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SOMERS, N.Y. - Even though two of his four children have already graduated and gone on to college, Ifay Changs commitment to the Somers Central School District has not wavered. He has been a member of its Board of Education for the past six years, where he has remained actively involved in the issues facing education today and continues to encourage his fellow community members to do the same.
Given my interest and experience in education, I originally decided to serve on the school board to see what I could do to help, said the former dean at the Polytechnic Institute of New York University.
This past March, Chang and his fellow board members met with James Langlois, superintendent of the Putnam Northern Westchester Board of Cooperative Educational Services to discuss much-needed funding for capital improvement to the BOCES campus.
Changs constituents ultimately voted no to their school districts support for the project, which would have cost the district around $1.2 million. Chang abstained from voting.
During the meeting, Chang advised that Langlois and BOCES administrators come up with a more organized strategy for obtaining the funding they needed. You have homework to do, he said to Langlois. You have to present a plan, not just buildings. Go back and get a new plan with a larger umbrella.
Throughout the school year, Chang regularly posts information about educational issues he feels to be of interest to Somers Central School District communities and residents on his personal website.
Ifay Chang lives in Somers with his wife, Teresa, a real estate broker for Houlihan Lawrence Inc. and his four children, Jesseon, Jerren, Jemmin and Jerray. He is also a member of the Westchester-Putnam School Boards Association.
