Howard County students are a step closer to gaining partial voting rights on the school board.
Board members late afternoon Thursday approved a policy laying the groundwork for state legislation to be passed that would give the student board member voting rights beginning in the 2007-08 school year.
“I?m just extremely happy that the board, in its unanimous decision, is supporting the increase of student voting rights,” said Jeff Lasser, current student member of the board who has an opinion vote on matters that come before the members.
Roger Plunkett, business, community, and government relations officer for the school system served as the chairman of the committee that developed the policy. He said the board?s vote is a victory for students.
“The students have made tremendous progress concerning voting rights,” Plunkett said.
If the legislation, which the board plans to develop and submit to state legislators in the fall is approved, the student member would be able to receive all board information, with the exception of confidential personnel and closed session items.
According to the policy, student members would not be able to vote on the following:
» Attendance areas
» Site acquisition, condemnation, consolidation, etc.
» Appointment and salary of the superintendent
» Employee discipline and other appeals
» Budgetary matters
» Appointment and promotion of staff
» Teacher discipline
» Collective bargaining
» Student suspensions, expulsions
Despite the restrictions, Plunkett said the student member will be able to make an impact.
“The board covers a myriad of issues,” he said. “There are so many issues that the student member can vote on.”
Before the vote, which School Board Member Mary Kay Sigaty supported, she said she didn?t object to having the student member vote on bids and contracts. To support her position, she said Montgomery County doesn?t exclude its student member from voting on such issues.
But the other school board members agreed with attorney Mark Blom?s recommendation that the matters be excluded because voting on them would entitle the student member to confidential information.
