On April 27, every MCPS student was given the opportunity to vote for our county’s Student Member of the Board of Education. The MCPS SMOB sits on the Board of Education and works alongside other Board members to impact our school system. Due to the recent passage of a bill to give the SMOB full voting rights, as of next year the SMOB will be able to vote on all issues of the board, including the budget.
The two candidates this year for SMOB were Alex Abrosimov of Richard Montgomery High School and Eric Guerci of Bethesda Chevy Chase High School. Abrosimov, a current sophomore, has been class president at his school. Guerci, a junior, is ran this year for re-election.
After counting the votes, at a close margin of 54-46, Eric Guerci has won re-election and will serve a second term as SMOB during his senior year.
Guerci’s campaign was focused on continuing communication efforts with students, closing the achievement gap, reforming retake policies, establishing open lunch at all schools, and ushering our county into the technology age. He also put a strong emphasis on taking measures to close the achievement gap.
Abrosimov’s campaign strove to inject new blood and ideas into the Board of Education. He criticized Guerci’s success as SMOB, promising to reform our educational system through better communication of the student voice. He emphasized his achievements as SGA class president, including starting a petition to close schools during a large snowstorm in the winter and organizing food trucks to come to Richard Montgomery HS during the students’ open lunch.
This close election has brought up many interesting reactions from student voters. Richard Montgomery sophomore Matthew Pease said, “It was interesting to see how incumbent advantage played a role. Despite name recognition, Alex Abrosimov got an impressive percentage of the voters. Numerically, he had a great run.
“However, I did notice in looking at the score breakdown, that Richard Montgomery had the largest abstention population, almost 4%. The county wide average was about 1%. It’s interesting to speculate what could have caused such a discrepancy. All in all, it proved to be one of the most interesting elections of 2016, including the presidential one. I commend all parties, “ Pease continued.
Despite a close election, students on both sides anticipate Guerci promoting serious change in MCPS over the coming year.
Article by MoCo Student Politics Editor Isabelle Zhou of Richard Montgomery High School