Sami Saeed, a junior at Richard Montgomery High School, has been elected the Student Member of the Board of Education (SMOB) for the 2023-2024 school year. Mr. Saeed’s term begins on July 1, 2023. 

All secondary students were eligible to vote in the SMOB election and 55,598 students cast ballots. Mr. Saeed received 70 percent of the vote, while his opponent, Mr. Yoseph Zerihun, a junior at Springbrook High School, received 30 percent. The SMOB election was held on April 19, 2023 through an electronic ballot that all students received in their MCPS email and were encouraged to vote through a class lesson.

Mr. Sami Saeed currently serves as the president of the Richard Montgomery Student Government Association (SGA), and is a member of the SMOB Advisory Council and the Montgomery County Commission on Youth and Children. He is an avid writer and has written for both The Tide, Richard Montgomery’s student newspaper, and The MoCo Student newspaper.

The SMOB is a voting member of the Montgomery County Board of Education. The SMOB can vote on matters related to collective bargaining, capital and operating budgets, and school closings, reopenings and boundaries. The SMOB cannot vote on negative personnel actions. The SMOB is not paid, but does receive a college scholarship of up to $25,000, Student Service Learning hours, and one honors-level social studies credit.

Mr. Saeed will replace Arvin Kim, a senior at Walt Whitman High School, who will graduate in June. He will be the 46th Student Member of the Board.

For more information, visit the Student Member of the Board website.