Smithtown Residents Vent Frustrations At School Board Meeting

SMITHTOWN, NY — Smithtown residents on Tuesday vented their anger about topics such as coronavirus-related safety measures taken by the district, as well as critical race theory, at the first Smithtown Board of Education meeting since the budget vote and trustee election.

Three incumbents were taken down by their respective challengers in the May 18 election: Stacy Murphy defeated Mandi Kowalik; John Savoretti beat incumbent Charles Rollins for a two-year term to replace Frank James; and Karen Wontrobski-Ricciardi won against Jeremy Thode.

Savoretti has assumed his position, while the other two are set to start later this summer, according to Newsday.

The public participation segment of the meeting began at roughly the 47:20 mark of the video.

Residents told the remaining incumbents that they plan to vote them out when their terms expire.

One man told the board his son has been quarantined four times and lost roughly 50 days of education. He questioned how effective the district's quarantine protocol is and expressed his frustration at his son's English teacher, saying the teacher displays "racial prejudices" in his classroom and does not hide his political beliefs to students.

A woman told attendees that the "schools should not be used for expressing political positions," and accused a Smithtown High School West special education teacher of being an "admitted Antifa" who "preaches anti-police rhetoric like F U police."

Another woman referred to "vulgar Twitter posts" by the same special education teacher.

In an April 29 letter to the community from the superintendent and Board of Education, the district says it did not adopt critical race theory. Rather, it adopted a goal related to "equity and inclusivity," it said.

"Discussions regarding diversity, equity and inclusion are important," officials wrote. "The District considers our work to address issues related to these topics to be a moral imperative and essential to our efforts to meet the needs of all students. It is unfortunate that this work has become controversial, and given the proliferation of misinformation related to our efforts, we feel compelled to set the record straight."