Southampton School Budget Passes By Wide Margin

SOUTHAMPTON, NY — Southampton residents headed to the polls Tuesday to cast their ballots in the 2025 to 2026 school budget vote and school board candidate election — approving the budget by a wide margin of 325 to 177.

Two candidates, Rodney "Chip" Pierson, and Laura White, ran unopposed for four-year terms. White garnered 392 votes and Pierson, 360.

The Southampton Union Free School District budget for the fiscal year 2025 to 2026, $82,236,406, represents a 2.88 spending increase and a 3.02 percent tax levy increase, within the allowable cap.

Voters were asked to weigh in on a number of propositions, including authorizing the district to expend a sum not to exceed $860,000 from the district’s existing capital reserve fund for Phase 2 renovations for replacement, at the property located at 300 and 310 Hampton Road, of two HVAC RTUs; installation of a building management system for heating and cooling; and installation of new drainage around exterior of the building. That measure passed 369 to 141.

Also, voters weighed in on a proposition to expend a sum not to exceed $5 million from “The 2017 Ten Year Capital Reserve Fund” for parking lot resurfacing and crack repair at the Southampton High School, Intermediate School, Elementary School and District Office; renovations to the multi-stall bathrooms adjacent to the cafeteria at the Southampton Elementary School; renovations to the Southampton Elementary School kitchen; refurbishing of the Southampton Intermediate School gym floor; purchase and installation of 2 door roll-in freezer and single door roll-in refrigerator in the Southampton Elementary School; installation of digital scoreboard and sound system in Southampton High School gymnasium; District Office elevator renovation Southampton High School 1st Floor air conditioning installation; Installation of District Office sign; Southampton Elementary School Kindergarten bathroom floor structural repair; and athletic softball fence netting protection system replacement. That measure passed 374 to 134.

Voters also decided whether to approve propositions to expend $400,000 from the “Capital Reserve for Technology Fund, for the purchase and/or replacement of smart panels and LCD panels for instructional spaces; workstations, servers, and printers for districtwide use; iPads and Chromebooks to support the district’s 1:1 technology plan; and audio equipment including sound systems for the press box. That measure passed 357 to 150.

Another proposition sought to authorize the district to appropriate and expend an amount not to exceed $500,000 from the funds currently available in the Southampton Bus Fleet Replacement Capital Reserve Fund to replace one 66-passenger bus with two 24-passenger buses and to purchase one activity (coach-like) bus. Voters approved the proposition, 335 to 173.

Also, the BOE sought to establish a capital reserve fund, to be known as the “2025 Southampton Bus Fleet Replacement Capital Reserve Fund,” for a probable term of 10 years, in an amount not to exceed $5 million to be funded in an amount not to exceed $1 million in any given year during the term, with such funds to be obtained from end-of-year budget surplus funds and/or budget appropriations. The proposition passed, 333 to 171.