As Student Representative to the Harford County Board of Education , Fallston High School senior Kate Kidwell speaks for 39,000 public school students across the county.
While attending conferences, public meetings, work sessions, and the Board retreat, Kidwell introduces “student opinion” into the Board’s discussions, but lacks sufficient power to vote on issues that affect the same student population.
Kidwell is currently working to change that as she petitions for the right to a partial vote on policy matters.
“Not only will a partial vote give legitimacy to the student member but it will enable the student opinion to be infused into student education,” said Kidwell.
Students have been asking for this partial vote for over 20 years, according to Kidwell.
Last year, two students, Annie Oleszczuk and Gregory Lee Waterworth, former Fallston High School students, set the current plan into motion. Oleszczuk served as President of the Harford County Regional Association of Student Council (HCRASC) and Waterworth held the position of President of the Student Government Association (SGA) at Fallston, both for the 2008-2009 school year.
Kidwell, Oleszczuk, and Waterworth recently gave a presentation to the Board on student voting. “Our presentation on student voting rights was nerve-racking, to say the least. The Board last year did not look favorably on a voting student member, so I was wary,” said Kidwell.
If Kidwell is given the right to vote, she will become one of nine members of the Board to vote on policy.
Before Kidwell can secure the vote, however, a lengthy process involving the Maryland General Assembly must be completed. First, the Harford County Board of Education must give her permission to draft legislation to be put in the House and Senate. If all goes favorably, the proposed bill will then be signed into law by .
The vote by the Harford County Board of Education to give Kidwell the permission to draft legislation will come in December.
The proposal made by Kidwell, Oleszczuk, and Waterworth includes a new election process for the Student Representative as well as specifications on what the Representative can vote on and what closed meetings he or she can attend. Another key feature of the legislation will be a scholarship for the Student Representative, the amount of which will be determined by the Board.
This previous school year, the late Dr. Jackie Haas, former Superintendent of Harford County Public Schools, took the matter seriously and decided it was time to formally consider the possibility of a student vote. She helped to establish the Student Voting Rights Committee to study the way that the vote would affect the current system.
The Committee studies the way that a student vote could work in the Board. “Our County student government body had worked tirelessly to bring the issue to our legislators and our Board members for serious consideration,” said Board member Alysson L. Krchnavy.
“Nationally, the movement to give student representatives on Boards of Education a legal vote has been gaining more and more acceptance,” said Krchnavy.
Other counties, such as Carroll County, simultaneously push for the partial student voting rights. Baltimore City, Montgomery County, Howard County, Prince George’s County, and Baltimore County student representatives already have the partial voting rights that Kidwell desires.
Katie Clarke can be reached for comment at [email protected].