Two run unopposed for Merrick Board of Education

Two seats on the Merrick School District Board of Education are up for election this year, and current trustees Butch Yamali and Sheri Iskenderian are running unopposed for them.

Board trustees serve three-year terms.

Iskenderian, who has lived with her four children in Merrick for the past 15 years, is running for her second term as a trustee. Iskendarian’s husband, Aram, was a vice president at Cantor Fitzgerald who was killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.

An active member of the community since moving to Merrick, Sheri Iskenderian has served on the Executive Board of the Levy-Lakeside Elementary School PTA for 11 years. She has been a member of the shared-decision making teams and character-education committees at both the building and district levels. Before having children, Iskenderian was an officer and program manager for Citibank. She earned her bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Tufts University.

Yamali has called Merrick home for 11 years. He and his wife, Linda, have three children, Danielle, who will study law at St. John’s University in the fall; Celeste, who will begin her freshman year at the Parsons School of Fashion; and Abe, a freshmen at Kennedy High School.

Yamali is currently serving his eighth year at as president of the Merrick Little League, and owns and operates the Dover Group, a company that provides food service and hospitality at a number of venues.

The public vote will take place on Tuesday, May 17 from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. at Lakeside Elementary School at the end of Babylon Road, just south of Merrick Road. To be eligible to vote, one must be at least 18 years old, a U.S. citizen and a district resident for at least 30 days prior to the vote.

Comments about this story? DWeingrad@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 236.