Hartford - A banker, professor, hospital administrator and pastor are among the members of a newly created board to run Bridgeport's school district and overhaul its finances and student achievement.

Acting state Education Commissioner George Coleman announced the six appointments Friday, saying the new board will start its work immediately in place of the nine-member elected school board being swept out during the state takeover.

State education officials decided this summer that Connecticut needed to assume control of the troubled Bridgeport schools under provisions of a 2007 state law that lets its step in when students' academic performance is in dire need of improvement.

The move came after some Bridgeport city leaders, including the mayor and schools superintendent, asked for the intervention because they said the school board was too dysfunctional to run the system and the budget was in shambles.

A group of Bridgeport parents is challenging the takeovert, saying that dismissing the elected school board robs them of their right to be represented by people of their choosing. A status conference is scheduled Monday in Waterbury Superior Court on their request for an injunction to block the takeover.

Coleman said Friday that reconstituting the school board is "the responsible and appropriate thing to do to ensure the success of Bridgeport's students."

"This new board is committed to improving the school system and allowing Bridgeport's students to be competitive among their peers statewide," he said.

Coleman's appointments to the oversight board include a new chairman: Robert Trefry, who retired in 2010 after 16 years as president and chief executive officer of Bridgeport Hospital.

Coleman did not say whether a date has been set for the board's first meeting, but said he has asked the members to start work "immediately on creating opportunities for Bridgeport's students to make satisfactory progress toward mastery of academic skills necessary to succeed in life."

Classes start Aug. 29 in Bridgeport, where Mayor Bill Finch said the teachers and curriculum are ready and the buses will roll on time despite the unprecedented change in the district's management.

"I am confident that the new board can get to work and we will provide as much assistance as possible to ensure that our children can continue their education without interruption," he said.

He added that he hopes parents, teachers, school district employees and city residents will "keep an open mind and focus on what really needs our complete attention: turning around our school system so that our students can receive the high-quality, equitable education that their peers throughout the state receive."

In addition to Trefry, the new board members will be:

• Judith Bankowski, the vice president and chief information officer at Stratford-based Sikorsky Aircraft Corp.

• David Norton, a senior executive vice president at Peoples Bank in Bridgeport.

• Jacqueline Kelleher, a Bridgeport resident and parent who is a professor of teacher preparation at Sacred Heart University. Coleman says she has expertise in special education and making education decisions based on data trends.

• Michelle Black Smith-Tompkins, a Bridgeport resident and founder of the New Beginnings Family Academy charter school. She is currently enrolled in Yale Divinity School and has expertise on multicultural education.

• Kenneth Moales Jr., a Bridgeport resident and pastor of the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit. Moales operates two accredited day care facilities and a program for kindergarten through seventh grade, and also has a corporate background in accounting and auditing.

One vacancy remained unfilled Friday. It is expected to go to someone representing General Electric Corp., which has its headquarters in neighboring Fairfield.