Beginning January 2022, MCPS students, who are sophomores or juniors, are eligible to run for Student Member of the Board (SMOB). The Montgomery County Board of Education’s SMOB is a voting member on collective bargaining, capital, and general spending, school closures, reopenings, and boundaries. The Montgomery County SMOB is an honorable position, yet many students may lack the tools or the knowledge necessary to run for SMOB and be the change they want to see.
Running for SMOB has a general timeline that will be followed in the coming year. For students seeking to learn more about the position of SMOB, an informational meeting is held in January. High schools will also receive advertising and application materials. Students interested should fill out the SMOB candidate nomination form avaible from January 4th to 27th. Local student government groups, such as the Student Leadership Unit and the Web, all have filing forms. Forms should be scanned and emailed to Mrs. Shella Cherry, Director of Student Leadership & Extracurricular Activities, at shella_b_cherry@mcpsmd.org. Other students may nominate applicants or nominate themselves.
All accepted candidates will then attend a required candidates’ meeting at the end of January or the beginning of February. Candidates meet with members of the Special Elections Committee and the existing SMOB to discuss the election process, protocols, and expectations, as well as the SMOB’s job and current work.
Applicants should also send in their student candidate profiles. This profile includes their student name, grade, and school, as well as their picture and responses to three questions shared during the candidate meeting. This profile should be emailed to Mrs. Cherry.
In February 2022, schools choose and elect representatives to the Nominating Convention. On February 10th, a mandatory SMOB candidate Nomination Convention review meeting will be held virtually from 6-7:30 pm. Candidates will submit copies of stickers, posters, and flyers that will be handed out at the convention, as well as financial reports, names and permission forms of the 5 members of the campaign team, presentation slides for nominating convention speech, and speech talking points.
A convention is held if over two SMOB candidates apply. Otherwise, town meetings are held for half a day. This event will take place in person or through MCPS Zoom Webinar on February 16th.
Schools will be educated on filing deadlines, knowing who is eligible to run for office, and who can nominate candidates. The TV show “Meet the Candidates” is shown to all students in various languages to educate voters.
Election Day will be on April 20th and election polls will open at 7:30 a.m. and will close at 3:30 p.m. The finalists will be notified of the results, and they should be made public at 5:30 p.m. However, due to an online election, the timeframe may be extended and election results will be made available after 8:00 p.m. From there, the SMOB candidate will be sworn in on July 1st.
During the SMOB 101 event held last year, former SMOB Nate Tinbete advised any future candidates running for SMOB to “make sure you’re in this for the right reasons and that you are passionate about bringing change to our county.” He also encouraged possible candidates to “make sure that shines [their passion to run] through in your campaign.” The SMOB position is a great way for students to strengthen their leadership skills and help make an impact on their community. You learn more about the SMOB election process on the MCPS website.
Article by Kayla Thomas of Seneca Valley High School
Photo courtesy of Hana O’Looney