By Anjali Shah

Three new faces will be gracing the Montgomery County Board of Education in December after all three incumbents were voted out during the 2024 election. Lynne Harris (incumbent) and Rita Montoya faced each other for the at-large seat. Natalie Zimmerman and Brenda Diaz vied for a seat in District 2. There was no incumbent for this election, as Rebecca Smondrowski lost her incumbent seat for District 2 back during the May primaries. Finally, in District 4, Shebra Evans (incumbent) and Laura Stewart raced for a seat. The turmoil on the Board of Education has been caused in part by the mishandling of the sexual harassment scandal involving former principal Joel Beidleman. Montoya, Zimmerman, and Stewart won their respective races.

Rita Montoya is a mother, a former PTA president, and a juvenile public defender. She campaigned to rebuild trust between the BOE and MCPS and support students' mental health and bias. She beat out Harris 53.2% to 47.7%. Natalie Zimmerman is a former MCPS teacher who built her campaign on reducing teacher workload and for a physically safe learning environment. She beat Diaz 55.3% to 44%. Laura Stewart is a mother and PTA leader whose children graduated from MCPS schools. She based her campaign on accountability, transparency, and collaboration. She beat out Evans 57.5% to 41.4%. 

Interestingly, MCEA, the Montgomery County Education Association, endorsed all three winning candidates. MCEA is the local branch of the National Education Association and one of the largest. It was founded to ensure educators are the decision makers of education, elected officials are knowledgeable on the needs of students and teachers, and to close the achievement gap.