"The reality is, you can't." Being on a school board means not discussing issues publicly that could result in a hearing. That means casual conversation in the grocery store must be handled professionally, he said.
If a neighbor asks about a rumor, a board member should not discuss it. "You are the appellate body, which means you have to come to it without prejudice," Smith said.
"It's difficult. They're going to ask you what you think, and what are you going to say, 'I don't think?'" Smith recommended saying, "I can't discuss it with you," and explaining why.
He gave everyone a quiz about a board's role, using the answers to educate them. "Advocating for individual parent requests for student transfers" was not one of the tasks considered a board member's responsibility.
He reviewed state laws that dictate items such as school calendars, teacher qualifications and the collective bargaining process. Although the local board has a lot of flexibility, statutes and regulations cannot be contradicted.
One candidate ran on a platform of promising to remove his county from the Maryland School Performance Assessment Program, but that's impossible, Smith said. He also emphasized that board members only have power together, not as individuals.
The shift from an industrial to a technological society is changing education and putting pressure on school boards, but it's an exciting time, Smith said.
"It's an awesome set of responsibilities you take on," he said. "But when you really think about it, it's a challenge worth taking on."
Next year, four seats on the Washington County Board of Education will be open. The filing deadline is Dec. 27. Other than School Board members, nine people attended the meeting. Only one of them, John W. Cohen, had filed before Monday.
Some said they only attended to inform themselves. "I'm just here as an observer," said Bonnie Parks, president of ESP Local No. 1, a union representing school workers. "It's important we have good representation," she said.
