LAWRENCE — Michele Bowes, who emerged from a crowded field of eight candidates, has been chosen to fill a vacancy on the Lawrence Township Board of Education.
Ms. Bowes was named to fill the opening, created by the resignation of former board member Glenn Collins, by the school board Wednesday night. She will serve through December.
The eight candidates were interviewed, one by one, by the full board in closed session.
Ms. Bowes is a social worker at St. Lawrence Rehabilitation Center. She has lived in Lawrence since 2007. She has a son and a daughter who attend the Lawrence Intermediate School.
Serving on the school board is “an opportunity to make it a great place. I come to the school board meetings every month. I think I can do something to help. I hope to make a positive impact,” Ms. Bowes said after the meeting.
School board president Kevin Van Hise thanked all of the candidates, and urged them to run for one of four school board seats in the November general election. “It’s a great group of candidates,” Mr. Van Hise said.
The four seats that will be available include the one that Ms. Bowes was chosen to fill. Mr. Collins, who resigned, was in the second year of a three-year term. Ms. Bowes will serve out the rest of 2016, and someone will be elected in November to fill out the final year of the three-year term.
The other three seats are held by Pepper Evans, Michael Horan and Laura Waters.
In addition to Ms. Bowes, the candidates included former Lawrence High School Principal Jonathan Dauber, Christine Edwards, Saku Iyaduri, Shawn Kildea, Michelle King, Cindy Mah, and former school board member Thomas Patrick.
