Board of Ed Elects Hugo Alves as Chair [UPDATED]

The Board of Education on Monday night voted 6-3 in favor of Hugo Alves as the elected body’s new chair.

Hugo Alves

Elected to two-year terms in 2021 and 2023, Alves is a member of the school board’s Resources Committee. In the wider community, the Republican—a financial planner, by profession—volunteers on the New Canaan Museum & Historical Society’s Board of Governors.

In nominating Alves during the Board of Ed’s regular meeting, member Julie Toal said, “I love working with Hugo and I’ve sat across from him for two years now.” 

“And I love watching him from across the room, holding court with the administration and the other Board members,” Toal said during the meeting, held in the Wagner Room at New Canaan High School. “And I think Hugo has earned everybody’s trust and formed solid relationships with all of us sitting up here at this table. He has a proven record of working alongside all Board members and prioritizing what is best for students. He is thoughtful and committed to keeping our schools the best in the state. He leads with integrity and has the ability to bring out the best in each and every person.”

Board member Phil Hogan, recently the group’s vice chair, also had been nominated for chair, though he himself voted for Alves, as did his fellow Republicans Toal, Lara Kelly, Matt Campbell, Matt Wexler and Alves himself. The three Democrats on the Board—Penny Rashin, Brendan Hayes and Erica Schwedel—voted for Hogan.

In nominating Hogan, Rashin said he has “taken his responsibilities extremely seriously and shown bipartisanship.”

“And he has consistently shown his support for the Board of Ed’s budget during meetings with other town bodies,” she said.

The Board of Ed’s organizational meeting was presided over by First Selectman Kevin Moynihan in his final act in the town’s top job. (He swapped compliments with the superintendent of schools at the start of the meeting.) Town Clerk Claudia Weber was present to swear in the recently elected and re-elected Board of Ed members.

Schwedel was unanimously voted vice chair. In nominating her, Wexler said, “I think she’s been an incredible public servant, and has shown an incredible willingness to reach across the aisle and work to find common sense, agreeable solutions to everyone. We’d be very lucky to have her on the Executive Committee.”

Campbell was voted secretary by the same 6-3 vote as Alves. 

In nominating Campbell, Kelly said that she worked closely with him during the campaign and “he has shown incredible integrity and fortitude throughout the process.”

“He represents the families and students in the district,” Kelly said. “And I have complete confidence that he will be able to easily step into an executive role alongside and work very well alongside Hugo and Erica. And I think he would be a great addition to the Executive Committee of our Board.”

In nominating Hogan for the secretary role, Rashin referred to her earlier reasoning and added, “I do think the way the Board runs, I think it’s complicated and I think we’re a young board. A lot of members are new and I think having an executive team that has experience is really important.”

Alves succeeds former Board of Ed Chair Katrina Parkhill in the role. In her final meeting earlier this month, Parkhill called for Board of Ed members to step down from the local political committees once they’re elected. As of Monday’s meeting, Republican school board members who had served on the Republican Town Committee appeared to have resigned from the RTC, according to a list of members on the organization’s website. No members of the Democratic Town Committee serve on the school board, either, according to a list supplied by the organization’s chair).

[Note: this article has been updated with DTC membership information.]