Home Care In East Hampton, CT

After months of debate and voting, East Hampton has a school budget. Voters approved the budget in a second referendum after money was restored saving teacher positions in the district.

“We felt like our voices were actually heard and we made like a movement,” Noelle Lavender, a recent graduate of East Hampton High School, said.

A movement that helped several teachers in East Hampton to keep their jobs.

“You know that teacher has a special place in someone’s heart so you’re going to fight for them no matter what," Lavender said.

Lavender was part of a group of students protesting the original $800,000 cut from the school budget. The effort led to the town rejecting the original budget in May.

“It became a really good way to one, get involved in the community and two, really have a say,” she said.

A total of $250,000 was added back to the spending plan, enough to keep all the current teachers in place. This revised budget was passed with 1,043 voters saying yes and 678 voting no.

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East Hampton Schools Superintendent Paul Smith thanking the voters for their input. He says the student’s passion is a tribute to the impact of his district’s teachers.

“It just shows how important teachers are not just for the academic content that they make sure students gain, but for the duty of care that they provide,” Smith said.

Lavender said she voted yes because the first priority of no teacher layoffs was met. But some voters still voted no, wanting to see a bigger school budget.

“The reason I came to East Hampton was because of the school system. 100% exclusively,” Jude Barry, an East Hampton resident, said.

Lavender said she’s confident underclassmen at the high school will continue to speak up after being inspired by her group’s activism.

“The students who are younger will take that with them into their senior year and into their lives,” Lavender said.

The town budget, which was voted on separately, was also approved with 945 voting yes and 777 voting no.

DURHAM— East Hampton once again left little doubt who runs the Shoreline Conference in girls basketball.

In a dominating performance, the No. 1 seeded Bellringers ran away from No. 2 Morgan 62-44 to win the school’s fifth-straight Shoreline tournament title at Coginchaug High School in Durham Friday night.

“You certainly don’t set out to win five in-a-row. You just focus on today and the next opponent,” East Hampton coach Shaun Russell said. “But this group has been unbelievable in terms of their resolve and the character they show. It’s been really great to have my own daughter be a part of that. The seniors have been rock-solid in terms of defining the standard.”

The win was also the 44th-straight for the Bellringers who hold the longest winning streak in the state and are ranked No. 5 in GameTimeCT Girls Basketball Top 10 Poll.

Liana Salamone led East Hampton with 26 points. Jackie Russell added 17.

East Hampton jumped out early, leading 37-19 at halftime and by as much as 54-25 after three quarters. Morgan made a run, cutting the lead to 12 with just over three minutes left but could not get closer.

“They never gave up, I give them credit for that,” Morgan coach Caitlin Woods said. “Credit to East Hampton, they played so well. They are such a good team and so solid together as a group. We had some good looks but it just wasn’t falling for us tonight.”

Ava Johnson had 19 to lead Morgan.

Morgan and East Hampton, who played twice in the regular season, could potentially meet for a fourth time in the Class M quarterfinals.

East Hampton is the defending CIAC Class M champion and will open its title defense as the No. 1 seed. The Bellringers get a first round bye and will face the winner of No. 17 Seymour and No. 16 Plainfield in the second round next Friday.

Morgan is the No. 8 seed in the Class M tournament. They also get a first-round bye and will face the winner of No. 9 Kolbe Cathedral and No. 24 International/Aerospace in the second round.

Liana Salamone, East Hampton: The junior guard made three 3-pointers as part of her game-high 26 points.

“It definitely feels amazing. It just shows how much work we have put in all season but we are not done yet, so, watch out. We are lit. We have fire under our butts and we keep on building off of each other.” – East Hampton junior Liana Salamone

SHORELINE CHAMPIONSHIP

MORGAN 6 13 8 17-- 44 EAST HAMPTON 14 23 17 8-- 62

Morgan: Maeve Madura 1 4-8 7; Sadie Passante 2 2-2 6; Ava Johnson 7 4-4 19; Lili Luciano 1 0-0 2; Victoria O’Neill 2 0-0 4; AJ Luke 1 0-0 2; Emma Teuner 2 0-0 4. Totals: 15 6-16 44

East Hampton: Amber Murphy 1 0-2 2; Olivia DeMartino 1 0-0 3; Dempsey Russell 0 0-0 0; Katherine Searles 0 0-0 0; Liana Salamone 9 5-9 26; Delaney Russell 4 2-2 10; Jackie Russell 6 2-3 17; Katie Ireland 1 2-2 4; Kayleigh Engle 0 0-0 0; Avery Parmelee 0 0-0 0. Totals: 22 11-16 62

3-point field goals: M—Johnson, Madura. EH—Salamone 3, DeMartino, Jackie Russell 3

A controversial vote on proposed cuts to the school budget in East Hampton pushed taxpayers to the polls Tuesday.

On the ballot were almost $800,000 in cuts to the school district’s budget. If voters approve the cuts, the superintendent, Paul Smith, said five teaching positions would need to be eliminated including two elementary teachers, one high school English teacher and two special education teachers who work in the upper elementary level.

This opportunity to vote came after the town council held several lengthy meetings were there was public outcry from parents, students and teachers who opposed the cuts.

Several parents turned out to vote on Tuesday, including Elizabeth Quealy, who has three young children, two of whom are already in the public school district.

“Education is important whether or not you have children in the school system. It’s our future and it’s really what we need to focus on,” Quealy said.

Quealy said her oldest child in fifth grade needs additional help with math and reading. She is concerned about the potential increase in class size and reduction of resources if the budget were to be approved.

Jude Barry, who has three children in the district in grades 7, 9 and 11, shared the same concerns.

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“The whole reason I moved to this town is for the children,” said Barry. “The ratios will be worse and the kids won’t get the attention they’ll need.”

One of Barry’s children even attended one of the previous town council meetings.

“How often do you see children, children at a town hall meeting? So, the fact that our kids are bright enough is a statement of the educational system of itself,” said Barry.

But other voters questioned if the school district could be doing a better job budgeting with the money they already have.

“How much do we really need? How much bigger schools? How many more athletic fields do we have to have,” said Tim Larson, an East Hampton voter.

“I think it’s too high because they increase the budget ever year and they have less students,” said Dale Weiman, an East Hampton voter.

The district has seen a slight decrease in enrollment and have adjusted accordingly, according to Superintendent Smith. For example, in the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 school year, enrollment decreased by approximately 20 children each year. The district took steps and already eliminated an elementary teaching position each time.

Smith said that if the proposed $800,000 cuts went through and another two elementary positions had to be eliminated, they would have to combine classes and the size would go from 20 or 21 students in a class to 24 or 25.

But some voters said the taxes in East Hampton are starting to become unreasonably expensive.

“The mill rates are become so high that it becomes very difficult for the average person to even afford a home in this area, unless you're making a certain amount of money. And that's kind of pushes those people who've been here, legacy people who've been here for a long time, away from it,” Larson said. “If you look around you, even the building in front of us [Town Hall] cost us millions and millions of dollars. And to that point, it just becomes almost difficult for someone to make it on the taxes, especially if you as you go toward retirement,” said Larson.

Voters had until 8 p.m. on Tuesday to vote.

MIDDLETOWN — A Superior Court judge on Wednesday dismissed animal cruelty charges against an East Hampton horse trainer after the prosecutor admitted there wasn't enough evidence to take the case to trial.

Middletown prosecutor Jennifer Cooper told the judge that Alexis Wall had "maintained her innocence all along."

"The arrest warrant was replete with allegations that can't be proven beyond a reasonable doubt," Cooper said.

Wall, 30, had pleaded not guilty to 20 counts of animal cruelty, including nine counts of torture, seven counts of mutilating or cruelly beating or unjustifiably injuring an animal, two counts of failing to provide proper drink and two counts of overworking.

The horse trainer was arrested in July 2022 following an investigation by the state Animal Control Division into the alleged mistreatment of several horses while Wall was working as a trainer at the now-defunct White Birch Farm in Portland.

During the proceeding, Wall's attorney Robert Pickering chided the press and animal rights advocates for keeping his client's arrest in the news. Wall stood silently next to her attorney as Cooper announced her decision to end her prosecution of the case.

"No horse was victimized, no owner was victimized, how could a victim be standing before this court?" Pickering asked when Judge Julia Dewey heard from a horse owner who claimed her animal was abused by Wall. "My client has bee ostracized by the horse community," Pickering said before adding that the press blew the arrest "way out of proportion."

Reilly was upset with the outcome. She told Dewey that a video shows her horse Ocho breathing heavily and in obvious distress while tightly tethered so his head couldn't move as a method of Wall's training. "The video does not show a horse trainer but rather the defendant enjoying inflicting cruelty on Ocho," Reilly said during the proceedings.

Wall's arrest and court proceedings had been closely watched by animal rights activists who were concerned when a judge didn't order her to refrain from working with animals while the case was pending.

It was unclear whether Wall is still employed as a horse trainer, but court officials hadn't limited her ability to work with animals as a condition of her release. Pickering said the allegations and arrest, even though it was dismissed, would make it hard for her to be hired as a trainer.

According to an incident report by the Animal Control Division, Wall said she began working at White Birch Farm in November 2021, around the same time that an arrest warrant alleges she began abusing horses there.

At the center of the allegations were the controversial techniques that the warrant said she used on the horses she trained. According to the warrant, Wall’s methods were grounded in a philosophy that focused on inflicting pain.

Under Wall’s training, horses would be tied up for hours, deprived of food and water, overworked and sometimes maliciously whipped or beaten to the point of injury, the warrant stated.

Wall was described in the warrant as having used a training philosophy that focused on inflicting pain, and she encouraged her students to adopt a similar approach.

“Pain is an important part of training — that horses listen to pain and the pain must be great enough to make a lasting impression,” she allegedly told one witness, according to the affidavit.

During one training class, Wall allegedly repeated the sentiment that “horses listen to pain,” and proceeded to “hit horses in the face with lead ropes and encouraged everyone attending to do the same,” according to the affidavit.

The alleged abuse first came to light when Portland Animal Control received an anonymous letter in May, the warrant stated. Authorities from the state Animal Control Unit also received a complaint about a week later, the warrant stated.

After receiving the complaint, Animal Control Officer Tanya Wescovich wrote in the affidavit that she spoke with one witness who said she had boarded her horse at White Birch Farm.

The witness told Wescovich that “under the instruction and training of Alexis Wall, several horses have been subjected to cruel punishments, such as withholding food and water, tying for long periods of time, excessive use of spurs and being ridden hard for long periods of time,” the warrant stated.

Another witness, whom Wescovich encountered while at the farm, said in the affidavit that she observed “more than one horse bleeding from the mouth after being ridden or having their head tied tightly to the saddle, and horses whipped excessively.”

During the state's investigation, Wall told an animal control officer that, "I do not abuse horses. ... I have seen people abuse horses and I do not abuse them," the report stated.

Oct 12, 2023|Updated Oct 12, 2023 1:46 p.m.

EAST HAMPTON — Town officials were pleased to see the $53.9 million 2023-24 budget passed by voters Tuesday, after several months of controversy and an initial failed referendum that saw many resident pushing for more spending.

Many voters who rejected the initial spending plan cited cuts to education included in the plan. Voters' approval Tuesday avoids any cuts in education staff. The $35,858,655 Board of Education budget was approved by a vote of 1,043-678, while the $17,995,316 town government budget was approved by a vote of 945-777.

“The community has shown that they care about supporting education,” Board of Education Chairwoman Christina Tammaro Dzagan said Wednesday.

Original proposals sought $36.4 million to be allocated to the schools, $2.1 million more than in 2022-23, a rise of 6.21 percent; and for $18.5 million in government funding, an increase of about $1 million, or 5.75 percent over the last fiscal year.

But on April 5, the finance board proposed $35.6 million for the schools, cutting Superintendent Paul K. Smith's request by some $792,000, Town Manager David Cox said Wednesday.

So, finance officials restored $250,000 after the schools chief made cuts, he added, primarily in health insurance costs.

Town Manager David Cox characterized Tuesday’s voter turnout as “extraordinary.”

“That’s more along the lines of what’s ‘normal’ for a town budget these days for the May referendum,” he said.

“It was a little bit nerve-wracking during the day as I’m looking at relatively low numbers of people coming out,” Cox said. “I wasn’t sure quite what was going to happen. But, ultimately, in the end, 1,700 people shared their opinion and got it done.”

Since 2017-18, East Hampton has bifurcated its budget into Board of Education and general government spending, Finance Director Jeff Jylkka said Tuesday afternoon. The schools allocation comprises more than 33 percent of the overall budget.

Over the course of budget season, multitudes, including students, advocated for more funding by speaking out at public meetings, carrying signs outside Town Hall during the referendums, and other efforts.

They urged town leaders to send the proposal back to finance board members to consider a restoration of earlier funding.

Others who didn’t want an increase in school funds turned out to make their arguments on either side, Jylkka said.

Those who opposed cuts to the schools in the initial spending package used the slogan “Vote No, Too Low.”

Those concerned about staff cuts included adults and students, who turned out with posters reading "protect our schools," "budget cuts hurt kids" and simply "vote no."

“They felt if the budget got voted down, and more people thought it was a no vote because it was too low, funds would be restored,” Jylkka said.

Two separate referendum questions were meant to gauge public opinion on why voters cast their ballots either way.

Of 1,361 voters who responded to a query about the cost of the town government budget, 675 said it was too high, and 686 felt it was too low — a nearly even split.

Of 1,411 people who responded to a similar question about the Board of Education, 667 still felt it was too low, but the remainder — 744 — thought it was too high.

The proposed tax rate was 37 mills, a rise of 2.4 mills. The Finance Board is expected to set the final tax rate at its July 17 meeting.

The Board of Finance already set the motor vehicle tax rate at 32.46 mills.

At the May 30 referendum, both budgets were rejected by large margins: general government, 2,015 to 904; and on the school side, 2,296 to 617.

Cox and others are working on a way for residents to better engage in local government.

“One of the things we’ve been talking about, and I’ve tried to commit to is in the future, is finding a way to provide opportunities for members of the community to participate earlier in the process and at more appropriate times,” he said.

It’s especially interesting to see many residents getting involved in the process, Cox said.

“In any economy, it’s a shock when your community generally comes out and says the cost of our government isn’t high enough. Fundamentally, that is a surprising activity any time you hear it on such a broad scale,” he added.

“This time, lots of people became engaged,” he said, with hundreds of people coming to council and finance and school board meetings, commenting and being active.

“That’s not been the norm,” Cox said, pointing to relatively low numbers of people coming to regular meetings. “It’s a challenge for government all over: How do we get people involved and at the right times?”

East Hampton is a very engaged community when it comes to voting on budgets, Jylkka said. “You have people who are clearly passionate about education and you have folks who are passionate about the other services," such as parks and rec, police and public safety.

It’s not that uncommon in East Hampton for the proposed budget to go to voters multiple times. In fact, it took four referendums for residents to approve town government funding for the 2018-19 fiscal year, Jylkka said.

Most Connecticut municipalities have already approved their 2023-24 spending plans. Because East Hampton hadn’t done so by the end of the fiscal year, June 30, council members authorized $3.1 million in spending as a stopgap measure for July, setting a temporary tax rate of 34.66.

The average impact of the budget on taxpayers is laid out in budget estimates prior to the vote.

Property owners whose homes are assessed at $100,000 will now pay $3,606 a year, a monthly increase of $12; while those valued at $500,000 are billed $18,030 annually, a rise by $58 a month.

It’s important for people to communicate their needs and wants during budget season, the town manager added. “Any involvement is good involvement,” the town manager said.

To view the budget package, visit easthamptonct.gov.