Parents Sue HoCo School Board Over Student Member Voting Right

HOWARD COUNTY, MD — Two Howard County Public School System parents, Traci Spiegel and Kimberly Ford, have filed a lawsuit aiming to remove the student school board member's right to vote on issues before the board. The lawsuit comes after the student school board member recently cast the key vote against returning to in-person classes.

According to The Baltimore Sun, the lawsuit states that "giving a high school student the right to vote on school board decisions violates Maryland’s constitution because the student is not 18 years old" and isn't eligible to vote in elections or hold an elected office.

However, most school boards in the Baltimore region have one student member who votes, the newspaper noted. That student member, typically an upperclassman, is elected by middle and high school students to serve one term. The student member can vote on most issues except for ones such as selecting the superintendent, school boundaries and the budget.

Tony Conti, the attorney representing parents, told The Baltimore Sun that 16 out of 24 local school boards in the state don’t allow students to vote.

“These are complicated times, but this is a simple issue,” said Spiegel in a statement. “When I started watching the meetings and saw every key vote ending in 4-4 ties with no progress, I was in complete shock. When I found out one of the members was a senior in high school casting stalemate votes as a minor, grinding our school system to a halt, I knew something had to be done.

Ford said the "dysfunction of the school board is not acceptable anymore.” Ford said in a statement that she wants school leaders to create a plan that allows families to choose whether or not they return to school.

Kathy Hanks, the administrator for Howard County’s school board, told The Baltimore Sun that she had not reviewed the lawsuit.