More than 58,927 middle and high school students in Montgomery County Public Schools voted Wednesday to select Clarksburg High School senior Praneel Suvarna as the next student board member of the SMOB.
Svana competed against Sam Ross, a junior at Montgomery Blair High School. Suwanna received 53% of the vote and Ross received 47%, according to an MCPS press release.
SMOB is a voting member of the District School Board. Montgomery County is one of two counties in the state that gives SMOB full voting rights on school boards. The position is unpaid, but includes a $5,000 college stipend, student services learning time and one honors-level social studies credit, according to the MCPS website.
Ross and Svana were named SMOB finalists by more than 400 voting middle and high school delegates from eight students who applied to run in February.
Suwanna, a Clarksburg resident, told MoCo360 on Tuesday that consistent, clear communication and using social media to connect with students are key elements of the SMOB campaign. He added that he has also prioritized scheduling school visits with campaign team members.
“Students on the board have a lot of power, but the greatest power is being able to connect directly with students,” Suwanna said.
Suvarna said during school visits that many students wanted “quality of life changes that would make school more enjoyable,” such as better school meals, more funding for extracurricular activities and improved homework policies. Ta.
He added, “School safety needs to be addressed. We need to address the drug and opioid crisis. We need to address the student mental health crisis. And we need to plan for everything. “I've been working on showing students that there is,” he said.
Suwanna also said she would like to see more transparency in processes and decision-making at school boards and central government offices.
He said that when the school board decided to postpone construction of auditoriums for two new schools, Crown High School in Gaithersburg and Charles W. That was the case,” he said. I had no idea that was possible, nor did I understand why MCPS would do such a thing. ”
Suwanna will begin his term on July 1 and will replace Richard Montgomery High School senior Sami Syed, SMOB for the 2023-2024 school year. Suvarna said one of his first actions will be to require security guards be equipped with naloxone, the drug that reverses opioid overdoses, and to include training in administering naloxone in student health classes. He said he would like to submit a resolution.
Svana is a dual-enrolled student at Montgomery College, serves as vice president of the Montgomery County Regional Student Government Association, and is junior class president at Clarksburg High School. He also has experience working with the Student Counseling Mental Health Committee and his MoCo for Change, a student-run organization focused on social justice issues.
