County PTA Supports Partially-Elected School Board

The organization that represents Parent Teacher Associations around the county voted Monday to support adding elected members to the Baltimore County Board of Education.

The Baltimore County PTA Council voted during a Monday night meeting at Loch Raven High School to support a hybrid elected-appointed school board, according to Yara Cheikh, president of the Hampton Elementary School PTA.

Jean Suda, a PTA member at Dulaney High, and  Julie Sugar, president of the Loch Raven High PTA, organized the resolution.

The final vote was not immediately available but Cheikh said schools from all over the county including Carney, Hampton, Hillcrest and Randallstown Elementary, Deer Park Middle, and Dulaney, Franklin, Loch Raven and Pikesville High Schools voted in favor of the resolution.

"There is no way this can be portrayed as anything other than a countywide movement now," Cheikh said.

The resolution does not support any specific bill but does support the creation of a board that has some elected members.

Sen. Bobby Zirkin and Del. Steve Lafferty are sponsoring identical bills that would create a partially elected-partially appointed school board.

The council is expected in the next few weeks to draft and send a letter to committees in Annapolis that are responsible for vetting the bill.