SALISBURY – A student’s effort to have a voting student member on the Wicomico County Board of Education was brought before county officials this month.
On Feb. 18, James M. Bennett High School junior Aisling Nay came before the Wicomico County Council seeking support for having a student member on the Wicomico County Board of Education.
“I’ve approached my board of ed regarding this and I have not received an answer,” she said. “But I have been told that my county council can assist in this process.”
Nay, an Eastern Shore delegate for the Maryland Association of Student Councils, said she has been advocating for a student board member with certain voting rights.
“This would include partial voting rights on certain issues in regard to budgeting, personnel removal or any other legislation that may be brought forth …,” she said. “This allows for a student voice within the board of ed and more representation for students, as there is a severe lack of student representation here on the Eastern Shore and in Wicomico and Salisbury.”
Members of the county council this week said they would discuss the proposal with members of the Wicomico County Board of Education.
“I believe at one time there was an ex officio member on the board of education, but I recognize you are looking for a little more …,” Councilman John Cannon said. “We can certainly bring that up when we meet at our next quarterly meeting with the board of education to see if they can’t move forward on that.”
Council attorney Bob Taylor noted other school boards in Maryland have voting student members. In Montgomery County, for example, the student representative has nearly full voting rights.
“They do not include voting on disciplinary matters for teachers, administrators and school staff,” he said. “That appears to be the only thing that’s exempted.”
Taylor said Nay’s effort to have a student board member would also go hand in hand with the council’s efforts to change the procedure for filling a vacancy on the board of education.
Since September, the council has met regularly with representatives of the Wicomico County School Board Nominating Commission to discuss proposed changes to the process of filling a vacancy on the board of education. Some of those proposed changes, however, would require an amendment to the Maryland Code.
“If we are going to amend the code, that can also be done too,” he said.
