Englewood Board of Education Selects New President, VP

The transitioning Englewood Board of Education, which turned over one-third of its membership in last week's election, chose new officers at Thursday night's re-organization meeting.

Trustees Howard Haughton and Harley Ungar were unanimously selected as the board's new president and vice president, respectively.

Haughton, the chief financial officer for New York City's historic Riverside Church, takes over for Stephen Brown, who was unseated in last Tuesday's election after nine years on the board.

He said he was confident that with the community's support, the new board would be able to work together and overcome any challenges the school district faces.

"You can see the people are really engaged," he said, pointing to the sea of upbeat residents who welcomed the new trustees at Thursday's re-organization. "I’m confident that the community is going to be able to assist in ways that they want to and that it’s going to make it easier to move things forward."

Haughton, who was elected to the board last April, said as president he'll instill an emphasis on academics and on governance and compliance, and that he's looking forward to working with the new board as it moves toward those aims.

Ungar, another first-term board member — she was elected in 2011 — replaces Henry Pruitt III as board vice president. She's spent the past decade working in the arena of education reform at the national non-profit, Teach for America.

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