Wilcox Tapped For New Term On Ed Board

The mayor has tapped Board of Education Vice President Matt Wilcox to serve another term on the city’s school board.

That’s according to a proposed order that Mayor Justin Elicker submitted to the Board of Alders on Jan. 4. Wilcox’s reappointment request is included as a communication on the agenda for Tuesday’s full Board of Alders meeting, and now advances to the Aldermanic Affairs Committee for review before returning to the full board for a final vote.

Wilcox — a 53-year-old Westville resident, director of Quinnipiac University’s Netter Library, and father of three New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) graduates — was first appointed to the Board of Education by then-Mayor Toni Harp in 2019. His current term expired on Dec. 31. 

If Elicker’s proposed reappointment is confirmed by the Board of Alders, Wilcox’s new term will extend through Dec. 31, 2026.

In response to a question about what motivates him to want to stay on the ed board, Wilcox told the Independent by email, ​“My children graduated from New Haven Public Schools thanks to their teachers and paraprofessionals, the school leaders, and the parent leaders that paved the way for them. Through our alternative school programs, I got to see how staff never give up on a kid. If I have a chance to work to continue to support the schools as a board member, then I am all in. We have such great students, parents, school staff, teachers, and administrators, that make it so worth it.”

Wilcox’s reappointment comes soon after his fellow board members voted unanimously to reelect him to another one-year term as the ed board’s vice president, along with Yesenia Rivera as president and Edward Joyner as secretary. Wilcox also chairs the board’s Finance and Operations Committee, Head Start Sub-Committee, and Citywide School Building Committee. Since joining the board in 2019, Wilcox has not missed a board meeting.

His reappointment also comes as the state of public education in New Haven has emerged as one of the focal points of this year’s contested mayoral election. The ed board has grappled with chronic absenteeism, low reading and math scores, and a district-wide teacher shortage in NHPS. It also recently approved a new teachers union contract, and NHPS is getting ready to start a 12-school pilot process for two new K‑3 phonics-based literacy programs. And the ed board has begun the process of looking for a new superintendent to replace Iline Tracey, who plans to retire at the end of the current school year.

Reached for comment on Monday, Wilcox said that, if he’s approved by the alders, some of his goals during a second term on the ed board include hiring the district’s next superintendent ​“through a process that ensures stakeholder input, and by a board that is listening and acting on that input.” 

He added that as chair of the Finance and Operations Committee he hopes to continue the committee’s work on ​“provid[ing] the oversight to finish with another balanced budget this fiscal year and working to secure the funding for next year’s budget… The district has made tremendous investments in updating curriculum frameworks, purchasing new curricula in areas like science and math and the ongoing literacy program pilot. I, as part of the board, will need to ensure that those plans happen. We can have all sorts of plans for improving literacy, numeracy, and attendance, but we also need to make sure we have enough people to do the work along with the support staff, the social workers, the psychologists, and others to provide social and emotional support the students need and deserve.” 

Asked in what ways he hopes to improve the board, Wilcox said, ​“I hope to continue to work with those on the board who want to work with me on what needs to be done to further the schools. All of us on the board are passionately committed to NHPS and desire to help it be better. We may differ on how to get there, but when we work together we are far more effective. Our next major test is the superintendent search.”