May 8, 2026

Dear East Hampton Public Schools Community:

The Town Council will be meeting on Tuesday, May 12th at 6:30 pm to deliberate on the budget. At its meeting last Tuesday, Chair Kohler and I shared that the BOE has come forward with a net adjustment to our FY27 budget that reduced the BOE proposal by $198,300. This proposed reduction will not negatively impact our programs and services. The adjustments came from proposed changes in the following areas:

$100,000 reduction to our FY27 Textbook and Technology budgets. Our ability to pre-purchase texts and technology in FY27 is due to conservative spending in the current school year that has resulted in available funding in our projected end-of-year balance.
$60,000 reduction to our FY27 Facilities maintenance budget. This was made possible by unexpected funding provided to us by the state in FY26. The legislature's appropriation committee funded the grant in December of 2025. The BOE will use these "DRIP" funds to cover our current facilities budget expenses and establish a carryover fund to cover the $60,000 proposed reduction in FY27.
$38,300 reduction to our FY27 Professional/Technical budget. The district was able to lessen the cost of contracted services for next year.

The BOE FY27 proposal is now 4.30%. This budget remains significantly below the state and similar community averages.

On May 3rd, our legislature took an unprecedented step in addressing the funding shortfalls that communities have experienced. Our legislature has allocated an additional $278,438 for East Hampton Public Schools educational expenses in FY27. This will be reviewed with the Town Council on Tuesday evening. This one-time supplemental aid would further reduce the BOE budget to 3.58% due to the supplemental aid we will be receiving.

Next week's Town Council meeting on May 12th may be the last time to provide public comments before decisions are made regarding the BOE's proposed FY27 budget.

Please feel free to contact BOE members or me with any questions you have.
Dr. Van Tasel, Superintendent