Acting Mayor Kim Janey is looking for applicants to fill two seats on the city’s seven-member school committee left vacant after a pair of resignations earlier this month.

Committee chair Alexandra Oliver-Davila and member Lorna Rivera resigned after the publication of two text messages between the public officials took aim at West Roxbury parents who opposed changes to the admissions policies for the city’s exam schools.

A 13-member panel of parents, teachers and administrators is weighing applications. The deadline to submit an application is Thurs., July 8, at 11:59 p.m.

If chosen by Janey, the new members would serve concurrent with Janey since as acting mayor she cannot make permanent appointments.
Janey last week appointed Dorchester resident and business executive Betty Francisco to the nominating panel to “cultivate further Latinx representation” on the school committee.

“Currently, 20 percent of Boston residents and 42 percent of Boston Public School students are Latino, which calls for having strong and proportionate Latino representation on the School Committee,” said Francisco, who serves as CEO of the Boston Impact Initiative, which focuses on businesses owned by people of color.

“As a BPS parent and Latino leader in Boston,” she added in her statement,” I appreciate Mayor Janey’s commitment to advancing equity in our schools and ensuring that the School Committee is representative of the makeup of BPS students and families.

The School Committee meets twice a month and the meetings are open to the public.

Current members include Jeri Robinson, a former Boston Children’s Museum executive and a Dorchester resident who is serving as the chair; vice chair Michael O’Neill, a financial services industry veteran; Dr. Hardin Coleman; Ernani DeAraujo of the East Boston Neighborhood Health Center; and Quoc Tran, who works in Office of Diversity and Civil Rights at the Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services.

Applications can be mailed to scnominatingpanel@boston.gov or delivered to Boston City Hall’s Room 612.