Riverhead School District

Fired Riley teacher defends rep after knife incident

(Credit: Jennifer Gustavson)
Riley Avenue Elementary School parents Vonda Trent, left, and Terri Nirrengarten told the school board May 13 they disagreed with how the district handled the knife incident. School officials decided to only notify the parents of the three children involved. (Credit: Jennifer Gustavson)

Before she could even settle into her classroom at Riley last July, Ms. Mariotti claims the school’s administration had told her this would be her last year teaching in the district. They said she wouldn’t receive tenure.

The reason?

Ms. Mariotti said she was told the “best” teachers were available, since many laid off during the recession were still looking for work.

But Ms. Mariotti — who, when she moved to the U.S. with her husband in 1990 had only a high school degree and didn’t speak English — vowed to herself that she would work extra hard this school year and “prove them wrong” about deciding not to grant her tenure.

“They were looking to get rid of me,” she said. “This is my passion and everybody knows that. To me, the kids were first — always.”

As to her work history in the district, Ms. Mariotti had earned a master’s degree in literacy and started working as a substitute teacher in 2006. In 2007 she was hired as a second-grade teacher at Riley. One year later, her position, along with several others, was excessed, though she continued to work in the district as a leave replacement for other teachers. That was until last year, when her position was reinstated.