As of right now, there is a little battle going on in the Hamptons.
On October 29th, a straw vote will take place in the Southampton and Tuckahoe School Districts, determining if they are to proceed with the consolidation. This has created quite an uproar in the communities, as it unfortunately has various negative effects for both districts.
Taxes
According to this Newsday article, http://www.newsday.com/long-island/education/southampton-tuckahoe-school-merger-up-for-vote-1.6141002, Southampton taxes will go up 8.67%, and Tuckahoe taxes will go down a whopping 65%. From this perspective, the consolidation already seems unfair to Southampton residents and probably won't pass. You might think that Tuckahoe taxpayers will be dancing in the streets if this merger passes, but they too have reasons to be against it.
Westhampton Beach
For quite a few years, Tuckahoe residents had the choice of enrolling their children in Westhampton Beach High School instead of Southampton. This was taken away last year when Tuckahoe started enrolling all 8th graders in Southampton as part of the looming merger. If the consolidation goes through this year, however, there will still be Tuckahoe students at Westhampton Beach, and these students will be forced to enroll at Southampton, even seniors! This, of course, has many Tuckahoe parents and students up in arms.
My Stance
Therefore, I strongly doubt that this consolidation will pass, and I'm happy about that. Even if the Westhampton Beach situation was changed, the consolidation vote would have to pass in BOTH districts, and Southampton residents probably don't see any good reason to raise their taxes, even if the district is using scare tactics (http://www.southamptonschools.org/news.cfm?story=126787). However, I will be sure to keep us updated on the situation. Thanks for reading!
