

    “I’m disappointed in this budget,” Stuyvesant Wainwright IV, a parent, said during the public hearing portion of Monday night’s Springs School budget meeting. “I feel like you sold out the school.” He spoke of the community forum on Feb. 11, when, he claimed, “70 percent of the community said to get rid of prekindergarten.”

    Mr. Wainwright said he believed the board has “favored kindergarten through fifth grade at the expense of the middle school.” Because of budget constraints, the board has eliminated several teaching positions, restructured the sixth grade, and cut interscholastic middle school sports in conjunction with the East Hampton schools. It has also discontinued funding for the after-school program Project MOST.

    “I don’t feel this budget reflects the wishes of the community,” Deb Foster, a former school board member and vocal attendee of its meetings, said. “This is where you guys are not serving the taxpayers or the students.”

    Mary McPartland echoed those thoughts: “We rescued the elementary school,” she said. “We did not rescue the middle school.” She acknowledged that she has “very little skin left in the game,” as her son is a seventh grader, but she spoke passionately, as did Janice Varizi, another parent, about the importance of the sports programs that are being cut.

    “It’s not only about Springs,” Ms. McPartland said. “The high school teams draw heavily from this district. How will it affect them?”

    Ms. McPartland and Ms. Varizi said they are looking into starting a booster club, a common occurrence in other districts nationwide. Booster clubs are individual nonprofit organizations that can hold benefits to raise money for particular programs and then funnel that money to the school.

    Also on Monday, John Foster, the school’s health teacher, gave a presentation on sex education, which is currently touched upon lightly in fifth grade with a film — one for boys and one for girls — and then not discussed again until eighth grade. Mr. Foster’s plan spreads out sex ed throughout the middle school, with individual topics of contraception, sexually transmitted diseases, hygiene, and sexual orientation, among others.

    “A parent will have the right to allow their child to not attend,” he said.

    “There needs to be a dialogue,” said Kathee Burke Gonzalez, the school board president. “You gave a tremendous presentation, but when you talk about teaching contraception in sixth grade, I go, ‘Whoa!’ It sounds, to me, like going a little too far.”

    Ms. Gonzalez asked the crowd to “have patience” on Tuesday during the budget and board vote, since the district is reverting this year to paper ballots.

    She also said there was a “tremendous turnout” for the meet-the-candidates night for potential superintendents on April 26. Also, 235 people applied for the job of assistant principal, a new position at the school. The field has been narrowed to eight candidates who will be interviewed by the board.

    Ms. Gonzalez said she anticipates that the names of the new district superintendent and assistant principal will be announced at the June 11 school board meeting.

Ross Spring Musical

    Known as the Broadway musical that allowed Sid Caesar to portray a multitude of roles, “Little Me” is coming to Ross School this weekend. The Neil Simon comedy, which takes place partly in Southampton, will be presented at the school’s Center for Well-Being at 18 Goodfriend Drive in East Hampton.

     “I like how this musical touches on class issues, and it’s very funny,” said Gerard Doyle, the director. “It has a local connection, and it’s sophisticated in that the comedy has to be played very well in order for it to work.”  

    The first performance is tonight at 7, with two more shows tomorrow and Saturday also at 7 p.m. Tickets are available at the door — $20 for adults and $10 for students and senior citizens.

Flowers, Fitness, and More

    The Amagansett Library is hosting three programs for children and their families this weekend, starting with Shake, Rattle, and Roll tomorrow at 10 a.m., for parents and caregivers with toddlers up to 3 years old. During interactive play, there will also be a parent educator from the Cornell Cooperative Extension on hand to answer questions about child development.

    Tomorrow at 4 p.m., kids 5 and up and their families can indulge in nostalgic street games like hopscotch, red light-green light, hula-hooping, and mini basketball.

    And on Saturday at 3 p.m., attendees will celebrate this time of year with stories and crafts that honor the May flowers, which come after April showers, or in this year’s case, during the May showers.

In East Hampton

    Over at the East Hampton Library, there is plenty for kids to do throughout the week. On Saturday at 11 a.m., kids of all ages can pull in to the Creation Station to make projects of their own design using supplies from the library’s craft closet. Sunday story times for kids 3 and older are held 1:30 p.m. and there’s a “twinkle, twinkle, little toes” story time for toddlers on Mondays at 11:30 a.m.

    Most Tuesdays bring a “nursery rhyme time” at 10:30 a.m., and a parent and toddler workshop is offered on Wednesdays at 10 a.m. Finally, young ones can grab their teddy bears and head to the library for pajama story time on Wednesday evenings at 6.

Japanese Spring Fest

    The Hampton Library in Bridgehampton will celebrate the cultural traditions of Japan during a Japanese Spring Festival for families on Tuesday from 5 to 6:40 p.m. There will be Japanese stories and samples of the country’s cuisine, and people can also try their hands at writing a haiku or making a paper crane for good luck.

    In addition to regularly scheduled story and play times, this week at the library T will host a Sunday afternoon tea and story time for kids 4 and older from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m., and on Tuesday children 10 and older can play good old-fashioned board games from 3:30 and 4:30 p.m.

    There was tension apparent at polling places on the East End yesterday, and likely around the state as well, as voters were given the chance to approve or reject the first school budgets required to come under the newly imposed 2-percent property tax cap.

    Amagansett was the only school locally that chose to pierce the cap, due primarily to increased enrollment, which brought the budget in at a 5.21-percent increase over last year’s, or around $323,000. A 60-percent voter “supermajority” was necessary for it to pass. Voters approved the $9.66 million budget by over 70 percent, 252 to 98.

    “We are really very appreciative that the community has supported our programs, and that we can continue providing these excellent standards for our children,” Eleanor Tritt, the school superintendent, said yesterday. Also in Amagansett, Mary Lownes, the incumbent, retained her seat against the challenger, Rona Klopman, by a vote of 252-81.

    In spite of a last-minute e-mail blast by a local woman imploring residents to vote no, Springs approved the district budget, 434 to 139.

    Dawn Flagg said in a letter sent to the school board, the East Hampton Town Board, and a contingent of Springs residents on Tuesday afternoon, that Springs has the most expensive school taxes in the East End. “Vote it down, vote it down, vote it down, down, down,” she wrote.

    The $24.63 million budget reflected over $700,000 worth of cuts imposed by the school board to stay under the tax cap, including the elimination of six teaching positions, and showed a tax rate increase of 3.19 percent, due almost entirely to approximately $1 million lost in non-tax revenue. John B. Grant, the vice president of the school board, retained his seat against the challenger,  Dennis Donatuti, 381 to 153.

    East Hampton, which cut $2.85 million from its proposed budget to come in under the tax cap, presented a $62.84 million budget, a 2.43-percent decrease from this year’s budget of $64.4 million. Voters approved it 454 to 109, and the mood at East Hampton High School was one of excitement and relief as the numbers came in. Richard Burns, the new superintendent, beamed and shook hands with school board members, all of whom stayed after a board meeting to hear the results and adopt the budget resolution.

    Liz Pucci ran unopposed to retain her seat on the East Hampton School Board and received 503 votes. With 484 votes, Christina DeSanti was elected to a new three-year term to take the place of Laura Anker Grossman, the school board president, who is stepping down after 20 years.

    Montauk saw Kelly White, who ran unopposed, retain her seat, and the $18.5 million budget pass by a vote of 214-68.

    In Wainscott, the budget of $3.5 million passed 40-2. David Eagan retained his seat, unopposed, on the board with 27 votes, and Kelly Anderson, a new board member, was elected with 32 votes to fill the seat vacated by Iris Osborn.

    Sagaponack embraced its $1.68 million budget, 25-1, and ratified its existing tuition contracts with the East Hampton and Sag Harbor districts, 26-0. Joseph Louchheim was reelected to a three-year term with 23 votes and three abstentions.

    In Sag Harbor, the proposed budget of $34.1 million, which represented a 2.88-percent increase over last year’s, passed 892-420. Walter Wilcoxen and Gregg Schiavoni were reelected to the board by 795 and 1,039 votes respectively, while Tom Gleeson, the challenger,  received 576 votes, not enough for election.

    Bridgehampton saw all three incumbents — Lillian Tyree Johnson, Ronald White, and Douglas DeGroot — retain their seats against Gabriella Bria, the challenger. The budget of $10.7 million was approved, 109-54.

    On the South Fork, only Tuckahoe, which proposed an over-9.5-percent increase in the tax rate, did not pass muster. The $17.8 million school budget, which did not pierce the cap, was voted down 275-228. The budget will go before voters again in June, and if rejected a second time, the district will be forced to adopt a contingency budget instead.

National Puppet Day

    Puppets get a hand, so to speak, on Saturday, the National Day of Puppetry, and nowhere on the South Fork will they party harder than at the Goat on a Boat Puppet Theatre in Sag Harbor.

    An 11 a.m. show by Nappy’s Puppets will be followed by a parade at noon (audience members have been invited to costume up), a puppet-making workshop, and hot dogs on the upper lawn.

    Goat on a Boat will be taking a break following Saturday’s activities, and reopen on May 7.

    The theater is at 4 Hampton Street, with an entrance to the rear of Christ Episcopal Church.

Winning Logo

    The Southampton Advocates for the Village Environment (S.A.V.E.) have selected a winner from hundreds of entries submitted by Southampton Village students to use on reusable grocery bags. The winner, and finalists, will be awarded prizes by Mayor Mark Epley on April 21.

    Students were asked to design a logo that included the slogan, “B.Y.O. Bag” and “Southampton Village” somewhere in the design. Ten semi-finalists were selected from each of five schools, which were narrowed to six finalists, and then one winner.

    The contest follows Southampton Village’s ban in 2011 on plastic grocery bags.  The artwork from the competition will be on display at the Southampton Cultural Center beginning on Wednesday. The award ceremony, on April 21, will be at the center at 11 a.m.

Board Game Bonanza

    For teens looking for something to do tonight, the East Hampton Library is hosting an evening of board games. Pizza and games will be provided, or attendees can take their own favorite games. The event begins at 5 p.m. Registration is requested.

Bataan and Baldwin

    East Hampton High School will screen a World War II documentary, “Tragedy of Bataan,” on Tuesday in the school library.

    Following the half-hour film, which is narrated by Alec Baldwin, Patti Birks, a Westhampton resident whose father, William Rogers Birks, survived the Bataan death march and three-and-a-half years in a Japanese prison camp, will speak.

    The screening will begin at 6:30 p.m., and is open to students and parents.

    Monday is the final day for those who are interested in filing their petitions to run for school board seats that are up for grabs in all districts.

    Liz Pucci, who filled in on the East Hampton School Board when Stephen Talmage, a long-time member, stepped down, has announced that she will run to retain her seat. At press time it was unclear whether Laura Anker Grossman, the current school board president, whose term is also up this year, will run again. Both of the seats are for three-year terms.

    In Amagansett, Mary Lownes’s term is over at the end of the school year. In Springs the seat held by John B. Grant, the board’s vice president, is also available. Kelly White’s seat, a five-year term, will be voted on in Montauk. And in Wainscott, the seat vacated by Iris Osborn last month will be filled with someone to see out the rest of the two-year term. David Eagan’s three-year seat on the board is also up for election. In Bridgehampton, there are three three-year terms up for election this year.

    Nominating petitions are available in district offices and must be returned by the end of the day on Monday.

    The elections will be held in conjunction with the school budget votes on May 15.

    The Ross School has named a new head of school to replace the departing Michele Claeys, who leaves at the end of the school year for a new job as associate head of the Norwood School in Bethesda, Md.

    Dr. Gregg W.M. Maloberti will step in as interim head of school, with a term beginning on July 1 and lasting for two years.

    Dr. Maloberti’s appointment by the Ross Institute Board of Trustees and the Ross School Board of Overseers is the result of a search performed in conjunction with a search committee comprised of faculty, staff, parents, and administrators.

    Currently Dr. Maloberti has been employed at The Lawrenceville School in New Jersey for over a dozen years, where he is the dean of admission and financial aid. He will work closely with Ms. Claeys this spring to assure a smooth transition.

    “We are very pleased that Dr. Maloberti has accepted our offer to join the Ross community as interim head of school,” said Ross’s founder, Courtney Sale Ross, in a release. “His specific areas of expertise — organizational leadership, student recruitment and retention, development, and deep experience with the international community — will insure that Ross continues to be a leader in global education and develops in its next decade as a financially sustainable and highly competitive independent day and boarding school.”

Family Festival

    The Parrish Art Museum will host a Spring Family Festival on Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m., featuring a stage show by Slapdash Comedy.

    The performance, which stars Ray and Erin Grins, who have appeared on the David Letterman show, will begin at 1 p.m. It will include fast-paced balancing and juggling, music, and plenty of audience participation. After the show, the Parrish will continue the festivities with face painting, spring art activities, caricature portraits, stilt walking, and refreshments.

    The event is free and no advance registration is required.

Springs Celebration of the Arts

    On Tuesday, the Springs School kicks off its fifth annual Celebration of the Arts at Ashawagh Hall. The show, which runs through next Thursday, features the artwork of all grades at the Springs School and includes video selections from this year’s fourth-grade opera and the student film festival.

    The show will also spotlight the visiting artist program and the studio in art class, two new programs that the school put into effect this past year.

    The opening reception will be held at 5 p.m. on Tuesday. The show can be seen on Wednesday and next Thursday from 9:30 a.m. until 4 p.m.

Stages Does “Seussical”

    “The Cat in the Hat,” Horton and the Whos, and others will come to life this weekend when Stages, a Children’s Theatre Workshop, brings “Seussical the Musical” to the Bay Street Theatre stage.

    The cast of young actors will be directed by Helene Leonard, with musical accompaniment provided by Amanda Jones and James Benard, sets by Goran Petmil, and costumes designed by Barbara Oldak.

    Performances will run tomorrow at 7:30 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are $15, and can be purchased by calling the Bay Street box office.

For Young Musicians

    Any pint-sized prodigies who are members of the New York State School Music Association have been invited to the stage at Southampton Cultural Center’s Levitas Center for the Arts on Sunday.

    Students have been invited to perform their NYSSMA piece for friends and family at 4 p.m. Refreshments will be served.

    Piano accompaniment will be available, and preregistration is required. Those who have a tune to play have been asked to contact the Southampton Cultural Center to book a spot.

Family Fun Day

    The Children’s Museum of the East End will be the site for a Peconic Family Fun Day on Saturday.

    A free event for families with children from five to 10, the day will feature live music from the Bridgehampton School marimba band, with educational games and workshops, like bird-box building, fish prints, seed planting, guided hikes, and more.

    Attendees will also learn about the local water table, sustainability, and the importance of environmental stewardship.

    Free admission to CMEE is included in the event, which runs from 10 a.m. to noon. The museum is located in Bridgehampton on the Bridgehampton Sag Turnpike.

    Across the street at the South Fork Natural History Museum, there will be Peconic Family Fun Day Adventures at 10:30 and 11:15 a.m. for all ages.

At the Library

    With Mother’s Day around the corner, stories about mothers and a chance to make a special craft will be the highlight of today’s activity at the East Hampton Library.

    For children ages 4 to 6, the Mother’s Day story time and craft will be held at 4 p.m. for one hour. Sign-up is required in advance.

Cinco Celebrations

    Cinco de Mayo, or the Fifth of May, is sometimes called Mexican Independence Day, but it isn’t. It is celebrated in Mexico as the day that the Mexican Army, against all odds, overcame and defeated the French in 1862. Mexican Independence Day is on Sept. 16.

    However, it is a great opportunity to honor the United States’s neighbors to the south, and the local libraries are doing just that.

    The East Hampton Library will give kids ages 4 and up the chance on Saturday to design a sombrero and learn the Mexican hat dance, perfected in this country by Bugs Bunny in the mid 1950s. Stories about Cinco de Mayo will be read. Advance registration is required. The event will be held at 10:30 a.m.

    The Hampton Library in Bridgehampton will host a two-hour party starting at 2 p.m., featuring a pinata, crafts, food, readings, and a cultural performance by the Tenochtitlan Dance Group on the back deck.

    At the Amagansett Library at 3 p.m. there will be a fiesta featuring stories and craft time with Mexican themes.

    The school board elections this year, as seats in local districts become available, are not expected to be the game of musical chairs that they have been in years past. Several board seats will be uncontested, including one on the East Hampton Board of Education, where Laura Anker Grossman, a 20 year board veteran, is stepping down.

    Dr. Grossman describes her increasingly demanding schedule as a professor and administrator at the State University at Old Westbury as one reason she is not running again. “It’s a painful decision,” she said yesterday. “And I’m not saying to myself that this is the end. I want to stay involved.” She added that she has enormous confidence in the “new blood” on the East Hampton board, which now is entirely composed of members with no more than two years’ tenure.

    Dr. Grossman said board members work well together and are committed, as a whole, to striving to attain excellence for the district. “We’re in good hands,” she said.

    There are only two candidates for the two open seats this year. Liz Pucci, who was elected to the board when Stephen Talmage resigned after last year’s annual meeting, submitted a candidacy packet and will retain her seat. Christina DeSanti has also applied, and is unchallenged.

    “I have two children in the district,” Ms. DeSanti said on Monday. Ms. DeSanti runs Dreesen’s Catering in East Hampton with her husband, Rudy, and holds a bachelor’s of science degree in business management. “And I’ve always been very active in the PTAs. I’m on the John Marshall site base committee and am very involved in the schools at the building level.”

    But, she said, the larger issues affecting the district, like the 2-percent tax levy cap — made her want to step up to the plate. “I give the current board a lot of credit. They have successfully tackled a lot of important issues this year.”

    “As a parent and taxpayer, I want to ensure that we maintain a strong curriculum in spite of budget constraints and put forth a responsible budget that meets the needs of our children and community,” she said.

    In Springs, John B. Grant will run to retain his place on the board and Dennis Donatuti, a former principal of the John M. Marshall Elementary School, is running against him. Mr. Donatuti is a frequent and vocal attendee of Springs School Board meetings.

    Mary Lownes of Amagansett is vying to keep the seat she has held for 10 years, with Rona Klopman, former chairwoman of the Amagansett Citizens Advisory Committee, running to unseat her.

    The Montauk School District has only one seat expiring this year, since the terms on the board are for five years. Kelly White will retain her seat since she is running without opposition.

    In Wainscott, David Eagan is running to retain his seat, and Kelly Anderson, a school parent, is running for the seat that was vacated when Iris Osborn was forced to resign in March.

    Voters will be able to decide on the new candidates when the elections roll around May 15, the same day as the school budget vote.

    A group of parents of next year’s preschoolers attended the Montauk School Board meeting on Tuesday to question board members about the program, which is expected to be reduced to half-day sessions.

    “Is this written in stone?” Nicole Meehan, one of the parents, asked. “Is it official yet?”

    In September, enrollment is expected to exceed the school’s policy of 18 students per prekindergarten class. To stay within the state’s 2-percent cap on tax levy increases, the school won’t able to pay for a third class. Moreover, there is no space for one. There are at present 41 students in the two pre-K programs, which run from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Aides are pulled from elsewhere in the school to accommodate the class size. Parents are responsible for the transportation of students.

    If the change is made — and Jack Perna, the district superintendent, said it most likely would be — the classes will be split into morning and afternoon sessions, with the morning one meeting from 8:30 to 11, and the afternoon one from noon to 2:30.

    Parents voiced concerns about the quality of the academic program in the proposed two-and-a-half-hour sessions. Board members pointed out that, since lunch and recess would be eliminated, the academics would continue as is, with both classes following the same program.

    The parents also worried about the students’ transition the following year to full-day kindergarten. They wondered if the children would still be able to participate in the school’s swim program at Gurney’s Inn, which runs twice a week for five weeks each spring. They were assured that the swim program would go on for both classes.

    Some who work full time outside Montauk wondered how they would be able to pick up or drop off their children in the middle of the day.

    “This is not a shot in the dark — if it’s a school day, I’m working,” said Jessica Vickers, a parent and former student of the Montauk School. “We’re all in a pickle. There’s only so much you can ask Grandma to do.”

    Another parent asked if the projected fee of about $170,000 to run a third class could be paid through fund-raisers. Board members said that would be too complicated, what with payroll, transportation, and benefits involved, and is probably not allowed under state education rules.

    Mr. Perna explained that last year the board had to cut other programs to stay within the budget. He called them extremities. “Preschool is still an extremity,” he said.

    As he spoke, the superintendent stood up to address the crowd. He said school policy allows only 18 students per preschool class, while the higher grades are not limited in that way. Furthermore, by accepting $30,000 from the state’s Universal Pre-Kindergarten Program, the school must abide by the state’s mandate of 18 students per class with one aide. If enrollment were to exceed that number, the school would be required to provide another teacher and two aides.

    The proposed budget of $18.5 million, which was approved by the board at the meeting, would not be able to cover the cost of extra aides required for a larger prekindergarten class, which next year is projected to have 44 students, a number that could increase within days, Mr. Perna said.

    After the meeting, the superintendent said the only other option he can imagine is not ideal. That would be to run the one prekindergarten class under the Universal Pre-Kindergarten Program and with only 18 students and pay for the other through the school budget, which would allow for up to 47 students in the one class.

    “We can do whatever we want because we’d be paying for it. But is that safe?” he asked, adding that as it stands, with 41 students split into two classes, the rooms are already somewhat crowded. He also said there are parents who are saying they are happy with the half-day sessions.

    Yesterday the board issued a statement: “The Montauk School Board will try to maintain a class size of 18 students in each grade with a maximum of 24 students per class. The primary grades will be given preference regarding staffing and space available. In the event that is not available, the board will make the necessary changes in staff so the teaching process is not adversely affected by class size. A consolidation of class size will be determined by April 1 so that the teachers concerned will be advised prior to the school year.”

    After an executive session, the board unanimously passed a resolution that approves a partial reorganization of teaching staff and programs for the 2012-13 school year, directing the superintendent to take the necessary and appropriate actions to make it happen.

    Mr. Perna told the parents that he is open to any solutions and invited them to visit his office anytime to discuss other options. “We don’t have the funding or the space anymore. I have to look at all of it.”

    “I’ll probably come up with something by 9 o’clock tonight,” he joked.