At a packed youth town hall in Montgomery County Council chambers Wednesday night, local teens and tweens had plenty to discuss with their elected officials.
“You are so important to us and you’re the future of Montgomery County,” said Council President Evan Glass (D-At-large). “And so we want to make sure that you are all taken care of.”
More than 200 students participated in the event, with at least 192 tuning in online and around 50 participating in person. Student questions ranged from bullying and school safety concerns to council legislation, including a ban on gas-powered leaf blowers and proposed parking ordinances changes.
The annual event is an opportunity for Montgomery County Public Schools students to earn student-service learning hours required for graduation, and also for the council to learn more about what issues are impacting local youth.
Multiple students had questions about the MCPS budget process. This year’s budget was over $3 billion.
“We are facing a bit of a serious shortfall. The ESSER [COVID-19 relief] funds are drying up,” said Sam Ross, a Montgomery Blair High School student. “I was just curious as to how you’re going to communicate what the priorities are.”
Councilmember Kristin Mink (D-Dist. 5), a member of the education and culture committee, said that group is working with MCPS to look at the data and address what programs might have to be cut and what will be funded in the next budget session to make space for essential programs funded by ESSER money.
“There are a number of items including restorative justice and other important things that are not being funded in the regular operating budget,” Mink said. “So if you want to keep them, either something is going to have to go, or there’s going to need to be additional funding from the council that comes over.”
Mink encouraged students to be vocal with the school board and the council about what programs they are passionate about being funded in the budget.
Several students voiced their concerns about bullying. Ashley Jones, a seventh grader at Lakelands Park Middle School, said she’s specifically concerned about homophobic bullying she’s witnessed at her school.
“I’ve noticed in my school that LGBTQ+ students have been getting bullied more, and ‘gay’ is being used as an insult,” Jones said. “I was wondering if there’s anything that the council can do about this.”
Councilmember Kate Stewart (D-Dist. 4) said she’s been working closely on this issue, especially as more LGBTQ+ families may move to the county after Gov. Wes Moore declared Maryland a transgender sanctuary state.
“Something that myself and councilmember Mink have been working on since day one that we got into office is talking to members of the MCPS central staff about LGBTQ+ students and making sure that they are free from bullying and can attend our schools safely and being their authentic selves,” Stewart said.
Stewart said it’s also important to make sure there are adequate services in place for LGBTQ+ students to be supported, and that she’s working on access to healthcare in the county specifically for transgender youth. She encouraged LGBTQ+ students in attendance who are interested in working with her to address bullying and lack of services to reach out.
Jackson Taylor, a senior at Rockville High School, asked if the council had any plans to help expand Narcan access at schools in wake of fentanyl overdoses. Narcan is an emergency medication that aims to rapidly reverse a drug overdose. According to a study conducted by Montgomery County, youth fentanyl overdoses (age 21 and younger) increased 77% in the county over the last two years.
“We’ve made great strides since last year in making sure Narcan is available at all of our schools and that there’s appropriate training in place. I am confident that we’re in a much better position today than we were last year, but clearly more needs to be done,” said councilmember Gabe Albornoz (D-At-large). “We need to get to the heart of what’s causing this in the first place.”
Albornoz, who is also the chair of the health and human services committee, said the council is very committed to the issue and is working closely with state representatives to address substance addiction and care.
Layla Bechecki, a junior at Clarksburg High School, asked the council if there was any way to require education about current events in schools, specifically referencing the Israel-Hamas war. She said she’s concerned some classmates are reading misinformation on social media.
“Some of us have been told to stop talking about the conflict going on in Palestine, so we don’t raise any unnecessary feelings,” Bechecki said. “We don’t talk about these current events which so deeply affect us, but it’s something we need to be learning about.”
Council Vice President Andrew Friedson (D-Dist. 1) said he would encourage creating opportunities for students to learn about and discuss current world events.
“Providing an understanding of these issues is really important. And I am deeply concerned that if students do not get credible information and the understanding of how to talk about issues in a constructive and safe way without causing hurt and harm, they’ll go to social media,” Friedson said. “Those places are oftentimes toxic. They’re oftentimes incredibly hurtful and disruptive. They’re oftentimes rampant with misinformation.”
At the end of the event, Glass encouraged the students to stay engaged with the council throughout the year. Glass said he was impressed by the questions students asked.
“These are not light issues and it shows that you care about the community and you care about each other, and that’s really what we want from all of you,” Glass said.