Praneel Suvarna, the new Student Member of the Board of Education (SMOB), was sworn in Monday. MCM talked to the incoming and outgoing SMOBs.
Suvarna, a rising senior at Clarksburg High School, now begins his one-year term with the school board for Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS). Suvarna said school safety, the opioid crisis, and mental health are priorities, as well as restoring trust that has been “eroded away over the past couple of years.”
He wants Narcan to be available to every security guard within the school system.
Left to right: Outgoing SMOB Sami Saeed, New SMOB Praneel Suvarna
Outgoing SMOB Sami Saeed graduated this spring from Richard Montgomery High School. Saeed now heads to the University of Maryland College Park to study public policy. He plans to be on a ballot in the future.
Reflecting on his year as SMOB, Saeed said his accomplishments and highlights include improving school lunches, school safety, changing the homework policy, and his school visits. Challenges that lay ahead for MCPS include funding the next budget and rebuilding the school system’s reputation, he said.
MCPS middle and high school students elect a SMOB, who is a voting member of the school board. The student member can vote on collective bargaining, budgets, school closings, reopenings and boundaries, but cannot vote on negative personnel actions, according to MCPS.
The student member is not paid, but gets a $5,000 college scholarship.
