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Friday, July 14, 2023
Vol. 98, No. 28
LIVING 50+
TEMPLE PLANS DRAW FIRE
FAMED BROADCASTER, PORT RESIDENT KENNY ALBERT
PAGES 21-28
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PAGE 46
Sassouni re-elected ed board prez Newcomer Joanne Chan sworn into first term as trustee, Grant Toch re-elected veep BY C A M E RY N O A K ES
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE GREAT NECK PUBLIC SCHOOLS
New Great Neck Board of Education Trustee Joanne Chan is sworn into her new post.
The Great Neck Board of Education swore in members elected during the district’s May election Thursday night, reappointing Rebecca Sassouni as the board’s president. The board convened at the Phipps Administration Building for its annual reorganization meeting, followed by a regular Board of Education meeting. Sassouini, who is starting her third term, and newcomer Joanne Chan were sworn into their posts during the meeting. “We welcome Joanne, Mrs. Chan, who has served so long as a parent leader as she joins the board as our newest member,” Sassouni said. A mother of four, Chan has been a resident of Great Neck for 20 years, volunteering for 15 years in the Parent Teacher Associations of Saddle Rock Elementary School, Great Neck South Middle and South High Schools, and became co-president of the United Parent Teacher Council’s Total Community Involvement Committee in 2016, which oversees all the PTAs. “I am honored to be elected to the board and serve the public,” Chan
said. “We will be working as a team and I look forward to that.” Chan was sworn in early in order for the board to have a quorum, as only three members of the board were present. This was due to a board vacancy and Vice President Grant Toch’s absence from the meeting. Sassouni said the board’s vacancy will be addressed “in due course.” “And I would like to reassure anyone who is listening that in due course the board will work together by a consensus regarding the current vacancy,” Sassouni said. Toch was re-appointed as the board’s vice president by his fellow board members but will be sworn in at a later date. The Board of Education opted not to host a celebratory announcement of the district’s new superintendent in order to honor the memory of the late Superintendent Teresa Prendergast. Prendergast, 60, died unexpectedly from a ruptured brain aneurysm on June 10. Prendergast had been the district’s superintendent for the past eight years. She was planning to reContinued on Page 41
Town board OKs tree policy updates BY B R A N D ON D U FF Y The North Hempstead Town Board passed a resolution Tuesday night to amend the town’s tree policy while also approving an application for Bolla Market to develop a gas station, convenience store and drive-thru
in Roslyn Heights. The tree policy governs the planting and removal of trees and saplings in town-owned public spaces. Council Member Veronica Lurvey said the amendments provide clarity to what she called a living document. “These updates aim to improve
the tree policy based on feedback from the community and experts, ensuring a comprehensive and effective approach to tree management in our town,” Lurvey said Tuesday night. In 2021, the town amended its tree code to create a committee that includes a combination of town staff,
a certified arborist, and seven members of the public who will provide input and advise the town board on tree-related matters. Responsibilities for the committee include the drafting of an annual report, ensuring the town remains a Tree City USA, recommending how
funds in the Tree Preservation Fund are used in consultation with the comptroller, and providing recommendations about trees in the town, among other things. North Hempstead Highway Superintendent Doug Schlaefer said the Continued on Page 42
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