Four vie for two seats on school board

Two newcomers are looking to unseat two incumbent school board members Laurie Downs and Elizabeth Silva in this year’s election.

Jerome Bost of Riverhead and Matthew Wallace of Calverton are seeking election to three-year terms of office as district trustees in the election on May 21.

Bost and Wallace said they running as a team for the board seats with the support of the Riverhead Central Faculty Association, the union representing Riverhead Central School District teachers.

Bost, 35, is a legislative aide in the Suffolk County Legislature and a student at Suffolk County Community College, where he is currently the student body representative on the college’s board of trustees. He grew up in Bridgeport, Connecticut and has lived in Riverhead for four years. He is graduating from Suffolk this month and is entering the public policy and political science program at Stony Brook University this fall.

Wallace, 48, is a nurse who works at Northwell Family Health in Riverhead. He’s been a nurse for 30 years and is an EMT and volunteer firefighter in the Wading River Fire Department, serving two terms as a captain. He is also a former commissioner of the Wading River Fire District. He is the father of four, with a daughter and a son in college and two sons in the district. He coaches PAL football and lacrosse.

Downs, 63, a former PTO president and activist, was a self-styled district watchdog for many years prior to her election to the school board in 2016. She videotaped the school board meetings for broadcast on the cable government access channel and reported on board activities for the WRIV “Dawn Patrol” radio show. A longtime Rivehead resident, she is the mother of two adult children who went through the public school system in Riverhead.

Silva, 56, was elected last year to a 13-month term, filling a vacancy created by a resignation. An Aquebogue resident, Silva is a special education teacher at the Westhampton Beach Learning Center. She is the mother of two daughters; one is in graduate school at Stony Brook University, the other is a student at Riverhead High School.

Bost said he pledges to be “an advocate for our students here in Riverhead School District.”

Wallace said security and building safety is a priority for him. He said he’d like to increase security in the district. Security has improved, he said, but he thinks the district should look at tools such as metal detectors. Wallace also said he thinks the district needs more than one school resource officer and he would look to work with the town police department to add more officers.

Downs said she’s seeking re-election because “I’m not done.” The school board has worked with the administration to make some needed changes, she said, but more changes are needed and she want to be part of the process.

“I vote with my conscience and my heart,” Downs said. “I truly concentrate on the child, the parent and the taxpayer.”

Silva said she wants to continue to serve on the board “to support our schools, our students, our teachers and our staff.” She said she supports school superintendent Dr. Aurelia Henriquez, whose leadership has brought progress to the district. As a board member her role is to do everything possible to have good outcomes for our kids — not only the schools but each individual child,” Silva said.