With November’s upcoming elections, the Montgomery County school board is on the cusp of a major change. The board’s President, Michael Durso, who is currently the only male on the board, is not seeking re-election, so there will be no male candidates running next month.
Seven women are currently running for five open seats. As a result, Montgomery County will have an all-female school board for the first time. This historic achievement for women sends a positive message to girls all over the county—that they can do anything they set their minds to.
At-Large MCPS board member Jeanette Dixon has expressed how this event illustrates how far Montgomery county has come throughout the years.
“It is about electing the best person for the job and illustrates that we have come a long way as a society, as we never commented when organizations and institutions were all male in the past,” Dixon said. “This all-female board will be a natural progression of the work women have done as educational activists.”
Walter Johnson senior Sam Falb also believes that this sets a great precedent for other countries. “It’s great that MCPS, one of the most academically robust counties in the nation, is setting an example of strong female leadership,” Falb said.
Wootton senior Dina Sapiro views this as not only an encouragement to young girls, but also as a catalyst for resolving important issues in our society.
“I think that it shows the resilience of women in this country and especially young women,” Sapiro said. “If there are situations with sexual harassment or discrimination based on gender, I feel like these concerns that are being voiced will actually be addressed.”
Despite the abundance of support for an all-female board, there could be controversy about the diversity of the board. There will be no male representation on the school board, which will decrease the diversity of members. While this concerns some people, others believe that the lack of male board members will not cause any issues.
“I have confidence that this board will work for the entire county regardless of gender or otherwise,” Falb said.
Additionally, controversy tends to come with any such historic change. However, many surmise that we must push through the criticism, like this year’s female candidates are, in order to make a difference in our community. “Some tension might arise, but how else are we going to break the glass ceiling?” Sapiro said.
The school board will begin its new chapter after the election takes place on Tuesday November 6. The elections are divided by district, which is how the multiple candidates are arranged.
The At-Large candidates in this year’s election are Julie Reiley and Karla Silvestre. District 1 candidates are Maria Blaeuer and incumbent Judy Docca. District 3 candidates are Lynn Amano and incumbent Pat O’Neill. Finally, District 5 has Brenda Wolff, who is running unopposed.
Article by MoCo Student Staff Writer Courtney Cohn of Walter Johnson High School