Ortiz Monday evening at her final Board of Ed meeting.
By Paull Bass & Thomas Breen
Wednesday, June 28, 2017 - Coral Ortiz noticed “something fishy.” She noticed that adults around her were too “intimidated” to mention it. So she spoke up — and stopped a speeding political locomotive in its tracks.
Ortiz reflected on that experience as she completed a two-year term as one the two first elected student members of the New Haven Board of Education. She attended her final meeting Monday night at the L.W. Beecher Museum School of Arts & Sciences on Jewell Street, showered with praise from board members from the mayor on down about her success on the board. She offered a parting challenge to her colleagues to communicate better.
In her two years, she brought issues to the fore like widespread problems with the guidance counselor system in New Haven’s schools and administrative confusion at Hillhouse High School.