Finance board recommends unchanged school budget, 7-0

Board of Finance · Meeting of August 10, 2026

East Hampton's Board of Finance voted 7-0 to recommend an unchanged $39,550,937 school budget for a fourth referendum. Board member David Caterisano moved the figure, identical to the one voters narrowly rejected at the third referendum, calling the restoration of previously cut programs "a win" even without a budget increase. Superintendent Dr.

Timothy Van Tasel said a $73,500 state Office of Early Childhood grant and family advocacy saved the Smart Start preschool program, while the East Hampton Soccer Club and other sponsors covered roughly $75,000 in middle school sports costs, including $12,000 for soccer. Chairman Anthony Spagnoletti called the third referendum "an incredibly close vote." Director of Finance Jeffery Jylkka said about 20 to 25 Connecticut towns received similar state grants. No referendum date was set.

In the full story:

• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report — 1,480 words

Source: the Board of Finance meeting of August 10, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

The Full Article

Public Remarks

The only public speaker at this special meeting was Haley Guite, of 16 Curry Lane, who addressed the board before the sole agenda item. Her remarks came after three failed budget referendums and framed the stakes less as a dollar figure than as a question of what residents are willing to ask students and staff to lose. She described high schoolers who need Advanced Placement classes to compete for college admission, middle schoolers who find belonging through sports, and teachers "being asked to do more with less." Guite said she was relieved Smart Start had been preserved through outside grant funding but cautioned the board that "we cannot depend on outside funding every time something with our children is needed." She closed by urging both sides of the referendum debate to vote rather than assume someone else would: "Back when you were in school, somebody said yes to your education," a resident later echoed during the post-vote comment period, addressing no-vote residents without children currently enrolled.

Board of Education Budget: Fourth Referendum Recommendation

Background and stakes: The Board of Education's 2026-2027 budget had already failed three town referendums. Agenda documents describe Monday's special meeting as called for the sole purpose of discussing and possibly recommending a budget for a fourth referendum vote. Minutes note the third referendum was "an incredibly close vote," which members said influenced their decision not to seek further reductions.

The question before the body: Whether to recommend to the Town Council a Board of Education budget figure for the fourth referendum, and if so, at what dollar amount.

Substantive content: Board member David Caterisano moved to recommend the same figure rejected at the third referendum, $39,550,937, with no change to the town-funded total. Daniel Finn seconded. Chairman Anthony Spagnoletti told the board the proposed figure still reflects the major cuts made earlier in the budget season, including the elimination of Smart Start preschool funding and middle school sports, but that both programs are now being restored this year through outside money rather than through any increase to the recommended appropriation. He said this amounts to "gaining back the major cuts without impacting the budget amount," in minutes' language, framing the arrangement as a way to avoid asking voters to approve a higher number while still restoring services families had objected to losing.

Superintendent of Schools Dr. Timothy Van Tasel detailed the mechanics. He said the district received a $73,500 state Office of Early Childhood grant after families advocated directly with state officials, something he said was unusual: "There was no grant application, no process by which there was funding available. It was because of the advocacy of this community." Combined with an existing $97,000 Office of Early Childhood grant, Van Tasel said the total nearly matches the roughly $67,000 the budget had assumed would be saved by cutting Smart Start, meaning the program can return without added net cost to the town budget. He said the district has also confirmed that "the vast majority" of families originally notified in mid-July that Smart Start would be eliminated now intend to re-enroll.

On athletics, Van Tasel described a wave of community fundraising he called unlike anything he had seen in his tenure, including ten emails received in a single Friday and an hour-long conversation with the middle school Parent-Teacher Organization the evening of the meeting. He said the East Hampton Soccer Club sponsored boys and girls soccer at a cost of about $12,000, and that sponsors have since stepped forward for cross country and cheerleading, with families actively organizing support for basketball, baseball and softball. He provided a full program-cost breakdown: cross country $11,200, boys soccer $8,952, girls soccer $9,486, boys basketball $11,445, girls basketball $11,125, cheerleading $3,435, volleyball $2,414 (per the figure he gave twice for both boys' and girls' volleyball), baseball $8,398 and softball $7,544, for total program costs near $75,000, partially offset by athlete participation fees of roughly $175 per student.

The deliberation: Board member James Radavich asked whether restoring these programs through outside funding would need to be reflected as a line item in the budget as adopted. Director of Finance Jeffery Jylkka said the budget as proposed would stay the same dollar figure, with the understanding that special revenue, such as the Smart Start grant and athletic sponsorships, is accounted for outside the voted budget total rather than added on top of it. Radavich also asked a broader structural question about how the town's lump-sum allocation to the Board of Education relates to internal line-item spending; Jylkka explained that the Board of Finance allocates a general amount and the Board of Education determines the internal breakdown, which is published on the district's website and can run to "50 or 100 transactions" within a single budget line.

Jylkka also addressed the origin of the state grant, saying East Hampton was one of roughly 20 to 25 Connecticut municipalities that ultimately received Office of Early Childhood stabilization funding, after the state initially approached about six districts and then opened the opportunity statewide; he said the neighboring town of Cromwell was not among the recipients. Spagnoletti closed the financial discussion by noting that the town's per-pupil state funding, the Educational Cost Sharing formula, has declined over the past decade, and credited the Board of Education's advocacy at the state Capitol for helping secure "a little trickle" of additional money in the past year.

No board member spoke against the motion as proposed. One commenter from the floor, addressing no-vote residents directly after the vote, argued that residents without children in school still benefited from past taxpayer-funded education and should consider that history when voting in future referendums.

Procedural steps and outcome: The motion to recommend the $39,550,937 Board of Education budget to the Town Council, as moved by Caterisano and seconded by Finn, passed 7-0 with all seven members, Spagnoletti, Finn, Caterisano, Comisky, Radavich, Turner and Walck, voting in favor. No amendments were offered. The board did not set a referendum date; when a resident or member asked whether a date had been set, the chairman replied that scheduling the referendum is the Town Council's responsibility, not the Board of Finance's.

Implications and what is next: The recommendation now goes to the Town Council, which is expected to schedule the fourth referendum. Van Tasel said the district's first day of school is August 27, and that unfilled staff vacancies tied to special education funding minimums, legally required under state rules not to fall below the prior year's spending, remain an open question depending on whether the fourth referendum passes. He said further reductions, if the budget fails again, would create "labor challenges" for positions recently filled and complicate classroom assignments already made for the new school year.

Adjournment

After a brief closing comment from Spagnoletti thanking the Board of Education for its advocacy at the state level, and a short exchange in which the chairman briefly reopened and then closed public comment after determining late arrivals had missed the earlier comment period, the board voted 7-0 to adjourn at 7:31 p.m. on a motion by Alison Walck, seconded by David Caterisano.

Anthony Spagnoletti, Chairman (per minutes for this meeting; roster lists him as Member without a stated chair title) Daniel Finn, member (participated via Zoom; roster lists him as Vice Chairman, role not confirmed for this specific meeting) David Caterisano, member Kurt Comisky, member James Radavich, member Ted Turner, member Alison Walck, member All seven roster members were present; no absences noted in the minutes.

Jeffery Jylkka, Director of Finance David Cox, Town Manager Dr. Timothy Van Tasel, Superintendent of Schools

Haley Guite, resident of 16 Curry Lane, public comment One unidentified resident, public comment after the vote, addressing no-vote residents directly

State of Connecticut Office of Early Childhood — source of the $73,500 Smart Start stabilization grant and an existing $97,000 grant discussed in the Smart Start funding restoration. East Hampton Soccer Club — sponsored the middle school boys and girls soccer program at a cost of about $12,000. Middle School Parent-Teacher Organization — coordinating sponsorship fundraising for cross country, cheerleading and other athletic programs discussed by Van Tasel. Board of Education website — cited by Director of Finance Jeffery Jylkka as the public source for line-item detail within the Board of Education's overall budget allocation. Prior referendum votes (first through third) — cited throughout as the basis for recommending an unchanged budget figure for the fourth referendum. Educational Cost Sharing (ECS) formula — Connecticut's state per-pupil funding mechanism, cited by Chairman Spagnoletti regarding declining state aid over the past decade. Special education minimum expenditure requirement — state rule cited by Superintendent Van Tasel limiting the district's ability to cut special education spending below prior-year levels.