Hampton Bays School District Receives Grant for College Prep

Hampton Bays School Board said on Tuesday that the small grant they received from the federal Race to the Top program should make next year's budget process a bit less painful.

At a meeting of the board, Superintendent Lars Clemensen announced that the district will be receiving a total of $53,000 to be distributed over the next four years. The money will be awarded to the district as a result of the Race to The Top program, a $4 billion federal program administrated by the United States Department of Education.

The purpose of the grant, according to Clemensen, is to help students prepare for college and the real world. Among the facets covered under the program are improving data systems keeping track of students' progress, developing a more efficient evaluation system for teachers and principals, turning around New York State's lowest performing schools, and ensuring there are world class standards and assessments in every classroom.

"We are going to be focusing on not only getting kids to graduation day, but also getting them to college and onward," Clemensen said after the meeting. While he noted that the grant would only be a small portion of the district's budget, he said, "It is helpful. It was things we were going to have to do anyway."

Although the budget vote is still months away, administrators in the district are keeping the topic a main focus. After Clemensen's announcement, School Business and Facilities Manager Larry Luce went discussed how the district will be approaching the always time-consuming and sometimes confusing budget process. This year, the district will be reintroducing a budget committee, to be made up of both district personnel and community members. The budget committee had been done away with for the last three years. A new perspective will also be added to the committee.  For the first time, one student representative from each of the ninth, tenth, and eleventh grades will also be selected to participate in the forum.

The idea for student representatives came from school board member Warren Booth, who said that it's only fair for students to become involved, since it is they who will be affected most.

"The budget is for them," Booth said. "Let them tell you what they want and what they need."

Other members agreed with Booth, and said that the community committee will also help people have a better understanding of how the budget is prepared, and to facilitate more productive discussions during meetings.

"We have to inform people that they're not here to debate," said Board Member Richard Joslin. "They have to be informed of how this is run . . . and how to solve issues rather than just having a headstrong opinion and causing a disruption."