A brief guide to the Board of Education: who we are, what we do, how to communicate with us, and how we may assist you. We encourage you to take a few minutes to review this information and to become involved in public education. Working with the community, we can provide our students with a high quality educational system.
Find out who has been elected to the Montgomery County Board of Education from 1817 to the present day:
Karla Silvestre
President
Lynne Harris
Vice President
Brenda Wolff
District 5
Grace Rivera-Oven
District 1
Shebra L. Evans
District 4
Julie Yang
District 3
Rebecca Smondrowski
District 2
Sami Saeed
Student Member
Ms. Karla Silvestre was elected to her first four-year term on November 6, 2018. She is currently serving a second-year term as the vice president of the Board of Education and as chairperson of the Board's Strategic Planning Committee, and as a member of the Committee on Special Populations, and also the Communication and Stakeholder Engagement Committee. In addition, she serves as the Board’s representative to the Maryland Association of Boards of Education’s Resolutions Committee.
Biography & Contact InformationLynne Harris is a dot-connector who brings her extensive and broad experience as a nurse, lawyer, public health expert and teacher to her Board work, while striving to ensure others - particularly students and staff - know their own superpowers and influence to drive change. Her mission as a member of the Board of Education is to encourage young people to get involved in policy-making that will impact their generation, and ensure that the needs of students - as the school system’s customers - remain front of mind.
Biography & Contact InformationMs. Wolff was elected to her second four-year term on November 8, 2022. She currently serves as chair of the Board's Strategic Planning Committee and as a member of the Policy Managemetn Committee. Ms. Wolff also will serve as the Board’s representative to the Maryland Association of Boards of Education’s (MABE) Federal Relations Network Committee and is the vice chair of MABE's Legislative Committee.
Biography & Contact InformationMs. Rivera-Oven was elected to her first four-year term on November 8, 2022. Previously, she owned a public relations business. She is also the founder and CEO of the Upcounty Hub for food insecurity and social services non-profit located in Germantown, MD serving approximately 1,400 families per week. Ms. Rivera-Oven was also involved in many committees and boards. She is the past chair of the Latino Health Initiative Strathmore, Interfaith Works and others. She is currently on the Fiscal Management Committee, Communications and Stakeholder Engagement Committee. She has three children who graduated from Montgomery County Public Schools.
Biography & Contact InformationMrs. Evans was elected to her second four-year term on November 3, 2020.She previously served a second term as president of the Board of Education. She currently serves as the chairperson of the Board's Communication and Stakeholder Engagement Committee and serves as a member of the Board's Policy Management Committee. Mrs. Evans has served in numerous volunteer leadership roles with the Montgomery County Council of PTAs, including Vice President of Educational Issues, Vice President of Programs, Recording Secretary-Delegate Assembly, and Wheaton Cluster Coordinator.
Biography & Contact InformationJulie Yang's passion for ensuring that all students - and especially special populations - get access to the resources they need to succeed stems from her own elementary school experiences in China. An educator, who has served more than 20 years as a classroom teacher, school instructional data analyst, and college and career counselor, Ms. Yang was elected to the Board of Education in November 2022.
Biography & Contact InformationMrs. Smondrowski was elected to her third four-year term on November 3, 2020. She currently serves as chairperson of the Board's Policy Management Committee. She also is a member of the Board's Communication and Stakeholder Engagement Committee and the Board's Committee on Special Populations.
Biography & Contact InformationMr. Sami Saeed was elected to serve a one-year term on the Board by middle and high school students of Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS). He is currently a senior at Richard Montgomery High School.
Biography & Contact Information