School board - who to vote for

[Anonymous]

I don't currently have kids in public school, so I feel a little out of the loop here - who does DCUM recommend for school board? I have at large, district 1, district 3, and district 5 on my ballot.

[Anonymous]

This is the first year I may consider supporting the Apple Ballot. The Apple Ballot is a list of who the teacher union supports and this time they are not endorsing any incumbents.

The BOE did a horrible job keeping schools closed for 18 months for most students, there’s been a lack of resources at the school level to address the pandemic learning loss, there’s been no plan to address the shortages for in school and substitute positions, and the BOE gave a contract to a Superintendent that had two votes of no confidence by the union members underneath her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't currently have kids in public school, so I feel a little out of the loop here - who does DCUM recommend for school board? I have at large, district 1, district 3, and district 5 on my ballot.

FYI everyone has those same four school board races on their ballot.

There are three-ish schools of thought, none of which gets you an candidate for all four races:

1. Stick with the incumbents: Silvestre, Joftus, and Wolff. But you'd still need to pick a candidate from District 1, which has no incumbent.

2. Follow the Apple Ballot's recommendations for bringing new people onto the board: Yang, Coll, and Rivera-Oven. But you'd still need to pick an at-large candidate, because the teachers' union did not endorse anyone in that race.

3. Go with the rogues: Iannaco-Hahn, Fryar, and Wells are running as a slate. But you'd still need to pick a candidate from District 3.


The top two candidates in each of the four races will face off in the general election in November.

[Anonymous]

I am going to mix it up and vote for two Apple Ballot candidates who I think would bring valuable backgrounds to the board: Valerie Coll and Grace Rivera-Oven, plus two incumbents who I feel have been doing their jobs better than most other board members: Scott Joftus and Karla Silvestre.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't currently have kids in public school, so I feel a little out of the loop here - who does DCUM recommend for school board? I have at large, district 1, district 3, and district 5 on my ballot.

Apple Ballot is always the way to vote!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am going to mix it up and vote for two Apple Ballot candidates who I think would bring valuable backgrounds to the board: Valerie Coll and Grace Rivera-Oven, plus two incumbents who I feel have been doing their jobs better than most other board members: Scott Joftus and Karla Silvestre.

I am extremely impressed by Scott Joftus. A group of parents from our school sought a meeting with him and he struck me as very responsive, well-informed, and thoughtful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am going to mix it up and vote for two Apple Ballot candidates who I think would bring valuable backgrounds to the board: Valerie Coll and Grace Rivera-Oven, plus two incumbents who I feel have been doing their jobs better than most other board members: Scott Joftus and Karla Silvestre.

This is my plan too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't currently have kids in public school, so I feel a little out of the loop here - who does DCUM recommend for school board? I have at large, district 1, district 3, and district 5 on my ballot.

Apple Ballot is always the way to vote!

You do realize that the Apple Ballot is what put all these clowns in place in the first place, right? At least take some time to do your own research to make sure your own objectives are in line with those of the teacher's unions. If so, then fine, but voting blindly like you describe just makes you a pawn in the process.

As for me, I find the Apple Ballot very useful as well. It typically tells me who NOT to vote for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is the first year I may consider supporting the Apple Ballot. The Apple Ballot is a list of who the teacher union supports and this time they are not endorsing any incumbents.

The BOE did a horrible job keeping schools closed for 18 months for most students, there’s been a lack of resources at the school level to address the pandemic learning loss, there’s been no plan to address the shortages for in school and substitute positions, and the BOE gave a contract to a Superintendent that had two votes of no confidence by the union members underneath her.

One quick note, while we're discussing incumbents and pandemic - Scott Joftus was appointed to the BoE in December, to fill the seat vacated by Patricia O'Neill's passing. So while he is technically an incumbent he does not bear any responsibility for the Board's handling of the first 18 months of pandemic. I'd urge people to keep this in mind before chucking him out with the rest of the incumbents.

For those who aren't aware of Joftus's background, he has a very different profile / background than the average BoE member and is in my view much more qualified:
https://joftus4boe.com/about/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't currently have kids in public school, so I feel a little out of the loop here - who does DCUM recommend for school board? I have at large, district 1, district 3, and district 5 on my ballot.

Apple Ballot is always the way to vote!

You do realize that the Apple Ballot is what put all these clowns in place in the first place, right? At least take some time to do your own research to make sure your own objectives are in line with those of the teacher's unions. If so, then fine, but voting blindly like you describe just makes you a pawn in the process.

As for me, I find the Apple Ballot very useful as well. It typically tells me who NOT to vote for.

+1 Please do your own research. There are plenty of resources online that provide candidate Q&As.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is the first year I may consider supporting the Apple Ballot. The Apple Ballot is a list of who the teacher union supports and this time they are not endorsing any incumbents.

The BOE did a horrible job keeping schools closed for 18 months for most students, there’s been a lack of resources at the school level to address the pandemic learning loss, there’s been no plan to address the shortages for in school and substitute positions, and the BOE gave a contract to a Superintendent that had two votes of no confidence by the union members underneath her.

One quick note, while we're discussing incumbents and pandemic - Scott Joftus was appointed to the BoE in December, to fill the seat vacated by Patricia O'Neill's passing. So while he is technically an incumbent he does not bear any responsibility for the Board's handling of the first 18 months of pandemic. I'd urge people to keep this in mind before chucking him out with the rest of the incumbents.

For those who aren't aware of Joftus's background, he has a very different profile / background than the average BoE member and is in my view much more qualified:
https://joftus4boe.com/about/

+1. He's been very impressive at the board meetings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't currently have kids in public school, so I feel a little out of the loop here - who does DCUM recommend for school board? I have at large, district 1, district 3, and district 5 on my ballot.

FYI everyone has those same four school board races on their ballot.

There are three-ish schools of thought, none of which gets you an candidate for all four races:

1. Stick with the incumbents: Silvestre, Joftus, and Wolff. But you'd still need to pick a candidate from District 1, which has no incumbent.

2. Follow the Apple Ballot's recommendations for bringing new people onto the board: Yang, Coll, and Rivera-Oven. But you'd still need to pick an at-large candidate, because the teachers' union did not endorse anyone in that race.

3. Go with the rogues: Iannaco-Hahn, Fryar, and Wells are running as a slate. But you'd still need to pick a candidate from District 3.


The top two candidates in each of the four races will face off in the general election in November.

That's who I'm voting for, but not because of the Apple ballot. I know Julie was endorsed by them, but wasn't aware the others were. I'm voting for safe schools.

~Magruder Mom

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is the first year I may consider supporting the Apple Ballot. The Apple Ballot is a list of who the teacher union supports and this time they are not endorsing any incumbents.

The BOE did a horrible job keeping schools closed for 18 months for most students, there’s been a lack of resources at the school level to address the pandemic learning loss, there’s been no plan to address the shortages for in school and substitute positions, and the BOE gave a contract to a Superintendent that had two votes of no confidence by the union members underneath her.

One quick note, while we're discussing incumbents and pandemic - Scott Joftus was appointed to the BoE in December, to fill the seat vacated by Patricia O'Neill's passing. So while he is technically an incumbent he does not bear any responsibility for the Board's handling of the first 18 months of pandemic. I'd urge people to keep this in mind before chucking him out with the rest of the incumbents.

For those who aren't aware of Joftus's background, he has a very different profile / background than the average BoE member and is in my view much more qualified:
https://joftus4boe.com/about/

+1. He's been very impressive at the board meetings.

Way too much conflict of interest there.

[Anonymous]

Please no incumbents, they are awful. All you Silvestre fans, please point out something she has done that you are impressed with, or even happy with? I find she, along with the other incumbents, rubber stamp whatever the MCPS staff tells her to.

The rogues are crazies - wouldn't touch them with a 10-foot pole.

My votes happily going to (meaning voting FOR these candidates, rather than just voting against incumbants):

At Large - J. Domenica Giandomenico
1 - Grace Rivera-Owen
3 - Julie Yang
5 - Valerie Coll

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please no incumbents, they are awful. All you Silvestre fans, please point out something she has done that you are impressed with, or even happy with? I find she, along with the other incumbents, rubber stamp whatever the MCPS staff tells her to.

The rogues are crazies - wouldn't touch them with a 10-foot pole.

My votes happily going to (meaning voting FOR these candidates, rather than just voting against incumbants):

At Large - J. Domenica Giandomenico
1 - Grace Rivera-Owen
3 - Julie Yang
5 - Valerie Coll

I’m inclined to agree with Silvestre. Nothing really objectionable per se, but she hasn’t done enough to earn my vote. Didn’t stand up for kids enough during the pandemic.

I’m willing to give Joftus a full term based on what I’ve seen so far, but also like Yang.