I write in my personal capacity  to acknowledge with gratitude my re-election to a second one-year term as president of the Great Neck Public Schools Board of Education.

I thank my colleagues, who, like me, each volunteer to serve hundreds of uncompensated hours in prep time, executive session, events, committee meetings, and public action meetings per year, for the nomination and unanimous election. I also thank Superintendent of Schools Teresa Prendergast and her administration, as well as the entire GNPS staff for another safe and  productive year of growth and learning, including both social-emotional and academic, of  thousands of students, both public and non-public, and of staff.

This past school year, which was marked by a return to in-person schooling during an ongoing mask mandate, as well as some controversies regarding curriculum, resulted in a number of contentious public action meetings of the board. It was also the first year that Great Neck Board of Education meetings were live-streamed and recorded.

I thank the members of the public who took the time to write to the Board and/or speak on the record at meetings to address their concerns. Each was heard and considered.

To me, Great Neck remains a fascinating and exciting place to live and engage in public service. A microcosm of the nation, Great Neck is pluralistic and diverse in many respects, including ideological, socio-economical, ethnic, religious, ability, and gender.

This kaleidoscopic pluralism is evident at the uplifting and joyous culminating end-of-year events such as Faculty Recital, Memorial Day, Flag Day, Adult Learning Center, Village School, North and South High School graduations which I felt privileged to attend.

Simultaneously, amidst this pluralism, a unifying common denominator is Great Neck’s historic and continuing support for education. It is reassuring that, this past May, our budget passage rate increased over the prior year’s by over nine per cent, indicating that voter support for Great Neck Public Schools remains steadfast.  May it continue!

Hoping everyone has a wonderful,  restorative summer.

Rebecca Sassouni

Great Neck