Five candidates vie for four Riverhead school board seats on May 19

One seat on the Riverhead school board is already changing hands, and the question for May 19 is whether voters will do more than simply fill the opening left by Virginia Healy. Healy said she will not seek re-election after six years on the board, leaving five candidates to compete for four seats in an election that will also decide the district budget.

The Riverhead Central School District’s Annual Budget Vote and Board of Education Election is set for Tuesday, May 19, 2026. The board adopted a proposed 2026-27 budget of $218.88 million on April 2, a 3.52% increase over the current year, and district officials scheduled a public hearing for May 6 before voters have the final say. For Riverhead families, that means the same ballot will shape both who sits on the board and how much the district plans to spend next school year.

The spending plan is being built under familiar pressure points: special education, transportation, benefits and charter-school costs. About $40.2 million is earmarked for programs serving students with disabilities, roughly $2.7 million more than this school year, and special education accounts for more than half of the increase in the proposed budget. Those numbers matter in a district the size of Riverhead, where Ballotpedia says 5,656 students attended eight schools during the 2023-24 school year.

The five-candidate field also makes this election unusual. In 2023, seven candidates ran for four seats, a busier race than this spring’s contest. With only five names vying for four spots, the outcome is more likely to preserve the current direction of the board than to upend it, though Healy’s departure ensures at least one new face. The district’s seven-member board will still have to make decisions on staffing, class offerings and support services while working within the state tax levy cap.

That tension between stability and change is what gives this otherwise low-key school election its weight. The district has posted budget information throughout the March-to-May process, and candidate disclosure deadlines are set for April 20, May 14 and June 8. For voters, the immediate issue is not just who wins a seat, but who will help steer Riverhead through another budget season defined by rising costs and tightly limited room to maneuver.