(6/2022) I am a candidate for the Frederick County Board of Education. I will get to why I believe I should earn one of your four votes in a few paragraphs. But first, I want to address a crucial date.

July 19 is one of the most important dates for all Maryland candidates this year as that is when the Primary Election will take place. It took a bit longer than usual to determine that date due to redistricting. In fact, my rack card, that I hand out when knocking on doors, says ‘tentatively’ in front of the date because I needed to get them printed and the redistricting was not yet out of the courts.

The middle of this major summer month is not an ideal time for an election. Many people will be out of town at that time. This is why it is so important for everyone to "Make a Plan to Vote". There is a whole page on the Frederick County Board of Elections website dedicated to helping voters do just that. It is too much information to share it all, so I would recommend visiting their site. I will add, though, that besides the option of voting on July 19, Early Voting is July 7 through July 14 at one of four locations: Trinity Recreation Center, Urbana Library, Thurmont Library, or Middletown Primary School. Unlike actual election days where you must vote at your one assigned polling place, you can show up at any of these four places during Early Voting. And finally, your other option is a mail-in ballot. What used to be called an absentee ballot is now called a mail-in ballot. The only requirement is that you must be registered to vote.

So why am I going on about the Primary Election (on July 19)? Too often, busy voters haven’t gotten to know the candidates yet. They figure they will wait until sometime after Labor Day to start making their decisions. That could well mean that the candidates you really would have liked to vote for are already out of the running because they lost in the Primary.

The Board of Education race is a case in point. The State Board of Elections sends a link to all candidates to proofread the ballots. I looked through all 249 versions of the ballot that will be printed for Frederick County residents depending on where you live and what party you are registered with – 83 Republican ones, 83 Democratic ones, and 83 Non-Affiliated ones. On all 249, my name is the last one to appear before the words "End of Ballot". For Non-Affiliated voters, Board of Education is the only category to appear on your Primary ballot.

So, first you must make your way to the last section of your ballot to find the Board of Education candidates. This election, there are sixteen names listed, yet each voter gets to select only four candidates. What do many voters do at this point? They either skip this section entirely or randomly pick some names they think they might have heard of for some reason. But, if you are a voter who has done their homework, you will know exactly which four names you are going to choose. The collective choices of the voters will have a significant impact on our students.

Of the sixteen candidates, the top eight vote getters will advance to the General Election on November 8. That means half the field will be wiped out. Board of Education is considered a non-partisan race. There are four open seats, so double that number of candidates will move on.

Finally, I’m going to get to the part about why I believe I am a candidate that should get one of your four votes. I am a current board member who has helped steer the school system through the most difficult time the county has seen in the last century. I appreciate that many have not liked decisions that the school board and/or school system made, but we did not lose a student or teacher to Covid, and we did have small groups of students in almost all our schools including the Career & Technology Center.

Having been an elementary classroom teacher for 25 years, a substitute for 12 years, someone very involved in PTA at both the school and county level, and a parent volunteer with thousands of volunteer hours, I feel confident that I know what school personnel need to help our students be successful.

Is FCPS a perfect school system? No, but it has so much going for it already, and I know I am up to the pleasure, rather than task, of helping our system reach its potential. I truly love FCPS and would appreciate another term as a Board of Education member. Next month, I will provide more details about why I believe I should earn one of your four votes. To learn more about me, visit KarenYoho.com.