Bridgehampton School Voters Guide 2010

VOTING

2 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at Bridgehampton School.

THE BUDGET

The district is proposing a budget of $9,951,049 for the 2010-11 school year, a decrease of 0.62 percent from the current budget of $10,012,857. The tax levy would fall to $8,397,368, a decrease of 0.73 percent from the current figure of $8,459,176.

The average homeowner with a house assessed at $750,000 would pay $1,091 in school taxes, a decrease of 2.33 percent from the current figure of $1,117.

The proposed budget also includes an increase in teacher salaries of 6 percent - including step increases - and the elimination of one reading instructor and 0.5 technology staff members. No significant programs or services are being added or cut.

In addition to the proposed budget, there are four resolutions on the ballot. The first resolution would allow the district to raise $125,000 through taxes for a one-year contract with the Bridgehampton Child Care & Recreation Center. A second resolution would allow the district to modify its transportation policy to provide bus transportation to all students in grades K-12 who live up to 15 miles away from the school.

A third resolution would allow the district to spend up to $1.35 million on various improvements to the Bridgehampton School. In the event that resolution doesn't pass, a fourth resolution would allow the district to upgrade its fire alarm system to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act by using up to $45,505, an amount the district said it expects to receive as reimbursement from the state's EXCEL state aid program.

District website:

bridgehampton.k12.ny.us

THE CANDIDATES

Incumbent Joseph Berhalter and challengers Joanne Comfort and Lawrence Lapointe are running for two seats with three-year terms. Carol Kalish is not seeking re-election.

Joseph Berhalter

BACKGROUND: Berhalter, 69, is seeking his second term on the board. He works in sales merchandising for a Midwest-based company that specializes in in-store marketing. He earned a bachelor of arts degree in marketing from Fordham University and an MBA from New York University. He and his wife, Delore, have three adult children who grew up in New Jersey. Berhalter moved to the district six years ago and was first elected in 2007.

ISSUES: The most important thing for Bridgehampton High School to do is to get graduates into college, Berhalter said. It's not enough to get them to graduate high school, he said. Three years ago, Berhalter said, he was one of the board members who thought the high school should be closed. A referendum question on the school failed to pass, he said. "It's meager," Berhalter said of the estimated 18 to 21 kids that are expected to graduate from the 140-student school this year. "My premise is kids don't get the emotional and social growth they need to get through school." An alternative would be school choice, Berhalter said. "Let those who want to educate their kids in the school stay," Berhalter said. "Others who want to go to better schools go."

Joanne Comfort

BACKGROUND: Comfort, 39, is making her first run for the school board. She is a farmer who grows vegetable and flowers and raises chickens with her husband, Robert. They've lived in the district for 15 years and have a daughter who attends Bridgehampton School. Comfort attended classes at Suffolk County Community College.

ISSUES: Comfort said she believes that the school largely is on the right track and that she will be dedicated to making certain Bridgehampton kids get a great education. "I'd like to be there to help move it forward," Comfort said. "I'd like to see the younger grades get a few more things - more [foreign] language, arts and music." Bridgehampton children who have parents who speak a language other than English at home need to develop their English skills sooner, she said. Comfort also said she supports expanding a prekindergarten, parent-child home visit program to children under 3 years old.

Lawrence Lapointe

BACKGROUND: Lapointe, 50, is a self-employed landscape designer and property manager. He's lived in the district for 24 years. He and his wife, Melanie, have one child who attends school in the district and two who graduated from the district. This is Lapointe's first run for school board.

ISSUES: Lapointe said he's glad that calls for drastic changes, like closing Bridgehampton High School, have simmered down in recent years. He said that, if elected, he'd focus on improving the quality of the school. "My concern is the school needs basic things - maintenance, new windows," Lapointe said. "Budgeting, teachers contracts, need to be looked at. I don't see where there's a big problem in the school district that needs me as a first-year candidate to go in and resolve. I think my position would be to learn and listen."