Brian Slattery photo
Matt Wilcox (right) with his wife Joanne.
Mayor Toni Harp has nominated Matt Wilcox, a health sciences librarian at Quinnipiac University, to be the next member of the Board of Education.
Harp made the announcement by email on Tuesday afternoon.
If approved by the Board of Alders, Wilcox, the associate director of the Health Sciences Library at Quinnipiac and a former public health librarian and director of academic technology at the Yale School of Public Health, would replace Jamell Cotto. Cotto’s reappointment was turned down by the alders in a fractious vote earlier this month.
“Given his impeccable academic credentials, and after having talked with him, I’m confident about Mr. Wilcox’ commitment to learning and successful completion of academic pursuits – I’m delighted by his desire to bring that commitment to the New Haven Board of Education,” Harp said in the email press release. “What’s more, as a professional librarian, Mr. Wilcox is trained and dedicated to matching information and resources with people, and that’s exactly what a public school system is meant to do as well.”
Wilcox is married to Joanne Wilcox, a longtime parent advocate for school discipline reform and “restorative justice” that focus on repairing harm done rather than simply issuing punishments.
The Wilcoxes also run the popular local storytelling and community-building initiative Pecha Kuca. They are the parents of three city public school students.
Yesenia Rivera, Harp’s other recent appointee to the Board of Ed, sailed through her committee confirmation hearing on Monday night.