Richard Montgomery High School junior Sami Saeed is one of the two finalists in the Montgomery County Student Member of the Board (SMOB) elections for the 2023-24 school year. He is running against Springbrook High School junior Yoseph Zerihun. Election day will be held on April 19.

The SMOB is a voting member of the Montgomery County Board of Education and can vote on decisions concerning budgets, school openings and closings and matters related to collective bargaining. 

Saeed plans to focus on working with students and ensuring that all voices are heard. “In terms of student representation, I want to help develop and sponsor legislation that would change student leadership organizations by introducing limits on the number of students that can join per school to ensure certain schools, such as RM, aren’t [over]represented,” Saeed said. “I want to bring back the SMOB monthly minute and implement monthly surveys to hear all students’ voices on various topics such as mental health, school safety and access to opportunities.” 

Saeed currently has MCPS students working alongside him on his campaign. Junior Ashlee Argueta is one of them. “I’m a general helper so I can help in anything, I don’t just specialize in one department. I help with any sort of logistical aspects [of the campaign] and other roles with their tasks,” Argueta said. 

With election day less than one month away, Saeed is striving to reach out to students all over the county. “I would definitely say school visits are the most important aspect of the SMOB campaign, especially regarding middle schools since you can speak to literally the entire school if you speak at all three lunches,” he said. 

If Saeed wins, he will be the fourth student from RM to become SMOB in the last five years. Saeed hopes to bring the change people want to see and provide proper representation to the more than 162,000 students in MCPS. “[It is] my duty to provide MCPS with innovative solutions to pressing problems,” he said.