July 14th 2023.
Parkville High School senior Kayla Drummond is making history as the first student board member for Baltimore County to be allowed to vote on the county's $2.6 billion budget. Kayla is feeling the gravity of the responsibility and is excited to be able to help shape the future of Baltimore County students.
"I'm just excited to be the first person to be able to do that … and kind of help figure out like the small details of it and just help improve it, make it more realistic and better equipped to help more Baltimore County students," Drummond said.
The 17-year-old wants the voices of students to be heard and believes that their opinions, beliefs, and ideas should be valued. This notion has not been met with universal agreement.
Julie Henn, a board member, expressed her concern in a Facebook post that such a decision-making authority could put a lot of pressure on the student board member.
However, Eric Ebersole, the bill's sponsor, believes that students on the board are more than capable of deciding how the budget is allocated. He believes that age should not be a limiting factor. In response to critics, he said, "Just because you don't think your next-door neighbor isn't qualified to be president, it doesn't mean nobody is qualified to be president."
Four of the 24 counties in Maryland—Baltimore, Baltimore City, Montgomery, and Anne Arundel—allow their student board members to vote on budgets. Kayla Drummond will be the first in Baltimore County to do so, and she is ready to take on the task and help shape the future of Baltimore County students.
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