The Board of Education unanimously voted at its meeting on July 12 to fill an open seat tapping former Legislative Council member Alison Plante.

Plante, who served on the council between 2019 and 2021, shared in a phone interview on July 13 that, “It is personally important to me to give back to the community that has given me so much.”

Plante, a Democrat, will fill the Board of Education seat left vacant after former Board of Education member Rebekah Harriman (D) announced her resignation at a meeting on June 24. The announcement was effective immediately, and the school board had 30 days to fill the vacant seat with another Democrat.

Applications for the position were collected for a deadline of July 7. Board of Education Chair Deborra Zukowski shared in an interview on July 13 that residents had roughly two weeks to submit their resumes and a cover letter.

Zukowski said there were five applicants, and they were all interviewed by the school board between July 11 and 12. Each school board member submitted a question to ask the candidates ahead of the interview process, and Zukowski said she reviewed the questions ahead of time to make sure there were no duplicates.

Zukowski said the school board was looking for “a board member who will help us build the schools beyond and better than they are today.”

Characteristics the school board was looking for, according to Zukowski were, honesty, integrity, critical thinking, team spirit, willingness to engage productively in hard conversations, and experience with bringing conflicting experiences together.

The school board’s goal in interviewing the candidates was “wanting to ensure our students and staff are in an environment where they can flourish,” Zukowski shared.

(Plante was not the candidate put forth by the local Democratic Town Committee (DTC). A call and an e-mail to the DTC candidates committee chair were not returned ahead of this story going to print.)

While Zukowski said all of the candidates had the qualities that would lead to the district flourishing, Plante had a persona of confidence and she answered all of the questions posed to her “beautifully and relevantly.”

“I think she will help us mend what we need to mend, and [she will] help us build what we want to build,” said Zukowski.

Plante said giving back to her community and supporting “the most important thing,” which is educating children, led her to apply for the open school board seat.

While Plante is a district parent, she said it is important for all community members, not just those with school-aged children, to have a strong school system.

With roughly a year-and-a-half left to the term she is filling, Plante said she is looking forward to “diving in” and leveraging her experience from serving on the Legislative Council to find how she can best contribute to the school board.

Plante described herself as very open minded, a problem solver, and while she said she has her own perspectives on things, it is important to her to listen to other people’s perspectives and find common ground.

Plante grew up in Brookfield and has lived in Newtown for 12 years. When her family moved to Newtown, Plante said the main motivation was “the schools.”

Her favorite part of living in Newtown is the “wonderful community of friends” she and her family have found thanks to her children being in schools and attending local activities. Frequently running into the same people makes Newtown feel like a “tight-knit community” to her.

“This is our forever home,” said Plante, “which is another reason why, for me, it makes sense to invest and give back to the community. Because we are going to be here for a while.”

Education Editor Eliza Hallabeck can be reached at eliza@thebee.com.