Serving Great Neck, G.N. Plaza, G.N. Estates, Kensington, Kings Point, Lake Success, Russell Gardens, Saddle Rock and Thomaston
$1.50
Friday, May 20, 2022
Vol. 97, No. 20
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BEST OF NASSAU COUNTY NOMINEES
CD3 GETS A MAKEOVER
MARTINS ACCUSED OF REDISTRICTING FOUL
PAGES S1-S36
PAGE 3
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PROUD SPONSORS:
Peirez beats Hakimi in G.N. ed board race
SCHOOL SPIRIT
School district’s $261.4M budget for 2022-2023 passes by 2,700 votes BY R OB E RT PE L A E Z Incumbent Trustee Donna Peirez defeated challenger Emil Hakimi by more than 1,100 votes on Tuesday in a Great Neck School District Board of Education election that had been the subject of at times heated community debate. The district’s adopted $261.4 million for the 2022-23 school year was also passed 4,773-2030. The Great Neck Library’s $9.6 million budget for 2022-23 was also passed 3,752-2,982. Peirez, who was first elected to the board in 2016 to fill a vacant seat left by Monique Bloom, received 4,018 votes to Hakimi’s 2,895. Peirez, in a statement, said she understands “the value of the homeschool connection” and stressed the importance of hearing parents’ voices. “My long experience in our district as a parent, a teacher, and a Board member uniquely positions me to strike consensus whatever challenges we face,” Peirez said. “As current Vice President of the Board of Education, I understand that serving on the Board requires in-depth knowledge and understanding of the working of our district.” Peirez, who previously served as a teacher at the Lakeville School for nearly three decades, said the school
district’s “stellar reputation” was the driving force behind the decision of many families, including her own, to come to Great Neck. Her tenure as a board member has included helping navigate the district through the coronavirus pandemic and protecting the safety and well-being of its students. “These experiences have helped me to understand the special families of this community, my community, in a unique manner,” Peirez said in a letter to Blank Slate Media. “I am first and foremost an advocate for children. On their behalf, I am seeking another term on the Board of Education to continue championing public education.” Hakimi’s campaign focused on politically charged concerns seen across the country about what was being taught in schools. In a letter to Blank Slate Media, he said he heard from parents “about the introduction of socio-political indoctrination into our children’s curriculum and instruction.” The challenger cited a slideshow allegedly part of an 11th-grade English class at North High School, which was circulated on social media, as one of the instances that motivated him to run. A handful of parents, students and teachers addressed the slides, which Continued on Page 42
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE GREAT NECK SCHOOL DISTRICT
The Saddle Rock PTA hosted a STEAM Night for fourth and fifth-grade students last week.
Great Neck’s Memorial Day Parade returns BY R OB E RT PE L A E Z Following a two-year delay caused by the coronavirus pandemic, Great Neck’s 96th Memorial Day Parade will take place on May 30,
beginning at 9:30 a.m. The parade, organized by the The American Legion Post 160, will begin on Susquehanna Avenue, south of the train station and will continue north on Middle Neck
Road to the Village Green. Louise McCann, post commanbder and chairperson of the Great Neck Memorial Day Parade Committee, said a remembrance service and cerContinued on Page 43
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