The Carle Place School District’s Board of Education elected Vanessa Dong-Monaco as its president for the 2025-26 school year, a position that she said she has sought since joining the board two years ago.
Dong-Monaco was a trustee during his first year on the board and served as the 1st vice president last year. Lawrence Zaino, the board’s long-time president, nominated Dong-Monaco to take his place at the district’s reorganization meeting on Tuesday, July 8.
Dong-Monaco grew up in Carle Place and kept her home there after moving to Manhattan to work as a technologist for a private equity firm. Dong-Monaco said her son attended elementary school and middle school in New York City and then completed his high school education in Carle Place in 2023.
It was around that time that Dong-Monaco said people in the community began asking her to run for the school board. She said people in the community told her that she would be an asset and that being an older parent on the board would be valuable.
“This could be a nice opportunity for me to give back,” Dong-Monaco said.
She asked board members from other districts about the position’s roles and responsibilities and said the conversations inspired her.
Dong-Monaco began a campaign to get herself onto the board, and she said that she discovered parts of Carle Place of which she was unaware.
“You would never think it would take this long to discover new things about this one square-mile town that you grew up in,” she said.
Dong-Monaco said her first year on the board was all about learning, observing, understanding what it’s like to be on the board, and learning more about the district’s inner workings.
Dong-Monaco said she had texted with Zaino about being president and he told her that she had the strength and knowledge to be a leader on the board.
“I just said to him, ‘hey, if you have any comments or constructive criticism, feel free to text me or let me know at any time,’ and he said ‘you’re doing fantastic,’” she said.
Dong-Monaco said the board’s “new blood” will create positive change for the district moving forward.
