Shirley Brandman Will Serve as Vice President of the Board

Nancy Navarro was elected president of the Board of Education on the first ballot by a seven-vote majority, and Shirley Brandman was elected vice president of the Board on the first ballot by a seven-vote majority. The election occurred during the Board's regularly scheduled business meeting on Tuesday, December 12. Both new officers will serve for a one-year term.

Mrs. Navarro is beginning her first full term as an elected Board of Education member. She was appointed by the Board in October 2004 to fill the term of the vacant District 5 seat. She is a co-founder of Centro Familia, a nonprofit community-based organization whose mission is to assist the economic and educational development of Latino and other immigrant communities.

Mrs. Navarro has served in a number of volunteer leadership roles, including co-president of the White Oak Middle School PTSA and co-chair of the Long Branch Revitalization Task Force, Schools, Youth, and Child Care Workgroup. She is a member of the National Legal Defense Fund Family Initiative Advisory Committee. She also is an active bilingual classroom parent volunteer at Rock Creek Forest Elementary School. She is the recipient of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Montgomery County Leadership Award and the Maryland State Department of Education "Women Who Dare" Leadership Award, among other recognitions.

Mrs. Navarro has two daughters who are MCPS students.

Ms. Brandman was elected to her first four-year term on November 7, 2006, as an at-large representative. She has served as an elected local PTA leader and as vice president for educational issues with the Montgomery County Council of PTAs. Ms. Brandman also served as a parent representative on the Montgomery County Commission for Children and Youth. She began her career as an attorney representing children in abuse and neglect cases and later earned a master’s degree in special education, becoming a teacher for students with learning disabilities.

Ms. Brandman has two sons who are MCPS students.