Matthew Warren Lankford
Running for school board in Somerset County District 4
How old will you be on Election Day (Nov. 5)?
57
Are you currently employed? If so, where, and what is your job title?
No.
What is the highest level of education that you completed, and where did you get that degree?
High school, Crisfield High School. I also took courses at the American College and earned my Life Underwriter Training Council Fellow designation in life and health insurance. I also took college courses for chartered life underwriter designation.
Why are you running for the school board?
I am running for the school board to improve the education system in Somerset County. The local school board has the biggest impact on the education system by making policies and holding the superintendent and the administration accountable for enforcing these policies. I have witnessed our school board become a rubber stamp for the administration. This wouldn’t be a problem necessarily if our school were excelling, but the system is progressively failing each year. Our proficiency numbers were the worst in the state of Maryland in the 2023-2024 school year. We keep passing students who are reading at third-grade levels entering the sixth grade. Classroom behavior is a major problem. These are major issues.
What makes you a good candidate for the board?
A candidate should be willing to do the work. The main focus should be on education, not socializing. Teachers should have the undivided attention of all students. Accountability is everything. This starts at the top of administration and goes down to each and every student. We need to make sure that students are ready to advance to the next grade. I will bring all these issues to the school board. I have three children who excelled in this school system. My twin girls graduated No. 1 and No. 2 in 2021. My son graduated No. 1 in 2024. I had a big impact on all my children's education. I will do the same for Somerset County.
What is the most important issue facing your school board and what would you do about it if elected?
The number one issue is proficiency. Only 9% of our students are at grade-level math, and 30% of our students are at grade-level reading; 91% in math are behind and 70% in reading are behind. This has progressively gotten worse year after year. Albert Einstein defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results. We need a change. I would fix the issue by doing what was said in the previous question.
Please name a public leader you admire and explain why.
Jesus Christ. Enough said.
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 does have some good points that I agree with, but it also has some issues that I adamantly disagree with. I am concerned about using a blanket approach without the approval of the local boards. If the local board doesn’t agree with a part of the Blueprint and decides not to implement that part, the state of Maryland can cut off 20% of the funding. I think that alone is troubling. Does the state know better than the local board? I don’t think it will make us better. State control always has had major holes with major consequences.
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?
I am against the use of cellphones in the classroom during instruction. The teachers need the undivided attention of all the students. The teachers shouldn’t have to compete with YouTube, Snapchat and TikTok. I do believe that the only time cellphones should be used is during emergencies, which should be rare. If a student violates this rule, they would give up the privilege of cellphone use in the school.
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?
No. A few years back, a middle school student brought a loaded gun to middle school claiming that he was going to harm himself. The police were called, and the student ran off in the woods. They apprehended him with no harm to the student. Last year, the same student, now in high school, developed a kill list. His own friends reported this to the principal. The police went to his house and found enough evidence to arrest him. He was turned over to child services and released to his parents the same night. He is back in school this year like nothing ever happened. Then we wonder why these school shootings happen. This student needs special attention and should never be allowed to be back as a normal student in the school.
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?
Absolutely, all educational materials need to be age appropriate. Sexually explicit materials, extreme violence, extreme profanity and racist materials should be removed from libraries and curriculum. If you want your child to read these books, the public library is free. These explicit materials add no value to education. It detracts from education and encourages bad behavior.
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?
Parents and guardians should be notified immediately. This could be a mental health issue. All children should be treated the same regardless of what gender the student claims. I don’t think it is fair for other students to be disciplined for using the wrong pronouns. This is an example: You have been in the same class with Joe for your entire six years in school. In the sixth grade, Joe changes his identity from male to female. Joe changes his name from Joe to Julie. He changes his pronouns from him to her, he to she, and his to hers. For the last six years all his classmates called him a guy. All of a sudden he claims to be a girl, and you can get in trouble for calling him Joe. Joe has to deal with this issue, not his classmates.
