Hampton Bays School Budget Approved

On Tuesday evening, the Hampton Bays School board unanimously approved Superintendent Lars Clemensen's $45,851,937 budget, which comes in under the state's two-percent tax cap.

The budget, which reflects a 2.01 percent spending increase, calls for a 1.87 percent tax levy increase.

The increases account for, according to Clemensen, higher costs for insurance, pensions and enrollment growth.

Clemensen says the district is expecting an enrollment increase of approximately 1.5 to 2 percent from this year to next.

The budget does not include any layoffs, but does include cuts to programs that Clemensen said is a"result of a program not running at full efficiency any longer."

For example, he said, "We will be eliminating the Varsity Field Hockey team for next year and only running a JV in order to rebuild the program and develop it appropriately for our students."

A vote on the budget will take place on May 15.