Save East Hampton’s Smart Start Program and Protect Early Childhood Education
Save East Hampton’s Smart Start Program and Protect Early Childhood Education
The Issue
Save East Hampton's Smart Start Program and Protect Early Childhood Education
Our Children Deserve Better
The Town of East Hampton is considering eliminating or reducing the Smart Start Preschool Program for the 2026-2027 school year. As parents, taxpayers, educators, grandparents, and community members, we are asking our town leaders to reconsider this decision and preserve a program that has helped countless children successfully transition into kindergarten.
Smart Start is more than a preschool program—it is the foundation of educational success for many East Hampton children.
East Hampton's own budget presentation highlights that our students perform above Connecticut state averages in multiple academic areas. Strong academic achievement does not happen by accident. It begins with early childhood education and the opportunities we provide our youngest learners.
Smart Start helps children enter kindergarten prepared, confident, and ready to learn. It develops critical social, emotional, and academic skills while providing a structured learning environment that supports future success.
Smart Start is school readiness, not childcare.
The program is also a vital resource for working families. Parents who live, work, and pay taxes in East Hampton rely on Smart Start to provide high-quality early education while allowing them to remain active members of the workforce.
Working families depend on this program.
We are also deeply concerned about the impact this decision could have on the dedicated educators who make Smart Start successful. Teachers such as Stacey Gibson have positively influenced countless East Hampton children through their passion, professionalism, and commitment to early childhood education.
Connecticut continues to invest in early childhood education because state leaders recognize that preschool programs improve school readiness, strengthen communities, and support working families. East Hampton should be exploring every available funding opportunity, grant, and partnership before considering cuts to a program that benefits children and families directly.
The cost of losing early childhood education outweighs the short-term budget savings. Once a program like Smart Start is lost, rebuilding it becomes far more difficult and costly than preserving it today.
We respectfully call upon the East Hampton Town Council, Board of Finance, and Board of Education to work together to preserve the Smart Start Program and identify alternative solutions that protect this invaluable resource.
The future of our community begins with its youngest learners. If East Hampton is proud of its educational success, then we must continue investing where that success begins: with our youngest learners.
Please sign this petition to help save Smart Start for the Kindergarten Classes of 2027, 2028, and the generations that follow.
Goal is 500 Signatures
279
The Issue
Save East Hampton's Smart Start Program and Protect Early Childhood Education
Our Children Deserve Better
The Town of East Hampton is considering eliminating or reducing the Smart Start Preschool Program for the 2026-2027 school year. As parents, taxpayers, educators, grandparents, and community members, we are asking our town leaders to reconsider this decision and preserve a program that has helped countless children successfully transition into kindergarten.
Smart Start is more than a preschool program—it is the foundation of educational success for many East Hampton children.
East Hampton's own budget presentation highlights that our students perform above Connecticut state averages in multiple academic areas. Strong academic achievement does not happen by accident. It begins with early childhood education and the opportunities we provide our youngest learners.
Smart Start helps children enter kindergarten prepared, confident, and ready to learn. It develops critical social, emotional, and academic skills while providing a structured learning environment that supports future success.
Smart Start is school readiness, not childcare.
The program is also a vital resource for working families. Parents who live, work, and pay taxes in East Hampton rely on Smart Start to provide high-quality early education while allowing them to remain active members of the workforce.
Working families depend on this program.
We are also deeply concerned about the impact this decision could have on the dedicated educators who make Smart Start successful. Teachers such as Stacey Gibson have positively influenced countless East Hampton children through their passion, professionalism, and commitment to early childhood education.
Connecticut continues to invest in early childhood education because state leaders recognize that preschool programs improve school readiness, strengthen communities, and support working families. East Hampton should be exploring every available funding opportunity, grant, and partnership before considering cuts to a program that benefits children and families directly.
The cost of losing early childhood education outweighs the short-term budget savings. Once a program like Smart Start is lost, rebuilding it becomes far more difficult and costly than preserving it today.
We respectfully call upon the East Hampton Town Council, Board of Finance, and Board of Education to work together to preserve the Smart Start Program and identify alternative solutions that protect this invaluable resource.
The future of our community begins with its youngest learners. If East Hampton is proud of its educational success, then we must continue investing where that success begins: with our youngest learners.
Please sign this petition to help save Smart Start for the Kindergarten Classes of 2027, 2028, and the generations that follow.
Goal is 500 Signatures
279
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Petition created on June 9, 2026