KAREN WONTROBSKI-RICCIARDI – Smithtown School Board
Candidate: Karen Wontrobski-Ricciardi
Residence: St. James
Profession: Preschool Programming
First Elected: 2021
Current Seat on Board: Vice President
Karen Wontrobski-Ricciardi won a seat on the Board of the Smithtown Central School District in 2021 and after a turnover of majority on the board following the 2023 elections, Wontrobski-Ricciardi was selected by her caucus to serve as Vice President of the Board. She is running for a second term on the Board.
Editor’s Note: The position of Vice President itself is not on the ballot. Only numerical seats are up for election. The President and Vice President of the board are selected by the board members once the members are seated at the beginning of the term following the election.
Q: What is your professional background and how does it equip you for a position on the School Board?
A: I work in preschool programming and I’ve been very involved in the district for over fifteen years. I know what the parents are looking for, what the kids need, and what the core curriculum consists of.
Q: In your opinion, what is the top issue facing the Smithtown Central School District today?
A: We would like to make Smithtown an educational leader in Suffolk County, and that would encompass increasing, not just graduation rates, but also assessment scores. In the past two years, we have worked on getting honors courses added that previously hadn’t been there. We’re working towards enrichment and elementary education. We’ve extended the music program. Strong academics and meeting each child where they are is our focus. Every child needs something different, and we have to be focused on every single child.
Q: What is your top priority if re-elected to the Board?
A: I don’t think there should be a problem with identifying kids who need an enrichment program. They’re already serviced through the general classroom, for example, with a higher-level book during independent reading. Kids are all on different reading levels as they go through the grades, but are teachers handling it the same way? Are they challenging students with the same types of writing skills? These are mandated services that have specific, targeted curriculum and methods. The question is if the other kids are receiving the same type of challenge, not just the ones in the top ten percent. I want to make sure we’re identifying those kids, but also ensuring equitable enrichment across the board.
We can’t just be content with the concept that all kids did everything they were supposed to do at a grade level, and we’re doing fine. Let’s push them, let’s challenge them, let’s see what more they can do above grade-level or what they’re currently working on. My top priority would be to increase assessment scores and the achievement of our students through enrichment opportunities. I would ensure every student is given the opportunity to reach their full potential.
Q: What would you say is your best or proudest accomplishment in your time on Board?
A: Bringing back the middle school honors program. From the look we got at why the Board did away with the program is that they seemed to want to keep a “level playing field.” I don’t think the Board ever saw the value in the program, probably because it had been gone for over a decade. They likely never had the chance to see how much of a focus it is for the educators and how important it has ended up being with just one year back. We need to see the growth in trying new things, even if a middle school honors program isn’t a novel idea.
Q: What is your favorite quote, motto, or work ethic?
A: “You never know how strong you are until being strong is your only choice.” – Bob Marley.
Q: What are your favorite ways of connecting with your community?
A: My husband grew up in Smithtown and I moved here when we got married. I’ve been here for twenty-six years. My three children were all born and raised here and they had fantastic opportunities here, not just from the School District. My twins just graduated and they’re both in college and my oldest is active military. I feel very strongly that, just like my kids, the kids of today are pushed to their fullest potential. I feel serving on the School Board is important to do as a volunteer and it’s a way of giving back to my community. I’m concerned about the future of this district and that it remains strong, viable, and desirable.
STACY ANN MURPHY – Smithtown School Board
Candidate: Stacy Ann Murphy
Residence: Smithtown hamlet
Profession: Guidance Counselor
First Elected: 2021
Current Seat on Board: President
Stacy Ann Murphy won a seat on the Board of the Smithtown Central School District in 2021 and after a turnover of majority on the board following the 2023 elections, Murphy was selected by her caucus to serve as President of the Board. She is running for a second term on the Board.
Editor’s Note: The position of President itself is not on the ballot. Only numerical seats are up for election. The President and Vice President of the board are selected by the board members once the members are seated at the beginning of the term following the election.
Q: What is your professional background and how does it equip you for a position on the School Board?
A: I have over twenty years of experience in schools. I was a high school guidance counselor for seventeen years and the past three years have been a guidance counselor in early elementary schools. I’m very well-versed in the opportunities for students after high school and what opportunities are helpful while they’re in high school. I understand the hierarchies of a school and how to work with the central office.
Q: In your opinion, what is the top issue facing the Smithtown Central School District today?
A: The core education that students receive here needs to be strengthened. It’s a really big district, so ensuring that whether you attend Tackan all the way to Accompsett, you are receiving the same curriculum, the same pre-reading skills, writing skills, and vocabulary skills. It shouldn’t matter what school you attend, parents need to be assured their children are receiving an equitable education. Everyone should have access to the same exact resources and facilities. With middle school, our strengthening focus has been special education services. We have those services, but there was nothing specifically geared to challenging kids in those years who were learning how to manage upper level education in multiple classes with multiple teachers and going into high school where you have the opportunity to enter into honors in ninth grade in multiple subject areas and AP classes. You were not given that challenging work and that rigor and that preparation in eighth grade, where you were still supported very much so as an eighth grader as opposed to when you enter ninth grade and move on to 10th, that support goes backwards as it should because you are now growing up and you’re going to take on more responsibility. That’s how you can raise the bar and increase the kids who are graduating with advanced Regents diplomas, getting honors designations, and AP capstone designations. That is why schools are educational leaders. There’s no reason why we can’t be that in Suffolk County.
Q: What is your top priority if re-elected to the Board?
A: Consistent enrichment. Teachers can do their own enrichment, and they’re great at it, but we have seven different elementary schools in this district. If you do not have a consistent program that the district and administration is pushing out and training certain teachers on how to give enrichment to kids, then your education would depend on which teacher you get and what school you happen to go to that year. You might get really differentiated instruction. If you have a district this big, you need to have consistency in curriculum and instruction. All teachers have their own flair, but administration can’t say they have no idea what the teachers are doing for enrichment.
Some parents say this would take money away from special education, but it wouldn’t; that’s State-mandated. For example, with the middle school honors program, it didn’t take any money away, because instead of a teacher teaching five sections of Social Studies 8, the teacher teaches three sections of Social Studies 8 and two of Social Studies 8 honors. It doesn’t necessarily mean an addition; it might just be a shift. In this way, you’re getting to every kid, you’re pulling kids up who are ready to pulled up or are already there; you’re challenging them. Support isn’t just when you’re weak, it’s for when you’re strong too.
We have instructional committees who are looking into enrichment standards, but ultimately the granular changes lie with the directors and superintendent.
Q: What would you say is your best or proudest accomplishment in your time on Board?
A: The middle school honors program. Smithtown used to have the program and after having multiple discussions for the first two years of my term, I believe the district saw the value. We planned for the return of the program towards the end of the spring last year into summer and it started this year with academic honors offering in English Language Arts (ELA) and Social Studies. The directors and teachers of the program have raved about how amazing it is, how the students were rising to the occasion, and the writing abilities they saw of these eighth graders and how it’s preparing a larger group of students for continued upper-level classes in ninth grade. I am so excited to see the exponential effectiveness over the next couple of years to see where these kids who are rising to this challenge in 8th grade will go.
Q: What is your favorite quote, motto, or work ethic?
A: Never give up. On anything.
Q: What are your favorite ways of connecting with your community?
A: I’ve lived in Smithtown since I was ten years old. I have two children who attend the District. I want this Town to be known for being a community that works together and for a School District that is an educational leader.
The Messenger thanks Karen Wontrobski-Ricciardi and Stacy Ann Murphy for taking time for this interview for the purpose of this candidate spotlight.
About the Smithtown Central School District
The Smithtown CSD was founded in the early 1900s and its motto is “education is the difference between civilization and chaos.” The District has a seven-member board with staggered three-year terms. The seats held by Murphy and Wontrobski-Ricciardi are the only seats up for election this year. Two terms expire in 2025 and three expire in 2026. CSD has seven elementary schools, three middle schools, and two high schools. The District covers Smithtown hamlet, Village of the Branch, and Nissequogue, most of Nesconset, St. James, and Head of the Harbor, and parts of Hauppauge and Kings Park.
