Education

Springs School District voters will elect two new board members from among four candidates on May 17 after two sitting board members opted not to run for re-election. The race will be the only contested one on the eastern part of the South Fork this year, while two districts, Sag Harbor and Montauk, are facing a shortage of potential board members.

In Springs, the candidates are Summer Romeo, Hella Drew, Emma Field, and Erik Fredrickson. Ms. Drew ran for a board seat last year but was not elected. Dave Conlon and Amy Rivera are not seeking re-election.

Not only have Abigail Corish and Eve Iulo spent many hours volunteering, but their commitment to academics has also paid off. Abigail and Eve have earned the ranks of valedictorian and salutatorian, respectively, of the class of 2022 at Pierson High School in Sag Harbor.

Elijah Jones, a middle schooler who found his way to the cello while in fourth grade at the John M. Marshall Elementary School, will play at Carnegie Hall on Sunday with the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra.

Talking to young people about sex and related issues is rarely easy, but a new series of programs hosted by OLA and Planned Parenthood aims to change that.

Waking “Sleeping Beauty”

The Hampton Ballet Theatre School will perform “Sleeping Beauty,” featuring talented students alongside professional dancers, plus original choreography and hand-sewn costumes, for four shows starting on Friday, April 29.

Finding itself at least $300,000 short on revenue, the Eleanor Whitmore Early Childhood Center petitioned the East Hampton School District to add $250,000 to its upcoming budget vote to support day care and prekindergarten for its 100 students, most of whom will one day attend school in East Hampton.

Springs Adopts 2022-23 Budget

On May 17, voters in Springs will cast their ballots for or against a $32,888,886 spending plan that stays within New York State’s cap on tax-levy increases.

The school board adopted that budget proposal at its April 12 special meeting. The year-over-year spending increase is $2.088 million, or 6.78 percent. The associated tax-levy increase is 5.46 percent. According to budget documents shared last week, if approved, the school tax on a house with a market value of approximately $1 million would rise by about $366.

At precisely the moment last Thursday when the United States Senate voted to confirm Ketanji Brown Jackson as the first Black woman on the Supreme Court, about 45 female students from nine East End high schools were gathered in the cafeteria of the Stony Brook University Southampton campus to learn about the roles of female elected officials in politics.

The Sag Harbor School District introduced a full-day prekindergarten program for the first time this year, receiving a glowing report card this week from school board members, educators, administrators, and parents.

“It’s so well rounded. It’s incredible,” said Jakki O’Neill, a mother of two, in a phone interview. She said her daughter, Lilah, is getting a solid foundation in letters, numbers, and other skills, and that she is thriving in general there. “The program that they are presenting is just phenomenal.”

When the fire alarm went off at Southampton High School at 9:24 on Monday morning, it was not a drill. Everyone was evacuated safely in three minutes and 34 seconds as firefighters rushed to the school: A burning smell had been reported in the building, a fire department official said afterward, attributing it to a burned-out motor in a heating and ventilation unit. That incident was hardly major, but it underscored the importance of safety codes and procedures in schools.

The South Fork Natural History Museum in Bridgehampton has lined up some seasonal outdoor activities for kids and teens next week, plus a big celebration of Earth Day.

A deep dive into expenses and revenues over the last four months culminated Tuesday night in the East Hampton School Board’s adoption of a $76.5-million budget plan for the 2022-23 school year.

The proposed budget adheres to New York State’s rules for tax-levy increases, with a 1.75-percent increase, for the tenth time over the 11 years that the tax cap has been in place. The district will need a simple majority of voter approval on May 17 for the budget to pass.