Riverhead School Board Rejects Petition to Remove Bettina Court from District

The Riverhead school board denied an application by a group of residents living on Bettina Court in Hampton Bays that requested the families be included in the Hampton Bays Union Free School District at their meeting on Tuesday night.

The residents, who live closer to the Hampton Bays school district than Riverhead, were requesting the board alter the districts boundaries to allow them to attend Hampton Bays schools. The group submitted an earlier request in June, but it was rejected because the applicants used the wrong form.

School board President Ann Cotten-Degrasse said the district met with the families, Fred Thiele, the Southampton Town Council and members of the Hampton Bays School District to discuss the move, but ultimately decided against it because the board worried they would set a precedent that allowed other families to opt out of the district.

"Basically what we said was, since we represent three towns, if we open this Pandora's box, where does it stop," Cotten-Degrasse said. She added that the district was unwilling to lose the tax revenue from those residents, especially with .

"Heaven forbid we should lose any more revenue," she said.