Editor’s note: This story, originally published at 11:03 a.m. Dec. 5, 2024, was updated at 2:19 p.m. Dec. 5, 2024, to include more information about two board members’ absences during the vote.
In its first meeting with new board members, the Montgomery County school board on Thursday morning unanimously elected Julie Yang, who holds the District 3 seat, to serve as its president for the coming year and District 1 representative Grace Rivera-Oven as vice president.
“We will fix our attention on our North Star — the student achievement,” Yang said after her election Thursday morning at the school board’s headquarters in Rockville. “We will be a symbol of hope for all our students, families and educators and together … we will strive to change lives and build futures.”
Six of the eight board members were in attendance. Rivera-Oven and Natalie Zimmerman (Dist.2), one of three newly elected board members, were absent due to scheduling conflicts, according to the board’s communications coordinator Christie Scott. Scott said she didn’t have other details on the scheduling conflicts. Zimmerman and Rivera-Oven attended the business meeting in the afternoon following the officer election in the morning.
The board voted on the two officer positions using written voting slips, and both votes were unanimous.
Yang was elected to the board in 2022 and served on the special populations, communication and stakeholder engagement, and fiscal management committees. She also serves as the board’s representative on the nominating and awards committees for the Maryland Association of Boards of Education.
Rivera-Oven also was elected to the board in 2022. She is the founder and CEO of the Upcounty Hub for food insecurity. She served on the fiscal management and communications and stakeholder engagement committees.
Yang replaces Karla Silvestre (At-Large) as president. Silvestre served as president for the past two years after being first elected to the position in 2022, leading the board through a 2023 sexual harassment scandal involving a former middle school principal. Rivera-Oven replaces former board member Lynne Harris (At-Large), who lost the Nov. 5 general election to Rita Montoya (At-Large).
“I know how difficult being president of this board can be,” board member Brenda Wolff (Dist. 5), who previously served as board president, said to Silvestre after the election. “I want to say that you exhibited grace under that and leadership. And we are proud to say that you were our president.”
The vote was the first decision for new members Laura Stewart (Dist. 4) and Montoya, who took home the most votes in the Nov. 5 general election. Stewart, Montoya and Zimmerman beat out newcomer Brenda Diaz and incumbents Shebra Evans and Harris. Another incumbent, Rebecca Smondrowski, lost her effort to keep her District 2 seat in the May primary. Board members serve four-year terms.
The election amounted to a reckoning for the eight-member board, highlighting the power and influence of the Montgomery County Education Association (MCEA), the local teachers union that endorsed the winning candidates.
Later Thursday, Superintendent Thomas Taylor will present his recommended fiscal year 2026 budget to the board. Members are also expected to take action on a proposed contract for a school boundary study consultant.
