Amagansett school district

VOTING

2 to 8 p.m. at the Amagansett School.

THE BUDGET

The district proposes a $10,587,479 budget for 2015-16, a 1.09 percent increase from the current $10,473,646. The local tax levy would decrease 0.38 percent, from $8,798,651 to $8,765,056. The state's tax-cap limit for the district is 1.99 percent. A simple majority is needed to approve the budget.

School taxes on the average single-family home would decrease 0.68 percent, from $1,771 to $1,759, district officials said.

The budget includes a contractual pay increase for teachers of 1 percent and a step increase of 2 percent, district officials said.

Two additional propositions are on the ballot. The first would authorize a five-year agreement with the East Hampton school district to continue educating Amagansett students in grades 7 through 12. The second would create a $2 million capital-reserve fund for renovations at the school.

District website:

aufsd.org

THE CANDIDATES

Incumbent Mary A. Lownes is running for a fifth full term against challenger Steven A. Graboski. The term is three years.

Steven A. GraboskiBACKGROUND: Graboski, 56, has lived in the district 34 years and has a daughter who graduated from the Amagansett School and now is a teacher there. He owns a construction business and is a retired East Hampton Town police officer who served 21 years. He also is a 19-year member of the Amagansett Fire Department.

ISSUES: Graboski said he would like to bring his business experience, as well as his experience dealing with people as a police officer and firefighter, to the school board. "I think it was time for a change," he said. "Just some things were going on that I thought I could add input into." He said his construction experience could help the district with plans to move a historic schoolhouse from a private property to the Amagansett School property this year.

Mary A. LownesBACKGROUND: Lownes, 54, has lived in the district 22 years and has three children who graduated from the Amagansett School. She is a sales representative at the Farmingdale office of Tyco and has been on the school board for 13 years.

ISSUES: Lownes said that, as the longest-serving school board member, she wants to continue helping the district navigate state mandates and the implementation of the Common Core standards. "We were one of the few districts, I think, that embraced it from the beginning," she said of Common Core. "It's a huge learning curve for our staff." Lownes said she wants to continue a project to move a historic Amagansett schoolhouse from a private property to the front of the school property this year. She also said she wants to continue planning a reorganization of space inside the school to allow for more areas for computers and one-on-one learning.