Meg Ricks

Running for school board in Howard County District 1

How old will you be on Election Day (Nov. 5)?

43

Are you currently employed? If so, where, and what is your job title?

I am a teacher's assistant at East Columbia Preschool.

What is the highest level of education that you completed, and where did you get that degree?

Bachelor’s degree in anthropology from Brigham Young University.

Why are you running for the school board?

A decade and a half of advocacy and community service brought me the knowledge, experience, and motivation to serve my community and the young people of Howard County by running for an at-large seat on the board in 2022, and now to run for the District 1 seat. My goal is to have excellent schools providing a world-class education that prepares every student for a bright future. To do this, I believe we must remove barriers to learning by:

- Addressing math and reading skills gaps.

- Following Individual Education Plans and 504 plans with fidelity, supporting students, families and staff as partners.

- Connecting students and families to needed resources, whether for physical or mental health.

- Having both high expectations for students and the necessary support to achieve them.

- Protecting students from bullying, discrimination or ostracization because of their race, religion, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, gender identity, sexual orientation, family make-up or any other actual or presumed status or identity.

- Giving educators what they need to succeed in their jobs and compensation that reflects their expertise and professionalism.

I am also committed and ready to build consensus with other board members and funding partners to advocate for needed funding, while being a wise steward of taxpayer funds. I will also push for transparency and accountability, listen to stakeholders, and make data-driven decisions.

What makes you a good candidate for the board?

My background in the preschool classroom and as a community leader, education advocate, and Howard County Public School System parent have uniquely qualified me to serve on the Board. As a recipient of Free and Reduced Meals and other programs for families in poverty as a child, I personally experienced the importance and power of public education to change lives. Serving others in my community has been a lifelong pursuit. I have followed and participated in the work of the board for 15 years and am ready to bring my experience, creative problem solving, consensus building and passion for education to this role. My time on the Operating Budget Review Committee and many years of parent/teacher association leadership deepened my understanding of the fiscal and other challenges we face. Those familiar with my leadership have described me as fair, calm and level-headed. Serving as one of the co-chairs of last year’s Operating Budget Review Committee, I had an opportunity to put into practice calm leadership and consensus building in what can sometimes be a fractious group because of its size, passion and diversity of opinions, not to mention the difficulty of last year’s budget. I am ready to bring these needed skills to the board.

What is the most important issue facing your school board and what would you do about it if elected?

The most important issue facing Howard County Public School System is the budget, because it touches everything in our school system and every challenge we face. It directly impacts our ability to hire and retain the best teachers and staff in the face of a national teacher shortage. It impacts our ability to expand access to mental health resources for our students at a time when social and emotional issues are creating a crisis for our kids. This results in both behaviors that disrupt the learning environment as well as internalized impacts like anxiety and depression. It directly impacts our ability to meet our legal requirements to our students who should be receiving special education services but are often not getting what they need and what they are legally entitled to. Inadequate funding has also led to school overcrowding, which hurts our already vulnerable students the most, and to our long list of deferred maintenance, which could be hurting the health and safety of everyone in those buildings.

The board must be united in asking for the funding that is needed for our schools. As a member of the board, I intend to continue my advocacy for dedicated, additional revenue sources for our schools, for both the operating and capital budgets. The board also needs to continue to be a check on the superintendent to ensure that we are being good stewards of the funding we receive, making wise financial decisions and entering into contracts that adequately protect our interests.

Please name a public leader you admire and explain why.

I admire Whitney Young, a civil rights leader after whom my high school was named. Though he is not as well known today, I respect his intelligence, his persuasiveness and his life of service dedicated to solving the biggest problems of his day. He worked with multiple presidents, both Democratic and Republican, on advancing civil rights. He also emphasized the importance of education and good jobs with opportunity for advancement in breaking cycles of poverty, inequality and discrimination. Like Young, as a leader I recognize you need to work within a system to effect change, but you cannot be afraid to take a bold stance against injustice.

The Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, passed by the General Assembly in 2021, is a 10-year plan that includes increased education funding to support early childhood education, increased teacher starting pay, college/career-readiness standards for high school graduates, and expanded services to multilingual and impoverished families, among other goals. Please tell us your views on the Blueprint and how it will affect your school district.

The Blueprint offers us an opportunity to invest in our schools and ensure an excellent education for every student. While some changes may be needed in how the law is implemented and funded, its aims are ones we absolutely want to achieve. We want to expand access to early childhood education, attract and retain amazing teachers, help students become college and career ready, and make sure that every student has the educational support they need to succeed. While additional state funding is being promised for the future, in recent years, Howard County has had reduced funds to sustain programs that are highly valued but not legally mandated. We will have to work together: the board, the county executive, the County Council, the state and the community to fund the excellent school system we want to have. We have to work together to find dedicated revenue for our schools, to ensure that that funding does not get diverted to other things, and that it keeps pace with inflation and the growth of our county. Public education is an investment that we cannot easily calculate the return on, but it is an investment that is essential. It’s essential for building vibrant communities, for increasing opportunities for all, for maintaining a functional democracy, for continued innovation, and for having a people prepared to face the challenges and opportunities of the future.

Some school districts nationwide are placing new limits on the use of cellphones in middle and high schools. What do you think should be the policy on student use of cellphones in your district, and why do you support that policy?

Phones should be put away and silenced during class. They should be out of sight and out of mind. It should not be on teachers alone to enforce this. Our middle school installed a locker in the office, and any student misusing their phone must lock it up until the end of the day. We also need support from parents. If alerts are off and phones are away, they can leave a message for the student to get to later. Urgent messages can be called into the office. There are reasons students may need to have a phone, like medical, work or for peace of mind as they walk to and from school. That is why we must help students learn to self-regulate their cellphone usage but also enforce policies when students are not able to by themselves.

Are you satisfied with your school district's efforts to ensure the safety of its students? What, if anything, should be done to improve school safety in your district?

I believe there is much that could be done to improve school safety. Every student should feel safe and be safe in school. We must start while students are young to give them tools for dealing with conflict and seeking help when needed. I would like to see more counselors in our schools so that we can provide students with productive solutions to the challenges they are facing. Additionally, we need to complete planned capital projects to improve the safety of our school entrances. School safety is not a one-person job. It really does take a whole community.

Do you think there are circumstances when books should be removed from school libraries? If so, what kind of books should be removed, and who should make those decisions?

Sometimes as books age and physically deteriorate, they may need to be removed from school libraries. Books that have outdated or incorrect information, as well as books that have harmful stereotypes or language that has changed meaning over time, may also get removed. Media specialists and librarians have training and education specific to curating and maintaining a collection of materials appropriate for the ages they serve. While our media specialists and librarians are best equipped to make these decisions, community input has a place as well. Opportunities for the community to weigh in are readily available. As always, parents guide what their own children read or view, but no single person or group gets to dictate what every student may access. I will always support diverse and inclusive materials that enrich learning for all students.

Some school districts enact policies allowing transgender and gender nonconforming students to use their preferred pronouns while at the same time not informing those students' parents about that decision. What is your opinion of such policies?

Our schools must be a safe place for all students, especially if they don’t have a space with the people who should love them the most. Policies that allow transgender and nonconforming students to use their preferred pronouns, while not informing parents of their decisions, are designed to protect children who do not have a safe and supportive home environment. Childhood is a challenging time, particularly for those who are navigating their gender identity. I hope that schools can be a place where we can help parents build on their love for their children and find ways to be supportive.

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