The joint meeting of the Board of Selectmen and School Committee elected Julie Schreiner-Oldham on Tuesday, Jan. 10, to fill the vacant seat on the Brookline School Committee.

Schreiner-Oldham will hold the interim position until May, finishing the three-year term of former School Committee member Rebecca Stone, who announced her sudden departure from the committee at the end of November.

Schreiner-Oldham received the vote of eight from the 13 members of the committee; a simple majority was required for the vote to be final.

Chairman of the School Committee Susan Wolf Ditkoff, who voted for Schreiner-Oldham, said that Schreiner-Oldham was the best candidate for the position because of her residence in the Baker district, which has not had a member on the School Committee since 2008. According to Ditkoff, it is important for the committee to have a member from the Baker district because of the the number of issues in South Brookline right now, including the site of the ninth elementary school.

Schreiner-Oldham is the co-president of the Baker PTO and has children in the Brookline school system. Ditkoff said that she is well liked among the Baker school parents for her willingness to listen to others.

Ditkoff also said that Schreiner-Oldham is popular for “hearing a diverse set of perspectives and incorporating them and turning that into action.”

Fourteen people applied for the interim position, and Ditkoff and Board of Selectmen member Nancy A. Daly both emphasized that there are still more ways to get involved in the school system for people who were not elected.

The election to permanently fill the seat will take place in May.