After coming up 198 votes short of winning a spot on the School Committee in April's town election, Courtney Rau got a seat on the board yesterday.
Selectmen and committee members voted 8-3 to appoint Rau over David Ford, who also ran unsuccessfully for the school board in April.
Rau, an educator herself, will fill the seat vacated by five-year member Chris Morrison, who resigned from the committee at the end of June. Rau will fill the seat until April when voters get a chance to vote in a candidate for a full three-year term.
Rau said she was pleased with the appointment and ready to get started with what will be a busy year for the committee that is the middle of a design process for a proposed new high school as well as a search for a permanent superintendent.
Rau has attended School Committee meetings regularly since the April election and believes she should be able to jump right in and be a productive member of the group.
"I think it will help because I have a general overview of what's going on, and I think the learning curve won't be as steep," said Rau.
School Committee member Bill Plasko Jr. said he was impressed with Rau's attendance at recent meetings and her presentation to the joint body of selectmen and committee members yesterday.
"You said you want to be a student advocate, and I think that's is putting the right foot forward," said Plasko.
Selectwoman Helen Donohue and School Committee members Mitch Pentowski and Eleanor Travers threw their support behind Ford.
A graduate of Southern Connecticut State University, the 48-year-old Ford works for EMC Corp. He is a former school board member in Branford, Conn., where he lived prior to moving to Norwood in 2000.
Ford said yesterday he believed his six years serving on the school board in Connecticut, during which time he worked on school building projects and superintendent searches, would be a benefit to the committee.
Travers said she believed Ford was the right choice given his background in public education and the private sector and his experience with his two daughters in the Norwood public schools - one at the Balch Elementary School and one at the Willett Early Childhood Center.
"I feel this School Committee needs someone who has demonstrated leadership and who has been active in community volunteering and who is an experienced member of a school board," said Travers.
But the joint committee voted 8-3 for Rau.
She said she looks forward to bringing her experience as an educator to the committee, which she said should give her a unique perspective.
A 1989 Norwood High graduate, Rau has spent 15 years in public education as an instructional assistant, classroom teacher, and special education department leader.
Rau currently works for the Mansfield public schools and will be moving to the Newton public schools in September. She has a master's degree in education from Boston College.
Rau will get her first taste of the committee when it next meets June 30 at 7:30 p.m. at the James Savage Education Center.
"I can't wait to get started," said Rau.
Daily News staff writer Brian Falla can be reached at 781-433-8339 or at bfalla@cnc.com
