Educators and parents rejoiced on Tuesday night, as every school budget from Montauk to Sagaponack passed. Although the results were yea in every case, some votes were closer than others.

    Despite a budget that was initially questioned at school board meetings by board members and the public alike, the East Hampton Union Free School district budget passed on Tuesday, with voters favoring the $64.4 million spending plan 540 to 271. The budget, according to Raymond Gualtieri, the district superintendent, was about $585,000 less than the New York State recommended contingency budget. The 2011-12 plan calls for a 5.89-percent tax increase, or an additional $2.56 per $100 of assessed value over this year’s levy.

    Jacqueline Lowey, an elementary school parent who is a consultant to governments, corporations, and nonprofits, and Patricia Hope, who spent 33 years as a biology teacher at the high school, won seats on the school board with votes of 490 and 464, respectively. The runners-up were Liz Pucci with 351 votes, Paul Fiondella, 257, and Marie Elena Klarman, 88.

    Ms. Lowey and Ms. Hope will fill the seats that are being vacated by James Amaden, the school board president, and John Ryan Sr., a longtime board member.

    In Springs, where there had been intense opposition to the proposed $24.85 million budget — which reflects an increase of nearly $1.5 million over this year’s spending — the vote was much closer than East Hampton’s, 562 to 436, a difference of 126 votes.

    According to the Springs School District’s clerk, Fran Silipo, the voter turnout in Springs was the highest in years. Almost 1,000 voters — 998, to be exact — braved stormy weather on Tuesday. Past elections have brought half that amount, “about 400 to 600,” she said.

    Two propositions in Springs also passed. The new high school tuition agreement with East Hampton, which will have East Hampton pay back almost $3.2 million to Springs over the next four years, passed 793 to 186. A proposition to start a capital reserve fund for building needs also went through, 704 to 246.

    The board seats in Springs will be taken by Liz Mendelman, who has been the Springs PTA president, with 503 votes, and Tim Frazier, a principal at the Southampton Intermediate School, with 442. Arthur Goldman, a social studies teacher at the high school, was a close third with 416 votes, followed by Phyllis Mallah, a retired educator from Yonkers, with 281. Christopher Kelley, the board’s president, and Thomas Talmage, a board member, will be stepping down at the end of June.

    In Amagansett, the $9.2 million budget, an increase of 5.81 percent over last year’s spending, passed 135 to 52, and the Amagansett Free Library budget proposition passed 143 to 46. Patrick R. Bistrian was re-elected to the board with 144 votes, and Phelan Wolf, a newcomer to the race, edged out Vincent Vigorita, the incumbent and the board’s president, by just seven votes, 101 to 94.

    Montauk voters approved next year’s $18.1 million budget with 205 people voting yes and 139 voting against it. Patti Leber, who was running unchallenged to keep her seat on the board, got 283 votes for her third five-year term.

    Educators and parents rejoiced on Tuesday night, as every school budget from Montauk to Sagaponack passed. Although the results were yea in every case, some votes were closer than others.

    Despite a budget that was initially questioned at school board meetings by board members and the public alike, the East Hampton Union Free School district budget passed on Tuesday, with voters favoring the $64.4 million spending plan 540 to 271. The budget, according to Raymond Gualtieri, the district superintendent, was about $585,000 less than the New York State recommended contingency budget. The 2011-12 plan calls for a 5.89-percent tax increase, or an additional $2.56 per $100 of assessed value over this year’s levy.

    Jacqueline Lowey, an elementary school parent who is a consultant to governments, corporations, and nonprofits, and Patricia Hope, who spent 33 years as a biology teacher at the high school, won seats on the school board with votes of 490 and 464, respectively. The runners-up were Liz Pucci with 351 votes, Paul Fiondella, 257, and Marie Elena Klarman, 88.

    Ms. Lowey and Ms. Hope will fill the seats that are being vacated by James Amaden, the school board president, and John Ryan Sr., a longtime board member.

    In Springs, where there had been intense opposition to the proposed $24.85 million budget — which reflects an increase of nearly $1.5 million over this year’s spending — the vote was much closer than East Hampton’s, 562 to 436, a difference of 126 votes.

    According to the Springs School District’s clerk, Fran Silipo, the voter turnout in Springs was the highest in years. Almost 1,000 voters — 998, to be exact — braved stormy weather on Tuesday. Past elections have brought half that amount, “about 400 to 600,” she said.

    Two propositions in Springs also passed. The new high school tuition agreement with East Hampton, which will have East Hampton pay back almost $3.2 million to Springs over the next four years, passed 793 to 186. A proposition to start a capital reserve fund for building needs also went through, 704 to 246.

    The board seats in Springs will be taken by Liz Mendelman, who has been the Springs PTA president, with 503 votes, and Tim Frazier, a principal at the Southampton Intermediate School, with 442. Arthur Goldman, a social studies teacher at the high school, was a close third with 416 votes, followed by Phyllis Mallah, a retired educator from Yonkers, with 281. Christopher Kelley, the board’s president, and Thomas Talmage, a board member, will be stepping down at the end of June.

    In Amagansett, the $9.2 million budget, an increase of 5.81 percent over last year’s spending, passed 135 to 52, and the Amagansett Free Library budget proposition passed 143 to 46. Patrick R. Bistrian was re-elected to the board with 144 votes, and Phelan Wolf, a newcomer to the race, edged out Vincent Vigorita, the incumbent and the board’s president, by just seven votes, 101 to 94.

    Montauk voters approved next year’s $18.1 million budget with 205 people voting yes and 139 voting against it. Patti Leber, who was running unchallenged to keep her seat on the board, got 283 votes for her third five-year term.

    Heading to points west, Sagaponack School’s $1.64 million budget passed, bringing with it a tax increase of 2.6 percent, or $3.90 per $100 of assessed value. Fred Wilford, an incumbent board member, ran unopposed, but there were also 16 write-in votes for Patrick Guarino, a Sagaponack Village board member.

    In Wainscott, the $3.58 million budget was approved 38 to 6. Iris Osborn was running unopposed for her school board seat and retained it with 32 votes. There was one write-in vote for Kelly Anderson, a school parent.

    The Bridgehampton School budget of $10.6 million, a 5.63-percent increase over last year’s spending plan, passed 136 to 55 with almost identical numbers for the proposition, which annually provides funding to the Bridgehampton Child Care and Recreational Center. Elizabeth Whelan Kotz and Nicki Hemby, a board member and the school board president respectively, were re-elected after running unopposed, although Joe Conti and Joe Berthaler received five write-in votes apiece.

    In Sag Harbor, the $33.2 million spending plan passed, 917 to 698. A proposition to initiate a capital reserve fund passed 917 to 557. In the board race to fill Sag Harbor’s three board seats, Mary Anne Miller and Theresa Samot, the two incumbents, were re-elected with 1,065 and 1,053 votes, and Sandi Kruel, a former board member, was voted back onto the board with 886 votes. Annette Bierfriend, who was also running, received 801 votes.­

    Heading to points west, Sagaponack School’s $1.64 million budget passed, bringing with it a tax increase of 2.6 percent, or $3.90 per $100 of assessed value. Fred Wilford, an incumbent board member, ran unopposed, but there were also 16 write-in votes for Patrick Guarino, a Sagaponack Village board member.

    In Wainscott, the $3.58 million budget was approved 38 to 6. Iris Osborn was running unopposed for her school board seat and retained it with 32 votes. There was one write-in vote for Kelly Anderson, a school parent.

    The Bridgehampton School budget of $10.6 million, a 5.63-percent increase over last year’s spending plan, passed 136 to 55 with almost identical numbers for the proposition, which annually provides funding to the Bridgehampton Child Care and Recreational Center. Elizabeth Whelan Kotz and Nicki Hemby, a board member and the school board president respectively, were re-elected after running unopposed, although Joe Conti and Joe Berthaler received five write-in votes apiece.

    In Sag Harbor, the $33.2 million spending plan passed, 917 to 698. A proposition to initiate a capital reserve fund passed 917 to 557. In the board race to fill Sag Harbor’s three board seats, Mary Anne Miller and Theresa Samot, the two incumbents, were re-elected with 1,065 and 1,053 votes, and Sandi Kruel, a former board member, was voted back onto the board with 886 votes. Annette Bierfriend, who was also running, received 801 votes.­

Garden Fund-Raiser

    The East Hampton High School’s sustainable garden and greenhouse project will have a plant sale on Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The project’s first fund-raiser, it will be held on the high school grounds on Long Lane.

    Proceeds will go toward building raised garden beds.

Baseball Clinic

    On Saturday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., the Ross School will hold an open house for its summer camp in the Center for Well-Being on Goodfriend Drive in East Hampton. Kids who attend can participate in a free baseball clinic at noon with Scott June, who has coached the Sag Harbor Whalers collegiate baseball team since 2009, and Edward McCarthy, the director of the Hamptons Baseball Camp.

    All ages have been invited to attend. More information can be had by calling 907-5555.

    On Sunday, the East End Arts Council will present its Teeny Awards, modeled on the Tony Awards, which will be held a week later. The coveted Teenys recognize excellence by high school performers in local theater productions.

    The student-studded event will begin at Westhampton Beach High School with a red carpet walk at 1:30 p.m., followed by the awards ceremony at 3.

    The mission of the Teeny Awards is to, among other things, encourage theater students to pursue their dreams and to stimulate local interest while developing an understanding of the value of theater education in a well-rounded school curriculum.

    “The Teeny Awards is the perfect opportunity to recognize our talented high school students on Long Island,” Patricia Snyder, the E.E.A.C.’s executive director, said. “We’re thrilled to sponsor this event and look forward to meeting the Island’s finest talent year after year.”

    Judges with extensive theater experience attend high school productions across the East End and select nominees in approximately 20 categories, including best lead and supporting roles in comedy, musical, and drama, as well as best student-produced set design, choreography, and lighting. Those who participated in the Bay Street Theatre’s Young Playwrights Festival are also recognized.

    Students from the Ross School and East Hampton and Pierson High Schools have been nominated, as have theatrically inclined teenagers from points west. A full list of the nominees, along with other information, can be found on the East End Arts Council Web site, eastendarts.org.

    Tickets cost $20 for adults, $15 for students, and can be purchased online at the Web site or at the door.  

    The reworking of an unfunded state mandate on school busing may mean a break for East Hampton taxpayers at the end of the next budget year.

    During his budget presentation at the May 3 school board meeting, Raymond Gualtieri, the district superintendent, touched on unfunded New York State school mandates — requirements made by the state above and beyond federal mandates that are also not accompanied by any monetary support.

    The subject came up when Dr. Gualtieri presented a recommendation on cooperative bids for the purchase of various school supplies.

    “New York is one of only two or three states that can only bid within the state,” said Dr. Gualtieri. “This is an unfunded mandate. We want to be able to do cooperative bidding with other states” to bring down the costs of supplies, he said.

    While on the subject of unfunded mandates, Dr. Gualtieri commented on the mandate that a bus seat must be provided for every student, regardless of whether that child actually rides the bus or not, causing long bus routes, unnecessary stops, and higher expenses for the district and the taxpayer.

    “In reality, that’s a stupid rule,” he said. “If changed, that could save the district another 7 percent.”

    As of Monday, the New York State School Boards Association released the news that the mandate has been clarified so that now districts will be able to base the numbers of buses and drivers needed on ridership rather than numbers of students.

    “I guess we whined enough,” said Dr. Gualtieri, referring to himself and other school superintendents who have been in favor of fewer empty bus seats since last year.

    What does this mean to East Hampton? Shorter, more streamlined bus routes for students, and a possible giveback to taxpayers at the end of the next school year.

    Amagansett School’s superintendent, Eleanor Tritt, is dealing with a different unfunded mandate in that district. A new state requirement for a software system to link teachers and students is on the docket. Mrs. Tritt approves of it in theory, but admitted that the realization of such an overhaul would be “expensive and time-consuming,” since the state neither offers money with the mandate nor makes any recommendation on software.

    “In effect,” said John Hossenlopp, the school board president, “we’re required to do something that doesn’t yet exist.” Board members also said that once the software is available, the price would be dear, as vendors would be aware that their products were a school requirement.    B.L.

Springs World’s Fair

    A World’s Fair in the Springs School gymnasium tomorrow evening will feature everything from Irish step dancing to a chance to make your own Chinese dragon.

    This year’s thematic pavilions will feature food and activities from Australia, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, England, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Kenya, Mexico, Poland, Puerto Rico, Scotland, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, and, of course, the United States.

    The event is free and open to the public in exchange for a nonperishable item to be donated to the food pantry. It will be held from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

The MOST-est Fun

    Hamburgers, hot dogs, and live music are on the menu during a family barbecue on Saturday from 4 to 9 p.m. at Rick’s Crabby Cowboy Cafe in Montauk. The event will raise money for the Project MOST after-school program. The Tumblebus will be available for younger children from 4 to 6 p.m., and tunes will be provided by Mama Lee Rose and Friends and Inda Eaton. Tickets are $10 apiece or $20 for a family. A cash bar will also be available.

    A summer program run by Project MOST and the Springs Seedlings Project has been recognized by the Levitt Foundation with a grant of $51,000.

    The program focuses on growing and harvesting food from the Springs Seedlings greenhouse. Children who participate also get an opportunity to enjoy the pickings each week in a lunch prepared by a chef. This summer’s program will be held at the Springs School. More information can be had by calling 766-3836.

    When finished voting for school budgets and candidates, or before, people have been invited to don their garden clothes and help out Project MOST on garden day at Springs School.

    On Tuesday at 4 p.m., Project MOST is asking green thumbs to meet at the Springs School greenhouse for aid in top dressing compost, adding mulch, removing weeds, and performing other garden functions. Those who volunteer are asked to bring wheelbarrows, tarps, shovels, and rakes, if they can.

Springs Students Art Show

    Original art work by Springs students kindergarten through eighth grade will be showcased for the fourth year in a show at Ashawagh Hall.

    The works will be on view beginning Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., followed by an opening reception that evening from 5 to 7 p.m.

    The show will also be open next Thursday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

    School budgets will be decided, yea or nay, on Tuesday throughout the state. And on the South Fork, as with other places, ongoing economic insecurities coupled with mandated benefits and other increases have caused concern and consternation across districts.

    In East Hampton voters will consider a proposed district budget of $64.4 million, which, according to Superintendent Raymond Gualtieri, is $585,346 less than the state-recommended contingency (or austerity) budget. The budget translates to an estimated tax increase of 5.89 percent (due mostly to mandated items like retirement funds and personnel costs, along with a debt service of $5.6 million) or $2.56 per $100 of assessed value.

    Although the 2011-12 budget, compared to last year, shows a decrease of .56 percent, the budget has still almost doubled in a decade, causing fractious board meetings and continual concern among board members and the public alike over ways to bring costs down in future years. A group, Residents and Taxpayers for Representation, has recently formed, and will hold its second meeting on Monday at Ashawagh Hall, the day before the budget and candidate vote.

    In East Hampton, the voting will be in the high school auditorium from 1 to 8 p.m.

Springs

    Springs has had ups and downs during this year’s budget preparation season, which ended on an up note due to the new tuition agreement with the East Hampton district. That contract, which will be in the form of a proposition on the ballot, offers a new agreement to educate Springs high schoolers with savings to be realized by Springs of about $3.2 million during the next four years.

    The 2011-12 budget is $24.85 million, an increase of $1.4 million over this year’s budget. This translates into a 5.8-percent tax rate increase, or an additional $4.73 per $100 of assessed value. Owners of a house assessed at $600,000, for example, would pay an additional $289 in school taxes next year.

    Although the budget picture for Springs looks better than it did when the board first began going over the numbers, there seems to be mounting opposition to the budget, with at least one group, the Springs Homeowners Alliance, working to bring out the no votes on Tuesday.

    If the budget is not approved on Tuesday, the board has an opportunity to bring a revised budget to voters, and if that, too, were voted down, the school board would need to find an additional $800,000 in cost savings to operate on a contingency budget, which would bring a tax increase of about $211 to a homeowner whose house is assessed at $600,000.

    The vote will be held in the school library from 1 to 9 p.m.

Montauk

    Voters in the Montauk School District will decide on an $18.1 million budget for 2011-12. The proposed budget is up $161,800 over this year’s, a 1.9-percent spending increase, which would carry a 2.55-percent increase in taxes.

    When the budget was initially discussed in early March, the district was looking at a potential $18.4 million spending plan, but the revised tuition agreement with East Hampton helped Montauk, as well.

    According to Jack Perna, the district’s superintendent, the figures were kept lower this year because Montauk will send fewer students to the high school and there are no major maintenance projects planned. This school year, many after-school programs were cut to reduce costs and Mr. Perna said early in the 2011-12 budget process that next year was not the year to restore them.

    Voting on Tuesday will be from 2 to 8 p.m. in the school gym.

Amagansett

    At the Amagansett School, voting on the proposed $9.2 million budget will be between 2 and 8 p.m.

    The budget is 10.72 percent higher than the one voters approved last May, but in November, the school budget was revised, adding almost $400,000 to district spending due to an influx of students into the district. The difference between the revised 2010-11 budget and the proposed 2011-12 budget is 5.81 percent.

Other Districts

    In the Wainscott School District, voters will weigh in on a $3.58 million budget for 2011-12, an increase of 1.91 percent, or $22,695 over this year’s bud­get. The public can cast ballots at the school between 5 and 8 p.m.

    Bridgehampton voters will be offered a nearly $10.6 million school budget, which shows a 5.63-percent increase over 2010-11.

    Sagaponack School’s budget is $1.64 million, reflecting a change of $40,851 over this year’s budget, or a 2.6-percent increase.

    The 2011-12 budget for the Sag Harbor School District is $33.2 million and represents a $1.7 million, or 5.48-percent, increase over this year. Both Sag Harbor and Springs carry propositions to form a capital reserve fund for future upgrades and maintenance to the buildings.

    All of the districts have expressed great concern over the proposed 2-percent tax cap that the state may impose before the 2012-13 school budgets are set in stone. Since most of the increases are state-mandated, and almost 250 of those mandates are not accompanied by money from Albany, there is a statewide movement among school superintendents to have some of those rules abolished.

    However, for this year, the budgets reflect the current state of affairs on the South Fork and elsewhere.

    Students of all ages throughout East Hampton Town have been invited to submit T-shirt designs to the Clamshell Foundation of East Hampton for the T-shirts for next summer’s annual Sandcastle Contest.

    The 2011 contest on Atlantic Avenue Beach in Amagansett in August will mark the 20th anniversary of the event. The winning student artwork will be used not only for the contest T-shirts but for the posters advertising the event.

    All artwork, in any media, must be on 81/2-by-11-inch paper. A vertical format is preferred. The name of the artist should be omitted from the design, but written on a three-by-five-inch card placed in a sealed envelope affixed to the back of the piece. The winning artist will be asked to sign his or her artwork on the front after the selection, and to sign 12 T-shirts. The artwork chosen will become the property of the Clamshell Foundation, but the winner will receive a dozen T-shirts printed with the design.

    Submissions should be sent by May 23 to the Clamshell Foundation at P.O. Box 2725, East Hampton 11937. They will not be returned, unless contestants make arrangements to pick them up.

    Those with questions about the contest may send them to the foundation’s director, Rossetti Perchik, at [email protected].

    Among the well-known local artists who have created previous contest T-shirt and poster designs, which can be seen at www.ehsandcastle.com, are Charles Waller, Peter Max, Audrey Flack, Roy Lichtenstein, Elaine Grove, Dan Rizzie, and Marcie Honerkamp.

    The annual sand castle contest, to be held this year on Aug. 6, raises money used by the Clamshell Foundation for grants to East Hampton organizations and book scholarships for graduating East Hampton High School seniors.

    Beginning last year, the foundation has also taken on the annual midsummer fireworks event over Three Mile Harbor, formerly sponsored by Girls and Boys Harbor and now called the Great Bonac Fireworks.

    A total of $107,456 has been distributed by the Clamshell Foundation to date. Last year’s events raised $3,000 for book scholarships, $700 for local food banks and churches, and provided grants of $750 each to KidFest and Camp Good Grief, and $200 to the East Hampton Historical Society.

    Healthy Families, Happy Kids, a free interactive workshop series for parents and children at the East Hampton Day Care Learning Center, aims to promote healthy eating habits for the whole family.

    The series, taught by Jennifer Taylor, executive director of the Wellness Foundation, starts next Thursday at 6:30 p.m. with a session on smart shopping. It will cover how to make healthy and budget-friendly choices at the grocery store and will also include food preparation demonstrations and tastings.

    The series continues on May 12 with Power Foods: Making Every Bite Count, in which participants will learn how to pack nutrient-rich ingredients into favorite meals. The May 19 workshop will address how to do that while also involving children in meal preparation.

    Advance registration is required with Karen O’Connell at the day care center. People can register for one or more workshops.

    Want a chance to see your tax dollars at work? East Hampton High School is inviting people to visit the updated building on Long Lane Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. There will be tours of the new wing of the school, along with presentations and more.

    And while they’re there, they could stop in to the auditorium at 1 p.m. to meet the candidates for East Hampton School Board. Hosted by the East Hampton Group for Good Government, the candidates forum will be moderated by Arthur Melman and Steve Ludsin. Candidates will introduce themselves and answer 10 to 12 questions from the moderators. Questions will be taken from the audience, and moderators will pose some, too, as time allows. The forum will run through 3 p.m.

    Although six people submitted petitions to run for two spots on the board, one of them, Bill Rosenthal, has now dropped out of the race, leaving Paul Fiondella, Jacqueline Lowey, Marie Klarman, Patricia Hope, and Liz Pucci vying for the spots, barring any late additions to the race.

    By New York State law, the district has reopened the nominating petitions. Those latecomers who may not have been able to meet the April 18 deadline now have until May 9 to get their packets to Kerri Stevens in the district office.

    B.L.

   The Group for Good Government will moderate a forum for the Springs School Board candidates on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in the school’s gymnasium.

Vying for the two seats that will be vacated by the departure of Christopher Kelley, the school board president, and Thomas Talmage, a board member since 2005, are four hopefuls — Liz Mendelman, Tim Frazier, Phyllis Mallah, and Arthur Goldman.

Ms. Mendelman is best known in the Springs School community as president of the PTA and a member of the Springs Citizens Advisory Committee. Mr. Frazier is the principal of the Southampton Intermediate School, and the husband of Tracey Frazier, a Springs School teacher.

Mr. Goldman, a social studies teacher and coordinator at the high school, is a familiar face at board meetings. His wife, Eileen, is a teacher’s assistant in Springs.

Phyllis Mallah, a retired educator from Yonkers and full-time Springs resident, rounds out the candidates. Ms. Mallah is the only one of the four who has run prior to this year.

The Group for Good Government allows each contender a minute for opening remarks, a minute each to answer the questions posed, and then a minute to summarize their views.    B.L.