Wilmington May Name Auditorium After Former Superintendent

WILMINGTON, MA -- Selectmen added an article to the May 5 town meeting which, if passed, would name the high school auditorium after Joanne Benton. Benton, who died in April, was superintendent from 2007 to 2014 and served as interim superintendent from October 2016 until March 31, 2017, when she stepped down for heath reasons. Benton was instrumental in helping get the new high school built, overseeing the design and building process.

Selectmen passed the warrant 4-0 at their most recent meeting, according to the Lowell Sun, which first reported this story. Selectman Michael McCoy was not present during the meeting the vote was taken.

"Ms. Benton, rest her soul, argued vehemently that the arts were so important to our community - and they are - and the (Massachusetts School Building Authority) acquiesced under her direction and under her pressure and the auditorium that we now enjoy with the addition of the orchestra pit advanced space is really in its form today largely because of the effort she put forth," Selectman Chairman Michael Champoux said.

The request was forwarded to selectmen by the Wilmington School Committee, which also endorsed the move.

"The entire School Committee believes that naming the auditorium in her honor is a fitting, lasting tribute to a woman who dedicated more than a decade of her life to the young people," School Committee Chair Steve Bjork said in an email. "In addition to doing her job superbly, she was always attending WHS sporting events and artistic performances."

Benton, who is described as being devoted to the Wilmington schools, retired in June of 2014 after serving seven years as Wilmington's school superintendent. On her last day on the job in 2014, Benton described working in Wilmington as the "pinnacle'' of her career.

Then in October 2016, Benton was asked to return as the interim superintendent to replace Superintendent Mary DeLai, who resigned on Oct. 4, 2016 after less than three years in the post, in the wake of her drunken-driving arrest on Aug. 25, 2016 in Danvers. The police report indicates DeLai registered a .19 on a Breathylzer test, more than twice the legal limit of .08.

Watch Joanne Benton's farewell comments to the School Committee in 2014:

For more on this story, see the Lowell Sun. Subscribe to Wilmington Patch for more local news and real-time alerts.

Patch file photo. Video of Joanne Benton's farewell to the school committee in 2014 courtesy of WCTV@Wilmington_TV.

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