Bridgehampton school workers accept freezes

Agreements for pay freezes with both the teacher and staff unions, as well as administrators, will allow the Bridgehampton school district to stay within the 2 percent tax-levy cap mandated under new state law, and keep programs and staffing levels intact for 2012-13, school district officials say.

The teachers union, Bridgehampton Teachers Association, and the Civil Services Employee Association, which represents most of the nonteaching staff, will extend their current contracts for one year, and freeze cost-of-living increases.

In an unusual agreement, teachers also will freeze their "step" increases. Savings from freezing teacher salaries alone will save the small district $93,000, officials said.

Administrators have also agreed to a one-year freeze.

"It's important from a solidarity point of view, that we are united going into this," district business administrator Robert Hauser said. "And from an instructional point of view, it puts the students first."

While the district plans not to exceed the 2 percent cap in its roughly $10.5 million budget for 2012-13, the law does allow for some exceptions, including payments on bonds already approved by voters. So the tax levy in reality will increase 4.2 percent under the district's proposed budget, Hauser said.

The district will also fund the renovation of its cafeteria into an all-purpose room in 2012-13. No programs will be cut, Hauser said, and the after-school instructional sessions at the elementary level that began last year will continue, he said. The proposed budget will be put to a public vote on May 15.

Hauser said the district has about 60 employees, including administrators.