Tuesday’s BOE Candidates: Three Choices, Three Slots Open
The real battle on Tuesday, May 19th is over the budget. But there are also three candidates sitting for the three open Rye School Board of Education seats. Nancy Pasquale and Chris Repetto are running for re-election. Kelly Smith-Powers is running for election for the first time. Laura Slack is retiring after nine years of Board service. Information about the candidates is provided below.
Nancy Pasquale
Nancy Pasquale has lived in Rye for 23 years and has two children in the schools. She has served the community as a Board of Education member for the past three years and chaired the Health & Safety Committee, serves as Board Liaison to the Curriculum Council and the Construction Safety Committee, serves as a member of the Policy and Facilities Committees, and acts as the Board’s representative to the Westchester-Putnam School Boards Association.
Prior to joining the Board, Mrs. Pasquale volunteered in the Rye Schools for seven years as Milton School’s Parent Organization (P.O.) President and Vice President, as Chair of Cultural and Academic Enrichment, and as a member of the Excellence Team. Mrs. Pasquale was Co-Chair of the Friends of Rye City Schools for three years.
Mrs. Pasquale’s background is in curriculum design and HR development for corporations, including as a consultant for Conde Nast and TIME, Inc. She currently works at a local interior design firm. “My extensive volunteer service in our schools, including the last three years as a Board of Education member, has given me in-depth knowledge of the challenges facing public education at this critical time. I hope to put that knowledge and experience to good use by continuing to serve as a Trustee of the Board of Education.”
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Chris Repetto
Chris Repetto is a15 year Rye Resident and has three children in the schools. He has served as a Board of Education member for the past three years. Mr. Repetto currently acts as the Chair of the Finance Committee and the Chair of the Facilities Committee. Prior to joining the Board, Mr. Repetto volunteered as a member of the Finance and Curriculum Council Committees.
A 26 year veteran of Wall Street, Mr. Repetto is currently a Director in BlackRock’s Financial Markets Advisory Group. He has a B.A. in Economics and Psychology and a Graduate Certificate in Finance from the University of Rochester and an MBA from the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration at UVA.
“I have been able to bring my many years of financial services experience and insight to make a significant contribution to the Board as we have worked to help guide the District through increasingly challenging fiscal environments,” Mr. Repetto stated. “It has been an honor and a privilege to serve these past three as one of the voices of the Rye community on the School Board, and I very much look forward to the opportunity to continue my service to the community.”
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Kelly Smith-Powers
Kelly Smith-Powers has a background in Human Resources at Accenture and Merrill Lynch. Her most recent role was as a Director in Human Resources at Merrill Lynch. Mrs. Smith-Powers will soon have three children in the School District – she currently has one child at Midland School and twins entering Kindergarten in the fall. A product of the New York public school system, she and her family moved to Rye in 2012. For the past three years, she has served on the board of her neighborhood association and has volunteered in the schools. She has also done pro-bono HR consulting for a legal aid not-for-profit.
“I feel my human resources background will help me to be a collaborative and objective member of the Board of Education,” Mrs. Smith-Powers stated. “My chief concern is for the educational welfare of all children and preserving the legacy of educational excellence in Rye. I look forward to continuing the school board’s focus on operating in the most efficient and fiscally responsible way, while preserving competitive class sizes and subject and extracurricular offerings.”
