Great Neck Board of Education President Rebecca Sassouni said she will no longer serve as the board’s president for the upcoming school year.

“I’m eager for the transition to the next as we rotate,” Sassouni said. “I think it’s a healthy transition for a board. It’s not to meant to be that someone remains president for too long.”

Sassouni said that she feels good about stepping down from her post, especially with the reassurance of Superintendent Kenneth Bossert’s ability to lead the district.

“The community that I lead with love now has a hand rocking the cradle of democracy and the nursery of democracy,” Sassouni said, referencing Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer’s comment that public schools are the nursery of democracy.

Sassouni made the announcement at the board’s final meeting of the year Thursday night.

The board will be holding its annual re-organizational meeting July 9 where the board determines who will fill the president and vice president roles. Sassouni said at last week’s meeting that she would not seek to renew her presidential role.

Sassouni said she is satisfied with her action, saying it comes with “a great deal of relief and joy.” She described her tenure as satisfying with many advancements made for the district.

She has served as the board’s president for the past three years. She was first elected as a trustee in 2017.

Bookending her time as president were two votes reflecting a wide disparity in public opinion.

The first that directly preceded her appointment was in 2021 when a budget vote was scheduled on a prominent holiday and drew strong opposition and a low pass rate.

That was in comparison to the most recent budget vote this May which received an 82% pass rate.

Sassouni cited a changing of times in the school district while she has served on the board, specifically attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic and broader global events.

Accomplishments Sassouni shared during her tenure as president included securing collective bargaining agreements, hiring Bossert, hiring Assistant Superintendent for Business John O’Keefe, hiring a new district counsel and establishing live-streamed meetings.

But struggles also existed during her tenure due to global and local tensions leading to divisiveness in the school district community, she said.

“Maintaining grace and equipoise, or whatever one wants to call it, have been a challenge for people, but we’ve endeavored to do so wherever humanly possible,” Sassouni said.

She said she has been personally proud of her efforts seeking and finding those consensuses to cater to the diversities of Great Neck, such as through the board’s goal of inclusivity.

“This notion of inclusiveness is paramount,” Sassouni said, which she referred to as a hallmark of her leadership.

Although Sassouni will not continue serving as president, she will remain on the board as a trustee. Her current term expires on June 30, 2026, and she is up for re-election that year.

She said she has enjoyed her service on the board and is looking forward to the next two years of her remaining term. She called her time on the board so far “well-spent.”