Elected Bridgeport School Board Is Restored The Connecticut Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that state education officials violated the law when they dissolved Bridgeport's elected school board in July and replace it with an appointed board. In a 6-1 decision, the state's highest court ruled that members of the dismissed board had not received any training, as required by state law, before the disbandment. It ordered that the five members whose terms had not yet expired be reinstated and that a special election be held to fill the four remaining seats. Justice Peter T. Zarella wrote in the majority opinion that the State Board of Education "does not have the authority to authorize reconstitution until it first requires the local board to undergo and complete training." The state intervention in Bridgeport - Connecticut's second-largest school system, with about 20,000 students - deeply angered many parents and residents, and was the second time in recent Connecticut history that a locally elected school board had been replaced by an appointed board. In 1997, it happened in Hartford after the district was taken over by the state. The Bridgeport board was dissolved at the request of the former board president, Barbara P. Bellinger, who had the support of several other members, as well as the superintendent and mayor, after years of division and dysfunction had affected important budget and policy issues. Jon Green, executive director of the Connecticut Working Families Party, which helped elect two of the board members, called the court decision "a reminder that back-room wheeling and dealing is no substitute for transparent democracy and election." Mr. Green added that he hoped the new board, including the reinstated members, would make decisions with more participation by parents and teachers in the community. But Andrew J. McDonald, general counsel for Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, said in a statement that the decision was "disappointing and has the potential to seriously disrupt the educational opportunities of Bridgeport's schoolchildren this year." He added: "We are reviewing the implications of this decision and intend to discuss further legal and legislative options with state and local officials in the very near future. Our goal has always been to create a stable, productive and educationally sound environment for a chronically struggling school district. Our focus will not change. Maria Pereira, one of the reinstated board members, said she decided to run for a four-year term in 2009 after her daughter, now 15, had nine seventh-grade math teachers because of chronic turnover. "Many people in Bridgeport will just complain," she said. I did much more than that; I decided to take action and become part of the solution. Ms. Pereira, who along with other elected members and residents sued over the board's dissolution, said on Tuesday night that she was "feeling great." She said she planned to request current board materials from the school district this week.