Karla Silvestre was reelected unanimously to serve as Montgomery County Public Schools Board of Education (BOE) president Tuesday morning.
By a vote of five to three, Board Member Lynne Harris was chosen as vice president over Board Member Julie Yang. Harris succeeds Board Member Shebra Evans.
Silvestre thanked BOE members for their support, noting, “I’ve really learned from each and every one of you. Together we are better.”
She described the BOE’s role as one of leadership and oversite, and then announced the board’s four priorities during the next year.
First, the district needs to maintain a “laser focus” on improving literacy and math skills. MCPS “needs to see progress for all students,” especially those who live in poverty, Silvestre said.
The school district needs to “keep learning and doing what works best” and maintain “a culture of high expectancy of every single student,” said Silvestre, who has served on the BOE for five years.
Her second priority centers around building an inclusive and safe student climate. Third, the BOE needs to improve two-way communication between the board and MCPS families, she said.
Lastly, Silvestre stressed the need to recruit, retain and distribute a diverse work force among schools and the administration. “Let us support our staff so they can support our students,” she said.
Superintendent Dr. Monifa McKnight called December a great time for reflection. She noted that the school district “worked through so many challenges this year.”
Neither McKnight nor Silvestre referred to objections to its opt out policy when books mentioning LGBT!+ are read and discussed; the recently released Inspector General’s report detailing the results of their investigation into the conduct of Dr. Joel Beidleman while he was principal at Farquhar Middle School; nor the increase in hate-based incidents throughout the district.
Immediately following board elections, the members went into closed session. Their public meeting will continue in the afternoon.
