Three Vying For Two Hampton Bays Board of Education Seats

Retiring Hampton Bays science teacher Richard Iannelli is challenging current board members Anne Culhane and Liz Scully for one of their seats on the Hampton Bays School Board in this month’s trustee election.

Mr. Iannelli has lived in the district since 1996, and has been teaching science — Earth science, marine science living environment and forensic science — for the past three decades, 20 of those years he’s spent teaching in Hampton Bays. He has also been the director of the district’s Alternative School for the past seven years.

“Teaching, by far, has been the most rewarding experience of my life,” Mr. Iannelli said. “Working at Hampton Bays High School for 20 years has provided me with the unique perspective of our district’s abilities to initiate and improve student achievement. I am proud to have been a part of this forward-thinking district and their policies guiding Hampton Bays. I have spent my life educating myself and encouraging others to be more aware of the wants and needs of our district and our students.”

Before teaching, he was a full-time carpenter and operational superintendent for an environmental hazardous waste remediation company on Long Island.

“I developed many skills, such as working with customers, job contracts, sealed public bids and various building codes,” Mr. Iannelli said.

He’s also been co-president of the Hampton Hills Association, which consists of 83 homes in Hampton Bays, since 2012. When Superstorm Sandy destroyed the association’s 600 feet of bulkhead on Shinnecock Bay, he and his co-president saw an opportunity to rebuild the bulkhead using the latest environmental strategies. The Town of Southampton awarded the association a $168,000 grant to install a permeable reactive barrier to treat the nitrogen in the groundwater before it recharges to the marine waters.

“Being a part of this project, and a leader in the Hampton Hills Association, has allowed me to meet and interact with many members of our community while improving and protecting our local environment,” Mr. Iannelli said. “I also pride myself on making meaningful connections with all of the students that enter through the doors of Hampton Bays School District. These connections have allowed me to help students make some of the most difficult decisions in their lives, to become more comfortable with themselves and to see that each of them is their own unique individual.”

He is choosing to run because he has a personal interest in improving the quality of education and services offered to students and community members.

“What drives me on a daily basis is my commitment to my students and helping them fulfill their dreams. I go to great lengths to help my students make connections between their efforts in school and the rewards they will receive after high school. My success is directly linked to their success,” Mr. Iannelli said. “I would like to use my knowledge and experience to continue improving and providing experiences for our students and to help them build brighter futures.”

While he touts current board members’ efforts to provide taxpayers with a fair budget while maintaining services to children and battling through the challenges of the pandemic, he said being immersed in the district provides him with a unique perspective of the district’s wants and needs.

Mr. Iannelli would like to improve ventilation in the elementary and high school buildings, similar to what was done at the middle school; investigate the possibilities of adding electives to special education and general student curriculums; and continue working to build opportunities and diversify the curriculum for students. For example, he’d like to see an engineering program including CAD drawing to prepare students to be more competitive in engineering and architecture programs post-graduation. Being in trades for 13 years, he would also like to explore the possibilities of adding more access to other vocational programs.

“By adding these courses, it would diversify and add opportunities for all of our students, as well as potentially open more career and interest paths for each of them,” Mr. Iannelli said. “I have seen what works and what could work better. I encourage collaborative decision-making and believe that the capacity to learn never reaches its end. I will work for the future of Hampton Bays by asking the hard questions, analyzing past and present data, using that data to come to informed decisions, and, by comparing costs, would hope to achieve the most for our tax dollars spent. Most importantly, I will always be focused on our students’ and community’s health and well-being. Our students are our future.”

Ms. Scully is running for her third consecutive term on the board. The 15-year resident and Southampton College alumna lives with her husband Fergus, and two daughters, Caelinn, who graduated from Hampton Bays in 2018, and Saorla, a member of the Class of 2021.

“I am extremely proud of our entire district team for the work that has been done during the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic caused life for many of us to pause, and as hard as we have worked as a board of education throughout this past year, I do feel that I have not finished all that I want to accomplish,” Ms. Scully said. “I look forward to returning to plan benchmark field trips and international travel opportunities; to bringing programs to our campus that enrich student learning and character education; and to adding more hands-on learning experiences.”

She is an active member of the school community, serving as president of the Hampton Bays Middle School Parent Teacher Organization, a member of the executive board of the High School Parent Teacher Student Association and a member of the Hampton Bays Booster Club. Ms. Scully has been on both the athletic and extracurricular committees, as well as the curriculum and technology committee.

“In that time, we have launched our one-to-one initiative, giving students access to Chromebooks and facilitating grant funding to aid in the expense of upgrading wireless capabilities,” she said. “This is something that I began working toward as an involved parent through our Parent Teacher Organization, and I was very excited to be able to see the idea come to fruition through my position as a board member. Through careful budgeting and smart spending, we have been able to add sustainable programs like the return of elementary school band and the AP Capstone program.”

As the owner of a local photography business, Ms. Scully said she’s loved connecting with community members, parents, students and teachers to listen to their stories and use those experiences to work to make the district the best it could be. She said she’s proud to be part of a team that is presenting a budget without a tax increase, and once again stressed how rewarding it’s been to be on a board that has helped the district navigate through the current health crisis.

“Every single member of our staff and leadership team worked tirelessly to ensure the needs of every student were met. Plans were constantly being updated, adapted, and re-evaluated to work with our students, their families and the Hampton Bays community,” Ms. Scully said. “We have a strong and collaborative team that I am proud to be a part of.”

Ms. Culhane has also been a resident of Hampton Bays for 18 years. She received a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Southampton College in 1998 and a master’s degree in literacy from Long Island University Riverhead in 2008. She has been a kindergarten teacher at East Quogue Elementary School for the past 18 years. She and her husband P.J. have two sons — Ethan, a senior headed to SUNY Cortland, and Thomas, a seventh-grader at Hampton Bays Middle School.

“My two boys both attend and thrive in the Hampton Bays schools, and I look forward to improving opportunities for all kids,” Ms. Culhane said. “Our current BOE has been very progressive and student-centered. I am so happy to have our kids back on the fields, on the stage and in back in the classroom full-time sharing what they have learned.”

The member of the curriculum and technology committee said she wants to keep class sizes small, and thinks as a mother and a teacher she is the right person for the job.

“As a mother, I am in contact with lots of families. I am a good listener, helper and I am approachable — helping the families in our community is the most rewarding part of being a trustee,” Ms. Culhane said. “I believe I am an effective communicator, decision-maker and team player. I understand what the teachers and administrators do on a day-to-day basis. I want to help them accomplish their goals. I’d be honored to be reelected. I hope to keep my spot on the board and keep helping Hampton Bays to be the amazing community it is.”