Special Education Advocate Tapped For Wilmington School Board

WILMINGTON, MA -- Jo Newhouse parlayed her extensive work as a volunteer in Wilmington Public Schools into a seat on the town's school committee. At a rare, joint meeting of the school committee and the Wilmington Board of Selectmen, Newhouse was selected over two other candidates Monday night to fill the unfinished term of Peggy Kane, who stepped down earlier this year.

Nine members of the two boards voted for New house, while School Committee member Tom Talbot voted for Jesse Fennelly, who was the losing candidate in a three-way race for two open seats on the school committee in April's election. Wilmington Selectman Michael McCoy did not attend the meeting.

"I thought this was the opportunity time to take my commitment to and volunteerism in our school district to the next level," Newhouse told the two boards before the vote. No member of either board asked questions of the candidates before casting their votes.

Newhouse has volunteered at Wildwood School, Woburn Street School and North Intermediate School in various capacities since 2011. She co-chaired the Wildwood PAC for three years and was a member of the Wildwood/Boutwell School Advisory Council. For the past three years she has co-chaired Wilmington's Special Education Parent Advisory Council.

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Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).