New School Board Members Set To Take Office In Anne Arundel

ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY, MD — The three newest members of the Anne Arundel County Board of Education will take their oath of office on Monday. The recently-elected members are Robert Silkworth (County Council District 2), Corine Frank (County Council District 3) and Joanna Bache Tobin (County Council District 6).

To maintain social distancing, the board members will have separate ceremonies at the Carol Parham Building, located in Annapolis at 2644 Riva Road. The officials can bring a few relatives, but the proceedings will be closed to the public.

Anne Arundel County Public Schools said in a press release that interested viewers can watch the event from home. It will be streamed via Comcast and Broadstripe on Channel 96, Verizon on Channel 36 and the internet on Anne Arundel County Public Schools' YouTube channel.

Silkworth will be the first to take the oath at 1 p.m. Frank will follow at 1:20 p.m. Tobin will round out the bunch at 1:40 p.m.

The trio will replace outgoing board members Robert Leib (General Assembly District 30), Terry Gilleland (General Assembly District 32), Eric Grannon (General Assembly District 33) and Julie Hummer (At-Large). They will all serve four year terms.

Seated members include Candace Antwine (County Council District 1), Melissa Ellis (County Council District 4), Dana Schallheim (County Council District 5) and Michelle Corkadel (County Council District 7). They started six-year terms in December of 2018. Student member Drake Smith is serving a one-year term that ends next June.

How They're Picked

This year's election came as the Board of Education completed its redistricting. State legislators passed a law in 2017 that shifted who board members represent and how they take office.

The governor used to appoint candidates who were nominated by a county commission. The appointees would then serve one of the county's General Assembly districts, which is the area that elects a local representative to the Maryland House of Delegates.

Board members are now elected. Under the new process, members serve County Council districts, which cover different areas than General Assembly districts. Punch your address into this website to see which district you live in.

The shift toward County Council districts was gradual and only happened as terms expired. Leib, Gilleland, Grannon and Hummer were the last four appointed board members.

Their terms are now up. Because they represented General Assembly districts and the new members will lead County Council districts, none of these candidates will directly replace any of the outgoing school officials. They instead fill their vacancies and change the area that the open seat used to serve.

There is no-longer an at-large member, so nobody will fill Hummer's shoes. The school board will now have eight members instead of nine.

Every Anne Arundel County resident remains represented. The districts that determine their representative just look a little different.

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• AACPS Delays Hybrid Classes; Anne Arundel Coronavirus Cases Surge
• Teachers Protest Hybrid Classes, Threaten To Work Fewer Hours
• AACPS Adopts Hybrid Model, Eligible Students Can Opt In

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