The school systems are a weird mix of state and local government, both for authority and funding.

They function independently of the County's executive branch. They are an independent entity governed by their school board. But those board members are elected by County residents. I'd call them local government, but not in the traditional sense of the three branches of government.

I think the topic of the interview matters most when trying to figure this out. School safety? Fine. School funding? Fine. Public transportation that helps kids get to school? Fine. Funding of the Strathmore so that 4th graders (or whomever they invite) for free concerts? Fine.

Building a new jail in Rockville? That's a bit of a stretch.

OP here. Basically, there is a request to "interview a member of local government regarding an issue of importance to members of the community."

I don't think they're "members" of the local government, although they are employees of a local government body. In Maryland, teachers are employees of the local school system, in your case MCPS. MCPS is administratively and legally separate from the county itself (though obviously intertwined) and is run by the elected school board. I guess the question would be, do you consider a person who works in the county assessor's office to be a "member" of local government? Or maybe more analogously, how about a park ranger for M-NCPPC (another local body that is not exactly your county government)?

Can you give us more context? Obviously they are government employees, but they are not elected officials. Why did the distinction matter in the context of your discussion?

Just curious. I was in a bit of a debate with a neighbor about "are teachers a member of the local government?" I say no; he says yes. I agree that they are County employees, but I don't view teachers as a "member of the government." This is in Montgomery County, if that is relevant to your comments.