Mayor Menino Appoints School Committee Member

Mayor Thomas M. Menino today announced that he has appointed Michele P. Brooks to a four-year term on the Boston School Committee. Ms. Brooks was appointed to the seat formerly held by two-term member Susan Naimark, who did not seek reappointment.

"I am pleased to welcome Michele Brooks as the newest member of the School Committee. Michele has been involved in Boston Public Schools since the early 1990's, as a parent of children at the Jeremiah Burke High School," said Mayor Menino. "Her work in the area of parent involvement will bring an important voice to the School Committee."

Ms. Brooks, 51, is currently an Education Consultant with the firm Transformative Solutions, working with the Columbus (OH) Public Schools on a strategic plan for family and community engagement. Prior to her work as a consultant, Ms. Brooks served as the founding Director of the Boston Parent Organizing Network (BPON), a collaborative of 36 community based organizations and parent groups advocating for improvements in the Boston Public Schools. She served on the design team for the Orchard Gardens K-8 Pilot School, helping to craft a model to support the educational philosophy of the school. A resident of Roxbury, Ms. Brooks also founded the Family Center at the Jeremiah Burke High School in 1992, working to organize other parents to support improvements at the school. Currently enrolled in a degree program in Educational Psychology at Cambridge College, Ms. Brooks is a graduate of the Jeremiah Burke High School, a parent and grandparent of BPS grads and current students, and one of several members of her family to attend the Burke.

Ms. Brooks will serve a four-year term, which expires on January 3, 2009. Mayor Menino will swear in Ms. Brooks on January 3, 2005.

The Boston School Committee is a seven-member board, which governs and sets policy for the 139 Boston Public Schools. Any Boston resident is eligible to apply for a position. A 13-member citizens nominating panel accepted nominations this fall before recommending candidates to Mayor Menino in early December. The Mayor interviewed finalists before making his selection.