Legislative Authority

As instruments of the Massachusetts Legislature, local School Committees derive their authority from the Constitution of Massachusetts, from statutes, and from the regulations of the State Board of Education.

The Brookline School Committee is a nine-member group of officials, elected for three year terms during the May Town Election. The School Committee operates in accordance with the MGL Ch. 71 and 41, which delegate its authority. The Education Reform Act of 1993, Ch. 71. S. 37, specifies this authority as follows:

"The School Committee in each city and town and each regional school district shall have the power to select and to terminate the Superintendent; shall review and approve budgets for public education in the district, and shall establish educational goals and policies for the schools in the district, consistent with the requirements of law and state-wide goals and standards established by the Board of Education."

The School Committee adopts measures to organize itself, conduct public meetings, hire the most capable staff available (as noted above), and seeks to obtain sufficient funding to support its programs from available sources at the town, state and federal levels.

Henry Warren, Chair.

Henry Warren, Chair, was selected to fill a vacancy on the School Committee in June, 2003, and was elected for a three year term in May, 2004. He received his undergraduate degree at Harvard, and a VMD from the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Warren is a laboratory animal veterinarian at Harvard University. Married to Nina Brown, he has two children educated at Pierce and BHS. His two sons graduated from BHS in 2003 and 2006. Dr. Warren's present term expires in 2010.

Helen Charlupski.

Helen Charlupski has been a member of the School Committee since 1992. She holds a BA and MSW from the University of Michigan. She has been a member of the Early Childhood Advisory Council of the Mass. Department of Education since 1994. She has three children who are BHS graduates. Ms. Charlupski's present term expires in 2010.

Elizabeth Childs.

Elizabeth Childs, M.D. was elected to the School Committee in 2009. Dr. Childs is a board-certified child and adult psychiatrist practicing in Brookline. She is the former Massachusetts Mental Health Commissioner (2003-2007) and currently also serves on the state Board of Early Education and Care and the Advisory Council of the National Institute of Mental Health. She received her undergraduate degree from Mount Holyoke College, her medical degree from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, and her M.P.A. from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. She and her husband, Ralph Grieco, have two children at Lincoln School. Her current term expires in 2012.

Rebecca Stone, Vice Chair.

Rebecca Stone, Vice Chair, was elected to the School Committee in May 2005. She received her undergraduate degree from Harvard and holds an M.P.A. from Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. Ms. Stone is a public policy research consultant with expertise in social welfare, community building, and youth development issues. She has been a Town Meeting Member from Precinct 3 since 2002 and has two children attending The Public Schools of Brookline. Ms. Stone's present term expires in 2011.

Glenn Cunha.

Glenn Cunha was selected to fill a vacancy on the School Committee in October 2007. He is the parent of twin boys in the second grade at Runkle School where he was an active member of the School Council. He is an Assistant Attorney General and for nine years prior to his appointment as an Assistant AG in 2004, worked as an Assistant District Attorney in Norfolk and Suffolk Counties focusing primarily on Child Abuse and Domestic Violence prosecutions. He has a BA from BC, an MBA from Bentley and a JD from Suffolk. His present term expires in 2011.

Susan Ditkoff.

Susan Wolf Ditkoff was elected to the School Committee in 2008. Ms. Ditkoff is a Partner at The Bridgespan Group, a nonprofit affiliate of Bain & Co. Her work focuses on strategy consulting and organizational development for education, youth development, and foundation clients. She is a member of the Harvard Business School Alumni Board of Directors, and was a leadership coach at the school for six years. She and her husband have two young children, ages 4 and 2, who will attend Driscoll School. She has a BA from Yale College and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Ms. Ditkoff's current term expires in May 2010.

Barbara Scotto.

Barbara Scotto was elected to the School Committee in May 2009. She is a graduate of Wilson College and has an M.Ed from Johns Hopkins University and an M.S and an M.A. from Simmons College where she has been an adjunct member of the faculty since 1990. Ms. Scotto joined the Brookline School System in 1976, beginning as the librarian for the BEEP project. She spent most of her career at the Driscoll School where she taught from 1981 through 2006. In 2002 she was the winner of the Brookline Foundation's Ernest Caverly Award for Excellence in Teaching. Her two children graduated from Devotion School and, Brookline High. She has been a Town Meeting member, first in Precinct 2 and currently in Precinct 8, since 1973. Ms. Scotto's present term expires in 2012.

Judy Meyers.

Judy Meyers has been a member of the School Committee since 2000 and served as Chair for two years, 2006-2007 and 2007-2008. She is a graduate of Wellesley College and holds a JD from Northeastern University School of Law. She is an attorney in Boston. She has two children, both of whom are Runkle/Brookline High School graduates. Ms. Meyers' present term expires in 2012.

Alan Morse.

Alan Morse has had four diverse careers. In the following order, he was: a commercial banker for twenty-seven years ending up as Chairman of the United States Trust Company, (now Citizens Bank); a public servant for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for four years first as Commissioner of Banks, then Undersecretary of Administration and Finance, and finally as Supervisor of Financial Services; Chairman of Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare, and finally a high school math teacher in the Boston Public School system. Mr. Morse is a trustee of the A. C. Ratshesky Foundation and Wheelock College, a director of The Writers' Express and The Pioneer Institute, and an advisor to Civic Capital Group, a specialized hedge fund. He continues to tutor math in the Boston Public School system, and from time to time substitute teach. Mr. Morse's present term expires in 2011.