The Great Neck Board of Education election, which will now take place on June 9, features both a contested and uncontested race for two spots on the board.
Trustees Rebecca Sassouni and Jeffrey Shi were elected to the board for the first time in 2017. The two took the former seats of Lawrence Gross, who served on the board for 35 years, and Susan Healy, who served for 10.
Shi is running unopposed, while Sassouni is challenged by John Jahng, who currently serves on the District Advisory Committee, according to board President Barbara Berkowitz.
Jahng declined to comment at this time.
Shi defeated Nikolas Kron in the May 2017 election after candidates Grant Toch and Michael Golden dropped out. Sassouni won unopposed after her opponent, Ilya Aronovich, dropped out of the race.
In her second time around and in the midst of an unconventional campaign due to the coronavirus pandemic, Sassouni, a mother of four and a lawyer, said she has lived in Great Neck for 26 years.
Sassouni touted the rest of the board, along with the staff, parents and residents that make up the school district. Sassouni said she is appreciative for the past three years of serving the community.
“The first three years flew by,” Sassouni said. “There was a gradual learning curve to go along with it, but it has been an experience I am grateful for and I hope that I am re-elected again this year.”
Sassouni touted her experience serving the community before being elected to the school board in 2017. She has served as parent co-chair for the Shared Decision Making Committee at Great Neck North High School and John F. Kennedy School, a past officer for the United Parent Teacher Council and chair of its legislative committee, and is the current president of the Sephardic Heritage Alliance Inc.
“I have been involved with the community in some very gratifying, meaningful, and important ways,” Sassouni said. “I have a very procedural mindset when it comes to the Board of Education, and I’m a strong believer that procedures have helped us more efficiently as a board the past three years.”
Shi agreed with Sassouni’s sentiments and thanked the community and the board for the past three years.
“[The board] works with a great team of administration, teachers, parents and residents throughout the district,” Shi said. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to be running unopposed and to continue serving the entire school district.”
Elections will take place on June 9 due to the coronavirus pandemic. As a result, everyone who resides in the district and registered to vote will be receive an absentee ballot, according to Berkowitz.
Berkowitz said the ballots are not applications to have an absentee ballot sent to them, but rather directly the absentee ballot with a postage-paid envelope included.
Berkowitz said the district is sending out more than 30,000 ballots, which must be received no later than 5 p.m. on Tuesday, June 9.
