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About Us and
How We May Help You

A brief guide to the Board of Education: who we are, what we do, how to communicate with us, and how we may assist you. We encourage you to take a few minutes to review this information and to become involved in public education. Working with the community, we can provide our students with a high quality educational system.


Past and Present Board Members

Find out who has been elected to the Montgomery County Board of Education from 1817 to the present day:

Meet the Members of the Board

Karla Silvestre

Karla Silvestre
President

Lynne Harris

Lynne Harris
Vice President

Brenda Wolff

Brenda Wolff
District 5

Grace Rivera-Oven

Grace Rivera-Oven
District 1

Shebra L. Evans

Shebra L. Evans
District 4

Yang

Julie Yang
District 3

Rebecca Smondrowski

Rebecca Smondrowski
District 2

Saeed

Praneel Suvarna
Student Member

Meet The Members

Board of Education

Members

 
Silvestre

President: Karla Silvestre

(At-Large)

Ms. Karla Silvestre was elected to her first four-year term on November 6, 2018.  She is currently serving a second-year term as the vice president of the Board of Education and as chairperson of the Board's Strategic Planning Committee, and as a member of the Committee on Special Populations, and also the Communication and Stakeholder Engagement Committee.  In addition, she serves as the Board’s representative to the Maryland Association of Boards of Education’s Resolutions Committee.

Biography & Contact Information  
 
dixon

Vice President: Lynne Harris
(At-Large)

Lynne Harris is a dot-connector who brings her extensive and broad experience as a nurse, lawyer, public health expert and teacher to her Board work, while striving to ensure others - particularly students and staff - know their own superpowers and influence to drive change. Her mission as a member of the Board of Education is to encourage young people to get involved in policy-making that will impact their generation, and ensure that the needs of students - as the school system’s customers - remain front of mind. 

Biography & Contact Information  
 
Wolff

Brenda Wolff 

(District 5)

Ms. Wolff was elected to her second four-year term on November 8, 2022.  She currently serves as chair of the Board's Strategic Planning Committee and as a member of the Policy Managemetn Committee.  Ms. Wolff also will serve as the Board’s representative to the Maryland Association of Boards of Education’s (MABE) Federal Relations Network Committee and is the vice chair of MABE's Legislative Committee.

Biography & Contact Information  
 
Grace Rivera-Oven

Grace Rivera-Oven (District 1)

Ms. Rivera-Oven was elected to her first four-year term on November 8, 2022. Previously, she owned a public relations business. She is also the founder and CEO of the Upcounty Hub for food insecurity and social services non-profit located in Germantown, MD serving approximately 1,400 families per week. Ms. Rivera-Oven was also involved in many committees and boards. She is the past chair of the Latino Health Initiative Strathmore, Interfaith Works and others. She is currently on the Fiscal Management Committee, Communications and Stakeholder Engagement Committee. She has three children who graduated from Montgomery County Public Schools.

Biography & Contact Information
 
Evans

Shebra L. Evans

(District 4)

Mrs. Evans was elected to her second four-year term on November 3, 2020.She previously served a second term as president of the Board of Education. She currently serves as the chairperson of the Board's Communication and Stakeholder Engagement Committee and serves as a member of the Board's Policy Management Committee. Mrs. Evans has served in numerous volunteer leadership roles with the Montgomery County Council of PTAs, including Vice President of Educational Issues, Vice President of Programs, Recording Secretary-Delegate Assembly, and Wheaton Cluster Coordinator.

Biography & Contact Information  
 
Julie Yang

Julie Yang (District 3)

Julie Yang's passion for ensuring that all students - and especially special populations - get access to the resources they need to succeed stems from her own elementary school experiences in China.  An educator, who has served more than 20 years as a classroom teacher, school instructional data analyst, and college and career counselor, Ms. Yang was elected to the Board of Education in November 2022.  

Biography & Contact Information
 
Smondrowski

Rebecca Smondrowski (District 2)

Mrs. Smondrowski was elected to her third four-year term on November 3, 2020.  She currently serves as chairperson of the Board's Policy Management Committee. She also is a member of the Board's Communication and Stakeholder Engagement Committee and the Board's Committee on Special Populations.

Biography & Contact Information  
 
saeed

Student Member: Praneel Suvarna

Praneel Suvarna, a senior at Clarksburg High School, serves as the 47th Student Member of the Board of Education (SMOB) for the 2024-25 school year.

Biography & Contact Information