Easier changes in school boundaries sought

Change is good when it comes to redrawing the boundaries of some East End school districts, says State Assemb. Fred Thiele Jr. So he is proposing a radical change to a decades-old system that would eliminate in some instances the need for approval from voters in affected districts.

That requirement has been a major barrier to changing district lines for decades, primarily because it means one district normally sees taxes increase as taxable real estate is lost, while taxes in the other usually fall.

But Thiele (I-Sag Harbor) said it's time to update a process created in the 1940s.

"Over the last 60 years, the region has undergone substantial growth . . . some school boundaries no longer make sense for students and families," Thiele said. "School districts have routinely rejected any changes, not wishing to lose any tax base."

Thiele proposes that, if most residents in any community want to move the school district lines, they would have to collect signatures on a petition and give them to the superintendent of the BOCES (Board of Cooperative Educational Services), who oversees schools on the East End.

The two school districts would then have 90 days to negotiate moving their lines. If no agreement is reached, the BOCES administrator would schedule a public hearing and then decide whether the change should take place.

If the shift would affect more than 10 percent of a school district's enrollment, the current system of voter approval by both districts would prevail.

"Changing school district lines should not be easy, but it should not be impossible either," Thiele said. He plans to introduce the bill next year when the state legislature is back in session.

Vincent Taldone, president of the Flanders, Riverside and Northampton Community Association, said he has been fighting for a decade to get residents who live in Southampton Town but are part of the Riverhead School District out of that district.

Because of the differences in tax assessment and the relatively high wealth of Southampton Town, Taldone said people in his community pay much higher taxes than those with similar houses in Riverhead. State officials have tried for years, without success, to resolve that complaint.

"We look around and see other people are paying so much less in taxes . . . you wonder 'How is that happening?' " Taldone said.

And, he added, because students cannot go to schools closer to their homes, they have to get up earlier and get home later every day.