Four Running for Three Open School Board Seats

Four candidates, including two incumbents, will seek three open seats in next month's school board elections, which will be held on May 17. 

Interested parties had until 5:00 p.m. Monday afternoon to submit a petition.

Current Riverhead Central School Distrcit Board of Education President Ann Cotten-DeGrasse and Vice President Greg Meyer will run together along with Patricia Sapienza-Brown, said Cotten-DeGrasse. Kimberly Ligon is also running.

Cotten-DeGrasse, a teacher in the school district for over 30 years and former teachers' union president, is seeking her second term. She said that she wants to see through the school district's bond proposal, which is expected to go to vote in September.

"I kind of felt like once I embarked on this bond issue, I owe something to the community to follow through on it," she said. 

Meyer is also seeking his second term on the board. Meyer serves as an EMT at Brookhaven National Lab and volunteers as a football coach. He has two children in the school district.

Cotten De-Grasse said they decided to run as a block with Sapienza-Brown because she, "felt we needed a third person we could get along with, somebody we knew.

"She is pleasant to the community and board members," Cotten-DeGrasse said. "Plus she's well known in the community."

Ligon said on Tuesday morning that she was unaware the other three candidates were running as a block.

"That's new information to me," she said. "But I don't feel it's three against one. I don't have much of an opinion on it one way or the other."

Ligon said above all, she is concerned with safety in Riverhead schools. 

"Safety is the number one concern I've heard," she said. "The kids are going to school to get an education. They shouldn't have to worry about the concerns of the buildings they're in."