Board of Education

Brenda Wolff 

(District 5)

Ms. Wolff was elected to her second four-year term on November 8, 2022.  She currently serves as chair of the Board's Strategic Planning Committee and as a member of the Policy Managemetn Committee.  Ms. Wolff also will serve as the Board’s representative to the Maryland Association of Boards of Education’s (MABE) Federal Relations Network Committee and is the vice chair of MABE's Legislative Committee.

President: Karla Silvestre

(At-Large)

Ms. Karla Silvestre was elected to her first four-year term on November 6, 2018.  She is currently serving a second-year term as the vice president of the Board of Education and as chairperson of the Board's Strategic Planning Committee, and as a member of the Committee on Special Populations, and also the Communication and Stakeholder Engagement Committee.  In addition, she serves as the Board’s representative to the Maryland Association of Boards of Education’s Resolutions Committee.

Grace Rivera-Oven (District 1)

Ms. Rivera-Oven was elected to her first four-year term on November 8, 2022. Previously, she owned a public relations business. She is also the founder and CEO of the Upcounty Hub for food insecurity and social services non-profit located in Germantown, MD serving approximately 1,400 families per week. Ms. Rivera-Oven was also involved in many committees and boards. She is the past chair of the Latino Health Initiative Strathmore, Interfaith Works and others. She is currently on the Fiscal Management Committee, Communications and Stakeholder Engagement Committee. She has three children who graduated from Montgomery County Public Schools.

Vice President: Shebra L. Evans

(District 4)

Mrs. Evans was elected to her second four-year term on November 3, 2020.She previously served a second term as president of the Board of Education. She currently serves as the chairperson of the Board's Communication and Stakeholder Engagement Committee and serves as a member of the Board's Policy Management Committee. Mrs. Evans has served in numerous volunteer leadership roles with the Montgomery County Council of PTAs, including Vice President of Educational Issues, Vice President of Programs, Recording Secretary-Delegate Assembly, and Wheaton Cluster Coordinator.

Lynne Harris (At-Large)

Ms. Lynne Harris was elected to her first four-year term on November 3, 2020, and was sworn in on December 1, 2020. She currently serves as the chairperson of the Board's Fiscal Management Committee and is a member of the Board's Strategic Planning Committee. Ms. Harris has worked as an education advocate in the Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) since her son started kindergarten in 2008.

Julie Yang (District 3)

Ms. Yang was elected to her first four-year term on November 8, 2022. Previously she has spent nearly 20 years as an educator serving all students first as a classroom teacher, then as a career and college counselor. Ms. Yang was a PTA leader and served as co-chair for the Asian Pacific American Student Achievement Action Group. She is currently a member of the Committee on Special Population and the Communication and Stakeholder Engagement Committee. In addition, she serves as the Board's representative to the Maryland Association of Boards of Education's Nominating Committee and MABE Awards Committee.

Rebecca Smondrowski (District 2)

Mrs. Smondrowski was elected to her third four-year term on November 3, 2020.  She currently serves as chairperson of the Board's Policy Management Committee. She also is a member of the Board's Communication and Stakeholder Engagement Committee and the Board's Committee on Special Populations.

Student Member: Sami Saeed

Mr. Sami Saeed was elected to serve a one-year term on the Board by middle and high school students of Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS). He is currently a senior at Richard Montgomery High School.