| |
A bonafide resident of Montgomery County and a MCPS
regularly enrolled junior or senior for the year in
which he/she will serve.
SMOB
Brochure
With the exceptions of boundary changes, capital
and operating budgets, collective bargaining, negative
personnel matters, and school closings, the SMOB has
a vote equal to those of the seven adult Board members.
The SMOB has a vote on issues like administrative appointments
(including hiring of the Superintendent of Schools),
policy, and the Board of Education's legislative platform.
He or she also has a vote in the appeals that the Board
decides in its quasi-judicial role–namely transfers
and expulsions.
Many people say that the student member's job is to
represent the student. While this statement is true,
it is also the student member's job to represent every
county resident. He or she needs to be just as considerate
of parents, community members and organizations, businesses,
and the unions as is any adult member. The student member
needs to consider all information and the impact of
his/her vote on the issue at hand.
Many people say that the student member's value is his
or her ability to express the sentiment of the student
body. This statement is also only partially true. The
student member's value is his or her ability to examine
issues and make decisions by looking through a student's
eyes. Just as many adult Board members have served in
PTAs and bring a parent's perspective as a result, student
members have served in student governments (and other
student organziations) and consequently bring a student's
perspective. Student members must take their background
as a student and apply it to making the same critical
decisions as that of adult members.
Responsibilities/Meeting Schedule/Time:
The SMOB is responsible for attending all full Board
meetings and all meeting of the standing committee(s)
to which he or she is assigned. The student member must
also attend other Board functions such as: hearings
on student expulsions, forums on Strategic Planning,
boundary hearings, and meetings with student and parent
groups, along with the unions, County Council, and Montgomery
County Delegation to the General Assembly.
Everyday, a packet is delivered to the SMOB's house
that contains memos, press releases, correspondence
from the public, and other important documents. Reading
all of this information on a daily basis is essential
to fufilling the role of a Board member. So, be prepared
to spend several hours daily on Board of Education business
– MCPS will even loan you a file cabinet for yor
term of office!
Full Board meetings occur twice a month–one full
day meeting and one evening meeting. Standing committees
of the Board usually meet once a month. Do not underestimate
the number of meetings and functions that Board members
attend! There is literally an event or meeting to go
to every single day if a Board member were so inclined.
Oftentimes, individual Board members are needed to represent
the entire Board of Education at various community functions
and press conferences. If you don't keep a detailed,
written schedule now, you will need to during your term.
Please carefully consider the time committment if you
want to run for this position. There are some perks
to the job that you might want to know about:
• $5000 college scholarship–the SMOB is awarded
a $5000 scholoarship to the college of his/her choice.
After serving a full term, MCPS transfers the money
directly to the selected college.
• Student Service Learning hours (SSL)–the
SMOB earns hour for hour of service, including time
during the instructional day, for meetings, functions,
and other official activities.
• Honors Social Studies Credit–one credit
for Honors Social Studies is awarded to the SMOB at
the end of his/her term.
• Reinbursements–the SMOB, like adult members,
are reinbursed for mileage and other "out of pocket"
required expenses. In addition, the Board of Education
will pay the registraiton fee for the SMOB to attend
Maryland Association of Student Councils(MASC) Conferences.
At these conferences the SMOB has the opportunity to
meet with the State SMOB and other county SMOBs and
student representatives around the state.
If you would like to communicate with the current or
a past SMOB, email:
Ben Moskowitz (Benjamin_E_Moskowitz@mcpsmd.org) SMOB
2007-2008
Sarah Horvitz (sarah.horvitz@comcast.net) SMOB 2006-2007
Sebastian Johnson (sdpjohnson@gmail.com) SMOB 2005-2006
Sagar Sanghvi(sagar.sanghvi@duke.edu) SMOB 2003-2004;
2004-2005
Dustin Jeter (Dustin_L_Jeter@mcpsmd.org) SMOB 2001-2002
Refer other questions to the Student Affairs Office
(Karen_L_Crawford@mcpsmd.org or 301-670-1419).
A proposal to create a student seat on the Montgomery
County Board of Education first surfaced in 1975. In
1977 the Maryland General Assembly amended Section 3-701
of the Education Article of the Annotated Code of the
Public General Laws of Maryland to create a nonvoting
student seat on the Board of Education. Blair Lee, the
Acting Governor, signed the legislation in the spring
of that year and the first student, David Naimon (Northewood
High School) was elected by a representational assembly
in the spring of 1978; he assumed his duties on July
1, 1978.
The law provides that MCR and the Board of Education will mutually agree on an election procedure. MCR is designated to administer the election procedure. The Special Election Committee was created to manage the process. The first four student members were selected in convention. Each of our secondary schools elected delegates who attended a one-day convention. The candidates made presentations and participated in a series of question and answer sessions. Sequential balloting resulted in the identification of the student who would serve the one-year term.
In 1982, the Board of Education
and MCR agreed on a modified direct election procedure.
The process that was initiated with the election of
the fifth student Board member (Kurt Hirsch - Walt Whitman
High School) provides that if more than two eligible
students file for the office there will be a convention
convened for the purpose of reducing the field candidates
to two. Once the finalists are identified there is a
designated campaign period. In the spring, generally
during the last week in April, all students in middle
school through grade 12 have the opportunity to vote.
The Special Election Committee publishes a voter's guide
that is distributed to all schools and it produces a
video program, "Meet the Candidates" which is shown
to all students prior to the election.
During the 1989 session of the Maryland
General Assembly, Section 3-701 was again amended and
established a limited vote for the student member. The
twelfth student member (Alison Serino - Springbrook
High School) was the first one to exercise the limited
vote (vote is not counted on budget items, negative
personnel matters, school closings/openings, and boundary
changes).
Again in 1993 the General Assembly
amended Section 3-701 providing the student member with
a vote on budget. (Capitol and operating), school closings/re-openings,
and boundaries. This amendment included a sunset provision
and, unless there was action to eliminate the sunset,
the voting status would revert to the 1989 limited vote
at the end of 1995.(1993-1994 Carrie Baker - Albert
Einstein High School and 1994-1995 Wendy Converse -
Richard Montgomery High School were the only two SMOBs
to exercise these extended voting rights.) Since there
was no action to eliminate the sunset provision, the
student vote reverted back to the 1989 limits. Currently,
our student member voting status is similar to the student
member on the State Board of Education.
In 2001-2002, A Compositional Task Force was convened
to study various aspects of the Board of Education.
At that time, the General Assembly amended Section 3-702
Compensation by adding, "A student member who completes
a full term on the Board shall be granted a scholarship
of $5,000 to be applied toward the student’s higher
education costs." The 25th SMOB, Mihyar Alnifaidy,
was the first recepient of the college scholarship.
To see the list of our Student Members
of the Board of Education, click
here.
|
|
 |
|
