School Board Picks Gaines For Vacant Seat

By Eliza Hallabeck

The open seat on the Board of Education was filled this week when the board voted 4-2 to appoint Richard Gaines to fill the vacancy.

The school board’s session on Monday night involved interviewing three candidates and a period of deliberation to choose a candidate. The open seat was created last month when Lisa Schwartz resigned from her position on the board.

“I think he was what we were looking for,” said Board of Education Chair Elaine McClure. “I mean, he has some hard shoes to fill from Lisa. At least, for myself I was looking for someone to fill Lisa’s shoes.”

According to Ms McClure, David Nanavaty, who was unavailable for a comment Wednesday, made the nomination and Lillian Bittman seconded it.

“We were looking at each of the candidates and their interviews,” said Ms McClure, “and we were thinking who could be the best for the board.”

Mr Gaines said this week that he is the father of a 9-year-old who is finishing up at Hawley School and a 10-year-old who is attending the Reed Intermediate School. He said he has lived in Newtown for 15 years and he has been working for IBM since 1977. He is currently a senior project manager for the company.

“I was very pleased with the interview process,” he said.

Mr Gaines has served on the Hawley Parents and Teachers Association (PTA) and he is the past president of the Wesley Learning Center. Mr Gaines said he has been attending Board of Education meetings for a long time, and he thinks he could help with technology.

He said he first moved to Newtown because of the reputation of the schools here. He said he is looking forward to working on that reputation and maybe helping to improve it.

“I thought maybe my expertise could lend a hand,” he said.

Ms McClure pointed out that Mr Gaines has been helpful at board meetings in the past. When the high school expansion project was up for decision, Mr Gaines helped Superintendent of Schools Janet Robinson film the board meetings to help spread information on the topic.

Mr Gaines said he plans on helping the Board of Education further by doing similar projects that will spread information on what the board is doing.

 “Now we can get down to board business,” Ms McClure said. She explained that now the business of searching for new board members is over, the board can focus on projects like the high school expansion.

Ms McClure said Mr Gaines will be a good help to the board, because he has been through similar problems, like construction of buildings.

DTC Pick Passed Over

Mr Gaines was not the candidate backed by the Democratic Town Committee (DTC) to fill the vacancy, and this marks the second time the Board of Education has ignored the recommendation of the DTC on board appointments. When replacing vacancies that must be filled by either a Democrat or Republican to satisfy minority representation requirements, local boards customarily accept the recommendations of the political town committees.

Chairman of the DTC Jim Juliano said, in regard to the candidate the DTC put forth, that the board turned down a good candidate in Sarah Frampton, a Newtown resident. But he believes Mr Gaines will do a good job on the board.

“We have the right to send someone,” he said, “and they have the right to choose who they want.”

Other members of the Board of Education said they were pleased with filling the seventh position.

As secretary for the DTC and a Board of Education member, Anna Wiedemann said she had to make a difficult decision.

“He has had years of involvement in town,” said Ms Wiedemann. “He was a teacher and now he works for IBM. He is really well rounded.”

She said the thing that stood out about Mr Gaines was the fact that he has attended Board of Education meetings before, and he was really active in them before he knew he wanted to apply for the position. “He has just done so much in town,” said Ms Wiedemann.

Board member Kathy Fetchick said she was impressed by all of the candidates.

“Like last time when we interviewed for the seventh candidate, we have very qualified candidates,” said Ms Fetchick, regarding the interviews that took place last month when Loraine Santore was chosen to fill a vacancy on the board.

Ms Fetchick said Mr Gaines brings experience, the ability of being a strong planner, and he has good analytical skills. She said she thinks he will do a great job.

“We have a strong board and administration which is committed to moving forward and planning for the future,” said Ms Fetchick.

The Board of Education was looking for someone who could work well with the other board members, and who was someone who has been in town, according to board member Lillian Bittman.

“I am happy with the choice we made,” she said.

Lorraine Santore, the newest member on the Board of Education, said the tough part about choosing a candidate is that “the town is starting to step up.” She said this adds to the ability and strength of the candidates.

“I think we are lucky to have a candidate to come up for the board as strong as he is,” Ms Santore said.