Shawn Fitzgibbons Joins Race For Newton School Committee

NEWTON, MA — Another Newton father is joining the race to replace School Committee Chair Ruth Goldman, whose term ends this year. Although the election is nearly 10 months away, Shawn Fitzgibbons and Paul Levy have both indicated they're running.

"As an active community leader and school activist, I am excited to announce a run for the Ward 6 seat on the Newton School Committee," said Fitzgibbons, who has two children in the Newton Public School system. "I know how valuable our public education system is to our children, and to our community."

For the past decade Fitzgibbons was the chair of the Newton Democratic City Committee. He recently stepped down.

He has yet to create a website or outline his priorities in depth, but Fitzgibbons said he expects to focus on helping students through the pandemic.

"I hope to bring a collaborative, positive and solution-focused approach to the School Committee," he said. "Certainly, this is among the most challenging times the public schools have ever faced. I will be focused on ensuring that we can emerge from the pandemic better and stronger - so that we keep our responsibility to Newton's children as one of the community's highest priorities."

Fitzgibbons moved to Newton in 2007, and quickly became a volunteer and activist in the community.

He's a board member on two youth-related nonprofits: the All Newton Music School and FamilyACCESS of Newton. He's served as a member of Newton's Child Care Commission, which helped low-income families in Newton access early education services for their children.

He's also a member of the Mason Rice Elementary School Council, which works with school leadership on high-level priorities, PTO volunteer and the coordinator for the school's Bike Safety Day. Since 2016, he's been a volunteer Newton Youth Soccer.

Fitzgibbons cites his work as a senior development officer at Mass General and at Cornell University as something that will position him to help the school committee find new revenue sources for schools.

In addition to Goldman, school committee members Margaret Albright of Ward 2 and Bridget Ray-Canada from Ward 1 are also stepping off the board and leave vacancies in the November 2021 election. So far, Paul Levy has also confirmed he is running for Goldman's open seat.

Jenna Fisher is a news reporter for Patch. Got a tip? She can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna). Have a something you'd like posted on the Patch? Here's how.