Sharon W. Cox was unanimously elected president of the Board of Education by the seven members present and Reginald M. Felton was unanimously elected vice president of the Board by the members present. Kermit V. Burnett, District 4 representative, was not in attendance for the vote.

The election occurred during the Board’s regularly scheduled business meeting on Tuesday, December 9, 2003. Both new officers will serve for a one-year term.

Ms. Cox is in her fourth year as a member of the Board. She previously was elected as vice president of the Board and is serving her second term as chair of the Policy Committee. She also is a member of the Research and Evaluation subcommittee. Ms. Cox is chair of the legislative Committee for the Maryland Association of Boards of Education and is liaison to the National School Board Association’s Healthy School Network.

Immediately prior to her election to the Board, Ms. Cox was communications coordinator for the Montgomery County Collaboration Council for Children, Youth and Families. She also has worked in Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) classrooms as a substitute teacher and as a parent volunteer, served two terms as president of the Montgomery County Council of Parent Teacher Associations (MCCPTA), and participated in other community organizations after leaving the management team of the national Capital Area Blue Cross Plan to raise her family.

Ms. Cox has a degree in education from Towson State College and has completed courses toward an MBA degree at Loyola College. She is married with three children, all students in or graduates of MCPS.

Mr. Felton is the director of federal relations for the National School Boards Association. He has been a Board of Education member since 1994 and has served as its president three times. He currently is chair of the Research and Evaluation subcommittee, member of the Audit Committee, and represents the Board on the Budget Committee of the Maryland Association of Boards of Education.

Mr. Felton received his undergraduate degree from Howard University, master of science degree from Tulane University, and holds certificates from the Brookings Institution and Harvard Graduate School of Education. He has held executive positions with the Department of the Navy and served as mayor-commissioner of the Town of Highland Beach, Maryland.

Among his community activities, Mr. Felton has served as president of the Seven Oaks-Evanswood Citizens Association and chair of the Silver Spring Citizens Advisory Board. He has been a member of the executive board of the Montgomery County Branch of the NAACP and its vice president for programs. Mr. Felton is married and has a son who is a graduate of MCPS.