The Broward school board elected Sarah Leonardi as the new chairperson on Tuesday.
In a unanimous vote, Leonardi was elected at the annual organizational meeting to head the school board of the sixth largest district in the country.
Leonardi represents district 3, which includes Wilton Manors and Hollywood.
The daughter of a teacher, she "was raised to truly believe in the power of education in changing lives," according to the biography on the district website. She grew up in the Middle East, living six years in Cairo, Egypt, and nine years in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
She earned a bachelor's degree in education from the University of Miami in 2011.
She has nearly a decade of teaching experience, mostly as an English teacher in Broward high schools. In 2016, she was voted Teacher of the Year at Coconut Creek High School.
She was, until this vote, the board’s vice chair. Now, that role will be filled by member Jeff Holness of district 5.
Holness, who moved to the United States as a child over 30 years ago, graduated from Dillard High School in Fort Lauderdale. He received multiple recognitions in his career as a teacher, and one of his top priorities, as listed on his profile on the district website, is "closing learning gaps as a result of the COVID pandemic."
Leonardi and Holness were both first elected to the board in 2022.
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