Mike Simonelli’s Actions Raise Serious Red Flags for Smithtown Schools

As voters consider who should help lead the Smithtown Central School District, it’s important to look closely at each candidate’s record. Mike Simonelli’s conduct—both at public board meetings and as a political candidate—should give every voter serious pause.

After making grossly discriminatory remarks about LGBTQ+ students—remarks that sparked a student-led protest and News 12 Coverage the district had to send a letter home to all parents urging respect for all students. Then, Simonelli escalated his behavior at another board meeting by publicly describing identifying characteristics of a student, effectively outing them as LGBTQ+ before they had done so themselves.

As a direct result of his actions, the district stopped live-streaming board meetings—a significant loss of transparency and accessibility for the public. But the consequences go deeper than just optics. They raise serious concerns about the district’s exposure to legal risk and the potential for costly discrimination lawsuits if Mike Simonelli were to be elected to the Board of Education.

Source: BOE Meeting Minutes from 10/25/2022

And Simonelli’s concerning behavior isn’t limited to board meetings. When he previously ran for Suffolk County Legislature, Newsday reported that he agreed to a financial settlement with the state Board of Elections after being investigated for campaign finance violations. According to Newsday " The settlement states that Simonelli had "operational control" over the PBA PAC between September 28, 2020 and October 14th, 2021, more than four months after he had declared his candidacy in the 13th Legislative District. State election law forbids a candidate to be an agent of an independent expenditure committee that supports them."

Our community deserves school board members who lead with integrity, respect, and sound judgment—who protect students, not put the district at risk. Mike Simonelli has shown time and again that he is not that kind of leader.

News 12 Student-Led Walk-out after Simonelli speaks

https://longisland.news12.com/smithtown-hs-east-students-walk-out-in-protest-of-perceived-anti-lgbtq-comments-at-boe-meeting

*The video of the Board of Education meeting where Mr. Simonelli made these remarks has since been edited to remove them in order to protect the student involved. However, multiple individuals who were present at the meeting have confirmed the accuracy of what was said.