Skip to main content
Student Leadership → Student Member of the Board (SMOB)

SMOB Logo

Student Member of the Board

The Student Member of the Board (SMOB) is a voting member of the Montgomery County Board of Education. The SMOB can vote on matters related to collective bargaining, capital and operating budgets, and school closings, reopenings and boundaries, but not on negative personnel actions. Montgomery County is one of two counties in Maryland that gives this position full voting rights. The SMOB is not paid, but receives a $25,000 college scholarship, Student Service Learning hours, and one honors-level social studies credit.

Advisory Council2026 Election Process

Mr. Leul Dawit

Rising Junior, Northwood High School
Term: July 1, 2026 – June 30, 2027

 

On Wednesday, April 22, 2026, Mr. Leul Dawit, a Grade 10 student at Northwood High School, was selected as the next Montgomery County Public Schools Student Member of the Board of Education. He earned 64% of the votes cast by middle and high school students. Mr. Dawit currently serves as a Field Organization Deputy for MoCo for Change, a certified workshop presenter for the Maryland Association of Student Councils, and Environmental Education Deputy for Eco MoCo. He also serves as a Student F.A.I.R. Student Leadership Coordinator and a Historian for the Montgomery County Regional Student Government Association. He will be sworn in on July 6, 2026 and will serve for the 2026-2027 school year.

 

Ms. Anuva Maloo

Current Student Member of the Board

Senior, Montgomery Blair High School
Term: July 1, 2025 – June 30, 2026

Ms. Anuva Maloo, a junior at Montgomery Blair High School, serves as the 48th Student Member of the Board of Education (SMOB) for the 2025-2026 school year. Ms. Maloo’s term began on July 1, 2025.

Ms. Maloo previously served as her school’s class president and the workshop deputy for the Montgomery County Regional Student Government Association. She also served as the founder and president of the Northeast Consortium (NEC) and Downcounty Consortium (DCC) Advocacy Coalition (NDAC) and the outreach director for the Yellow Foundation, an international organization dedicated to helping young people in poverty.

As the SMOB, she is a voting member of the Montgomery County Board of Education where she can vote on matters related to collective bargaining, capital and operating budgets, and school closings, reopenings and boundaries.

Ms. Maloo succeeded Mr. Praneel Suvarna, a graduate from Clarksburg High School and a student at the University of Maryland.