Board of Ed Election Race Will be Uncontested

Three for three.

The Rye City School District Board of Education election race will be uncontested. Three candidates have submitted the required nominating petitions and will be added to the ballot to run for the three open seats on the seven member board. The Board vote, along with the vote on the $110 million school budget, will be on Tuesday, May 21, 2024.

The three candidates will be Callie Erickson (incumbent, has served two terms), Valerie Lapham (new), and Matthew Schibanoff (new). Chris Repetto (served 4 terms) is not standing for re-election and Kelsey Johnson is not standing for reelection (served 1 term).

You can read our 2021 interview with Callie Erickson, and her current bio below. Schibanoff’s bio is below. Lapham did not return a requested bio by press time. Lapham and Schibanoff are both Midland Elementary School parents. Lapham is the current co-PTO president.

We will be offering all three the opportunity to participate in a question and answer interview prior to the election.

Erickson’s bio

Callie Erickson has lived in Rye for over 13 years with her husband and three children who attend Rye Middle School and Rye High School. Callie has been a Trustee on the Board of Education for six years and is running for a third term. Currently she serves as the Facilities Committee Chairperson and is a member of the Policy Committee and the Curriculum Council. Prior to joining the Board, she volunteered at several community organizations and served as the Secretary of the City of Rye Finance Advisory Committee, Treasurer of the Osborn Executive Board, Chairperson of the Advisory Board of Rye Presbyterian Nursery School, and Treasurer of the Rye Free Reading Room’s Auxiliary Board. Callie previously worked in Business Development and M&A at JPMorgan, Chancellor/AMFM, and IDT Entertainment. She has a BA from Princeton University and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Schibanoff’s bio

Matt Schibanoff has lived in Rye for two years and has children at Midland School. Matt is currently a National Account Manager at Athletic Brewing, the largest non-alcoholic beer brand in the country. Prior to joining Athletic, Matt spent the majority of his career in the financial services industry, most recently Institutional Sales at Jefferies, and was a CFA Charterholder. He has a BA from Colgate University.