Schools

Student's Election to County PTAs Post Draws Ire, Defenders

Richard Montgomery freshman's election signals 'student engagement,' incoming MCCPTA president tells The Gazette.

The incoming president of the county council of PTAs is defending the election of a freshman as one of the organization's officers.

Richie Yarrow, 15, was elected recording secretary of the 48,000-member organization that represents PTAs from schools around Montgomery County, The Gazette reported April 30.

"Richie, a freshman at Richard Montgomery High School, served last year as the vice president of ’s PTSA. He was also president last year of Montgomery County Junior Councils, the county’s organization for middle school student government," The Gazette reported.

Find out what's happening in Rockvillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Some delegates to the organization were surprised to learn they had elected a teenager. Delegates questioned Yarrow's ability to make tough decisions and said they did not realize they were voting for a student, The Gazette reported.

Click here to read the full article.

Find out what's happening in Rockvillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Janette Gilman, Montgomery County Council of PTAs's current membership chairwoman and incoming president, in a letter published in The Gazette on Wednesday, called Yarrow's election "an important step towards — and an important sign of — the progress this organization is making towards achieving the goal of student engagement."

Yarrow will have no personal agenda and will have students' interests at heart, Tom Brennan, a former MCCPTA delegate from Germantown, wrote in another letter that appeared in The Gazette on Wednesday

"Although I have never met or spoken with Mr. Yarrow, having been a one-time delegate to the MCCPTA and having worked with past MCCPTA leadership, I am confident that he will bring a maturity to the MCCPTA that has been lacking for a long time," Brennan wrote.

Last week, Maryland Juice blogger David Moon congratulated Yarrow.

"And a plea to the grownups: Don't Judge a Book by Its Cover," Moon wrote."They're already talking about changing the election rules to prevent another student from serving? Hmm."

Last month, Maryland Juice criticized Sen. Brian E. Frosh (D-Dist. 16) of Bethesda for what Moon called "his unilateral killing of a youth empowerment bill" that would have given full voting rights to the student member of the county school board.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here