E. Quogue school district voters head to polls

East Quogue school district voters will go to the polls Tuesday to decide whether the district should spend $400,000 to buy a house next to the elementary school and demolish it, creating room for future expansion of the school.

The vote will be from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the elementary school at 6 Central Ave.

Approval would have no direct impact on the school tax rate, because the money for the project has already been included in this year’s school budget. Any plan for school expansion would have to be approved in a separate referendum.

Supporters of the referendum say the house can be purchased below its market value, and that the land would be available for future expansion, while critics have noted that school enrollment has dropped by about 25 students in the past few years.

In a districtwide mailing last month, Superintendent Lee Black said there has been “a good deal of information and misinformation” about the referendum, and that there are no current plans by the school to build any structure on the three-quarter-acre property.