Photo: Jill Norton, Belmont School Committee

Five took out nomination papers for three seats on the Belmont School Committee but four will be the maximum number of candidates  on the April   ballot.

Appointed member Jill Norton will not seek a return to the board

“I’m sorry to say that I won’t be coming back this time,” Norton told the Belmontonian at the end of Tuesday. Feb. 5 school committee meeting. She said the dual challenges of having her youngest child about to enter the Belmont schools and a chance to volunteer at her church placed too much on her plate to continue as a full-time committee member.

“I just felt I wouldn’t have the time to meet the responsibilities” needed for the role, said Norton.

Norton was appointed in May 2018 by a joint meeting of the Selectmen and the School Committee after co-finalist Michael Crowley stepped aside after the group tied 4-4 after the first round of voting.

Coincidentally, Crowley is expected to submit his nomination papers to serve on the committee before the Feb. 12 deadline.

Incumbent Andrea Prestwich and newcomer Peter Pantazopoulos have passed in their papers while Amy Checkoway, a senior associate at Abt Associates (where she is a co-worker of Norton) and an active member of the Wellington Student Care Program, has still not submitted her papers to the Town Clerk’s office.

And  don’t write off Norton’s name from the list of future candidates seeking a seat on the committee. She said her youngest will be in the first group of fourth graders to enter the newly configured 4th-6th grade Chenery facility.

“I will have a big reason to be involve,” said Norton.

Share This Article