Sassouni challenged in ed board race

Niloufar Tabari opposing incumbent as two vie for outgoing Shi’s seat

BY ROBERT PELAEZ

Both seats on the Great Neck Board of Education up for election this year feature contested races, with President Rebecca Sassouni the lone incumbent seeking to retain her spot.

Sassouni is running for re-election to the board against challenger Niloufar Tabari.

The seat currently held by Trustee Jeff Shi is being contested by Joanne Chan and Aili Zhang. Shi withdrew his petitions to run again several weeks ago and said he wanted to spend more time with his family.

Sassouni, who was first elected to the board in 2017, announced she will be running for re-election as a trustee in March. The Board of Education elects a trustee to the post of president each year. Being re-elected to the board, she said, would give her an opportunity to continue to serve the school district that her own children have attended.

“I have abiding love and gratitude to this community and also to this school district,” Sassouni told Blank Slate Media in March. “And I’m very appreciative that my family enjoys the pluralism here.”

Sassouni said she was pleased with some of the practices adopted by the board since she took over as president in 2021. These include the live-streaming of board meetings to make them more easily accessible. The board’s decision-making and collaborative work, she said, is something she lauded during the interview.

“I think that our decision-making has become much more deliberative and more process-oriented, which I’m very proud of,” Sassouni said. “We are working together very collaboratively and very collegially in executive session and in public.”

When asked if she believes there is a sense of divisiveness, Sassouni said she tries to remain “as judicious as possible” and promote the education of students rather than combatting certain notions.

“I try to remain fair, give people a chance to be heard and feel respected,” Sassouni said. “It’s actually very exciting to behold and really very beautiful when you look at it and see all the diversity we have here.”

Tabari is a speech-language pathologist who has lived in Great Neck for the past two decades. An executive board member of the Saddle Rock PTA, Tabari has four children enrolled in the public school system.

Efforts to reach Tabari and Zhang were unsuccessful.

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