Springs school district

VOTING

1 p.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday at Springs School.

THE BUDGET

The district proposes a $27,630,067 budget for 2016-17, a 0.97 percent increase from the current $27,363,315. The tax levy would rise 0.13 percent, from $24,453,200 to $24,485,698.

This increase is within the district’s tax-cap limit of 0.13 percent, so a simple majority vote will be required to approve the budget. School taxes on the average single-family house would rise 0.59 percent, from $98.42 per $100 of assessed value to $99 per $100 of assessed value.

The proposed budget includes no contractual raise and an average 2.5 percent step increase for teachers.

A proposition seeks authorization for the school board to enter into a three-year installment purchase agreement for a 66-seat bus. The first-year installment payment would be no more than $42,000 — funds that are included in the proposed budget. The total for three years would be $120,971.

• District website:

springsschool.org

THE CANDIDATES

Incumbent Adam Wilson and candidates David Conlon and Amy Rivera are vying for two at-large seats. Terms are three years.

David Conlon

BACKGROUND: Conlon, 43, is a real estate salesman on the East End and has lived in the district for seven years. He has a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Vermont in Burlington. After college, he played professional basketball for two years in Europe. He has three children in district schools and is a facilities board member at Springs School. Conlon is a coach for third- and fourth-grade Little League basketball and baseball, and a board member of Hoops for Hope, a local nonprofit organization that raises money for blighted areas of southern Africa.

ISSUES: Conlon said he would work to improve school facilities to accommodate the student population and monitor enrollment growth over the next five to 10 years to determine if and when more instructional space is needed. He said he would “explore ways to reduce Springs residents’ tax burden,” including consolidation with other districts. Amagansett and Montauk, he said, “are other communities we could possibly merge with.” Conlon said he would strive to improve communication between the school board and Springs residents.

Amy Rivera

BACKGROUND: Rivera, 46, is the deputy tax receiver for the Town of East Hampton and has lived in the district for 26 years. An East Hampton High School graduate, she is a former vice president of the Civil Service Employees Association in the Town of East Hampton. Her three children are district school graduates, and her daughter, Amanda, now teaches fifth grade at Springs School. When her children were in grade school, Rivera served for eight years as treasurer of Springs School PTA.

ISSUES: Rivera said she has been involved with the schools for 20 years as a parent. “The biggest issue Springs is facing is that we need more space to handle the number of students enrolling. Our student population keeps increasing, but we’re about at maximum capacity,” she said. “It’s inevitable that we’re going to have to put on some type of an addition to the school.” She said she wants to work on improving Springs School, “but I also think we need to be very considerate of the taxpayers.” Rivera continued: “We need to brainstorm ideas of what the best solution could be, that will not be a huge burden on the taxpayers of the district.”

Adam Wilson

BACKGROUND: Wilson, 52, is channel sales director for SageNet, a communications company based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and has lived in the district for 16 years. He has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Duquesne University. His child attends a district school. Wilson is a former president of the East Hampton Little League and currently serves on its executive board. He was elected to the school board in 2013.

ISSUES: Wilson said, “The biggest challenge is . . . to continue to keep our budget under the state tax cap.” He said he would “work with the rest of the board to keep our costs down and look at generating more revenue through the services we can offer other districts,” such as special education programs. Noting that the district has a “space crunch,” he said: “Our district is one of the few districts on Long Island where the population is growing — and outgrowing our school footprint.” As a result, he said, “we have to expand our schooling again, which we did 15 years ago. We have to look at alternative places to send our students to.”