Paul Schlichtman was named to the Arlington School Committee Thursday night.

After a 90-minute group interview session, Schlichtman, a former School Committee member, received the necessary four votes from the committee in the first round of the roll-call voting to rise above the field of five applicants.

Schlichtman got the nod from members Cindy Starks, Jeff Thielman and Leba Heigham and chairwoman Kirsi Allison-Ampe.

Member William Hayner voted for James Flanagan, who recently finished third behind Thielman and Starks in the Town Elections, and member Judson Pierce voted for Len Kardon, who is active in the advocacy groups FYArlington and the Arlington Special Education Parents Advisory Council (SEPAC).

Schlichtman will hold the seat, which was vacated by newly-elected Selectman Joseph Curro, until the Town Elections next April, when an election will be held for the one year remaining on it.

Schlichtman served on the Arlington School Committee for six years, up until 2007, and he was a member of Minuteman High School’s committee for the four years prior. He was the president of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees in 2004 and has a long history in education, both as an educator and advocate. In addition to all this, he is an Arlington Town Meeting member from Precinct 9.

On Thursday, Schlichtman said that he does not know yet whether he will choose to run for the seat next April.  

“I haven’t thought that far in advance,” he told the committee.

During the interview session, Flanagan said that, if appointed, he would plan to run for the seat again next April, while Kardon and Andrew O’Brien said that they would not. The fifth applicant, Karen Bjorkman, said that she didn’t think she would.

A sixth individual, David Brecht, had applied but withdrew his name from consideration prior to Thursday’s meeting.