Long-time Riverhead Board of Education member and former president Brian Connelly resigned last week in the middle of his term.
Connelly, who was elected to his third three-year term on the board last year, had been absent from most school board meetings this school year. The school board will vote on Tuesday to accept his resignation, which was submitted last Tuesday, according to its agenda.
School board president James Scudder said in an interview Monday that Connelly resigned for “personal reasons.” Scudder thanked Connelly “for everything he did for the school, for the kids, his dedication and the time he spent” on the board.
Connelly did not return a call and text Monday requesting comment.
A New York City firefighter, Connelly has attended only six of the 19 regular and special meetings held this school year. He has missed the last eight consecutive meetings. Missing three consecutive meetings made Connelly eligible for removal under school board policy, but board members never took action to remove him.
Scudder said the board chose not to remove Connelly. “We wanted to leave it to his decision, when he was ready to make it. And I guess that’s the conclusion that he came to,” he said.
Connelly’s resignation leaves a vacancy on the seven-member board, which sets the school district’s educational policies and goals, establishes the district budget, and oversees the district’s management. The board may appoint someone to serve until the next school district election in May 2026 or choose to keep the seat vacant until the election. The school board candidate who places fourth in the May 2026 school board election contest would win Connelly’s seat and finish his term.
“We would like to fill [the vacancy] and have seven people on [the board],” Scudder said. He said the board would discuss a possible replacement for Connelly Tuesday and at the board’s meeting later this month.
“I don’t think it would be a good idea to keep six [trustees] for a whole school year and I think pretty much everyone else feels the same way,” he added.
Connelly was the longest-serving member of the current school board before his resignation, having been first elected in 2018. Connelly served as president of the school board during the 2022-2023 school year and as vice president of the board in the 2021-2022 school year.
During his time on the school board, Connelly flirted with a run for town council and was screened by the Riverhead Republican Committee, although he was never nominated.
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