The November 3 election includes a race for a partial term on the Dearborn Board of Education, with incumbent Ali Kamel Bazzi facing challenger Nofila Haidar.

The two candidates are competing for a term ending in December 2028. A separate race in the district features five candidates vying for three open seats carrying full six-year terms.

As part of its election coverage of the school district, which serves all of Dearborn and northeastern neighborhoods of neighboring Dearborn Heights, The Arab American News submitted four identical questions to Bazzi and Haidar about their backgrounds, qualifications and priorities for addressing the challenges facing Dearborn Public Schools. The questions also sought their positions on the $1.51 billion bond proposal before voters to construct and renovate school buildings throughout the district.

The candidates’ responses follow:

Could you tell us about your background, including your profession, education, family and community involvement?

Ali Bazzi:

Dearborn is home. It is where my family lives, where I work and where I have dedicated my career and volunteer life to public service, community health and advocacy for every family. I am a proud product of this community: a graduate of Dearborn Public Schools and the University of Michigan-Dearborn, with coursework completed right here at Henry Ford College.

For more than a decade, I have served as an advisor to Zaman International, directing major community wellness initiatives including the annual Run Walk Picnic at Ford Field Park, the Zaman Run Team and the Let’s Move! Youth Running Program, which empowers our kids to build confidence and resilience through running. Through these efforts, I have helped raise nearly $400,000 to support Zaman’s vital local programs, providing women and children facing poverty with critical relief, including food, shelter, crisis assistance and vocational training to build sustainable futures. My passion for service is equally driven by my work for families with special needs. Partnering with local advocates and organizations such as Blue Hands United, I have worked to ensure individuals of all abilities have dignity, access and resources, from championing Dearborn’s inclusive parks initiative to advocating at the state capitol for vital public safety legislation, including the passage of the Rowan Act (modernizing Michigan’s Amber Alert system) and Senate Bill 456 (establishing statewide Silver Alerts) this past July 2026.

Professionally, I have spent the last 15 years advising small- and medium-sized businesses on digital strategy, operations and marketing. That background brings critical fiscal discipline, strategic planning and modern problem-solving to the table. Since September 2025, I have brought that exact service-first mindset to the Dearborn Public Schools Board of Education and the Henry Ford College Board of Trustees. Whether on the ground organizing for our kids or at the board table making district-wide policy decisions, my focus remains the same: protecting our community’s most vulnerable, supporting our families and ensuring every single student in Dearborn has the critical thinking skills and tools to succeed.

Nofila Haidar:

Nofila Haidar is running for the Dearborn Board of Education partial term in the November 3, 2026, general election. A proud product of Dearborn Public Schools, she holds a Master of Public Administration from the University of Michigan Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies. Professionally, she blends her extensive background in education and community development, working as a college and career advisor alongside her 12+ years of experience as a real estate broker with Nova Realty Group. She also brings 15 years of specialized experience in district engagement, having formally founded Dearborn’s first Special Education PTA unit and served as a board member for the Early Learning Coalition for Dearborn Public Schools. Leveraging her perspective as a deeply invested district mother, she has robust civic involvement, including serving as president of the Dearborn Schools PTA Council (and later in a national capacity), as well as sitting on the boards of both the Dearborn Education Foundation and the Dearborn Goodfellows youth charity.

What qualifications and experience do you believe prepare you to serve on the Dearborn Public Schools Board of Education, and what would be your top priorities if elected?

Ali Bazzi:

When I was appointed to the Board of Trustees in September 2025, I immersed myself in the role, taking on the critical issues facing our district. That work included selecting our new superintendent and college president, as well as helping formulate a transformational bond proposal with a long-term vision spanning decades. I actively engaged with the Michigan Association of School Boards and earned my MASB Certified Board Member credential in just nine months. My experience as a current trustee allows me to continue this work with a strong understanding of our district’s budget, facility needs, daily operations and the challenges and opportunities ahead.

That governance experience is reinforced by 15 years as a business and digital strategy consultant, helping organizations manage budgets efficiently and solve operational challenges, as well as over a decade of community service delivering real resources for local families and children with special needs. As a parent with three young children attending Dearborn Public Schools, this work is deeply personal. Just as every child’s education starts with the fundamental “ABCs”, my agenda for Dearborn Public Schools does too:

Advocate for All: Raise academic rigor and student character building district-wide while securing robust support and dedicated resources for diverse learners and special education families.

Building for the Future: Move beyond the traditional curriculum to ensure our students graduate with critical thinking capabilities and practical life skills. At the same time, we must modernize our district infrastructure and classroom climate control while demanding strict fiscal responsibility in every budget.

Connect and Collaborate: Strengthen relationships between parents, educators and district leadership to ensure transparent communication, actively involve families in student learning and rebuild community trust.

Nofila Haidar:

Nofila Haidar is uniquely prepared to serve on the Dearborn Public Schools Board of Education as a lifelong district graduate, a dedicated parent of two system graduates and an experienced college and career advisor. Her extensive leadership profile includes over a decade of service to the district on multiple committees, including the strategic planning committee, school improvement committee and infrastructure committee. Because Dearborn School Board trustees also concurrently serve as trustees for Henry Ford College, Nofila’s local higher education roots directly align with the dual governance of the role. A key priority she identifies for Henry Ford College is adapting its programming to meet modern workforce demands while maintaining affordable, inclusive pathways for student advancement. Within the K-12 system, she recognizes that a true student-first environment requires robust non-instructional staff support, making it a priority to advocate for the fair compensation, safety and operational resources needed by the paraprofessionals, administrative staff and support workers who keep the district running smoothly. Ultimately, her platform blends her fierce advocacy for special education with a commitment to uplifting teachers, empowering families and building secure, collaborative environments for every member of the school community

How would you approach issues that may create disagreement among parents, schools and the broader community, including curriculum, books, school safety and student needs — and how would you ensure that different voices in Dearborn are heard?

Ali Bazzi:

Public schools belong to the community, and parents are our most vital partners in their children’s education. Disagreements arise when people feel excluded, dismissed or surprised by decisions made behind closed doors. My governing approach is simple: transparent processes, proactive community engagement and decisions centered squarely on student well-being.

On sensitive issues such as curriculum, instructional materials and library collections, we must rely on clear, institutional policies rather than political rhetoric. I support maintaining rigorous, transparent review procedures that involve educators, media specialists and parents working collaboratively. We must ensure that educational materials are age-appropriate and aligned with high academic standards while respecting our community’s diverse cultural, faith and family values.

Every student deserves a safe, supportive and disciplined environment where they can learn without fear.

To ensure all voices are heard across Dearborn, I practice an open-door policy as a trustee. That means engaging with parents, teachers and civic leaders outside of formal board meetings, answering constituent concerns directly and listening with empathy before casting a vote. A strong school board member does not seek to silence debate; a strong board member builds trust through mutual respect, common sense and consistent accountability.

Nofila Haidar:

Nofila Haidar believes that approaching community disagreements requires establishing transparent, collaborative frameworks that actively bridge the gap between parents, educators and our diverse broader community. Her leadership approach is rooted in bringing people together to find common ground, ensuring that our schools remain spaces of high academic achievement, safety and mutual respect. Drawing from her experience as a parent leader, she advocates for addressing sensitive issues like curriculum, books and school safety through proactive communication, adherence to academic standards and balanced support for both physical security and student mental health. Haidar emphasizes that governing effectively means moving beyond the loudest voices by actively building inclusive, multilingual feedback loops and neighborhood listening sessions. By grounding district policies in shared values; specifically the safety, academic excellence and well-being of all children. Nofila intends to ensure that the quiet majority of parents and Dearborn’s culturally diverse populations have a meaningful, respected seat at the table.

On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 meaning “strongly oppose” and 10 meaning “strongly support”, how would you rate your support for the bond proposal, and why?

Ali Bazzi:

My support is a 10 because our students, teachers and staff urgently need safe, modern and healthy learning environments. As a trustee who helped formulate this proposal with a vision spanning decades, and as a father with three young children attending Dearborn Public Schools, I see the daily realities in our buildings. Many of our facilities are decades old and require critical infrastructure upgrades: reinforced building security, modernized instructional labs, reliable roofs and electrical systems, and universal air conditioning so students can focus on learning during extreme heat instead of suffering through sweltering classrooms. Most importantly, the plan we are presenting to the community is tax-rate neutral, allowing us to restore our district infrastructure to world-class standards without increasing the tax rate for Dearborn homeowners while minimizing the impact for our families in Dearborn Heights.

To me, a score of 10 does not mean writing a blank check or closing the door on public discussion. A 10 means I am fully invested in solving these critical facility challenges, and equally committed to uncompromising oversight. Public schools belong to the community, and authentic community engagement and input must continue throughout every single phase of project planning and construction.

I will insist on an open-door process where neighborhood voices continue to be heard, backed by strict milestone tracking, open competitive bidding and fiscal oversight to ensure every taxpayer dollar is spent with discipline and purpose.

Nofila Haidar:

While our students and teachers absolutely need safe, clean facilities and good working environments, a simple scale or broad metric is not a fair measure of our district’s unique needs. Furthermore, asking to rate support for a bond on a rigid 1-to-10 scale is not a reasonable ask for an issue with so many complexities. We must address infrastructure and environment equitably, but we must also ensure that transparency and accountability are practiced at every level. Taxpayer dollars must be spent responsibly, with clear oversight, to ensure that every dollar directly benefits the classroom and our community.