Ruth Lynne Harris

City/town of residence: Silver Spring

Date of birth: July 27, 1962

Current occupation and employer: at-large member, Montgomery County Board of Education

Political experience: I worked many campaigns, served as a legislative director in Annapolis, vice president of advocacy for MCCPTA – one of the largest advocacy organizations in Maryland; 2020 successful candidate for the at-large seat on the Board of Education.

Website: Lynne4Students.org

Email: Lynne4students@gmail.com

Social media links (Facebook, Instagram, X, etc.): None provided

Why are you running for this office?

I want to push our continuous improvement work, intentionally bringing the customers (students and staff) to the table for all problem-solving, policy-making, priority-setting conversations. We must ensure the work continues to make every building and classroom a truly inclusive and affirming place, where everyone feels safe, welcome and valued. We must continue making MCPS a Net Zero school system. We must ground every MCPS conversation in pragmatic common sense. We must ensure our system continuously works to revise and update all curricula–with students participating in the work–so our content is climate current, engaging, rigorous, fun and reflects the truth and experience of our very diverse community.

What experience (work, political or other) has prepared you to hold this office?

Fifteen years as an education advocate–starting in 2008 when my son started kindergarten. That included 10 years in MCCPTA with seven years on MCCPTA’s executive committee, including three years as vice president of advocacy and three years as president, doing a deep dive on a huge array of issues with students, families, staff and community in schools and clusters all across the county. My 4.5 years of experience teaching medical science at Edison. My experience as a nurse, lawyer, and public health practitioner give me a wide lens through which I analyze every issue–all of which I’ve brought to my service on the board since 2020.

What is the most important issue in this race? How do you plan to address it?

Those serving on the board must bring a broad perspective and believe MCPS should be grounded in a philosophy of “windows and mirrors”–where every student sees themselves and their culture reflected in the content and educational experience, and also gains a thoughtful understanding of the experiences of others. In that way we provide an education that creates critical thinkers and problem solvers who are ready for 21 st -century global opportunities, truly believing that everyone has value. I will do that by continuously listening to the lived experience of our students, and ensuring our antiracist work moves forward in a fully inclusive way to create not just an antiracist school system, but an antibias school system.

Transparency and accountability have been particularly challenging for the school system as shown by the recent sexual harassment scandal involving a former principal. How do you plan to help the school board rebuild trust with the school community?

The most important step in rebuilding trust is becoming truly trustworthy. We must hold MCPS accountable to the work of professionalizing our Department of Human Resources and Development, including Compliance and Investigations. A culture shift will be required. We have solid external and internal recommendations to create a department reflective of industry standards and best practices. Every person in MCPS must feel safe in reporting incidents and making complaints and have the tools to do that. Our processes must investigate every complaint fairly, ensuring due process. The board must regularly review the progress of that work, ensuring it moves swiftly.

Do you have a child in the school system? What school do/did they attend and what grade?

My son attended MCPS for his entire K-12 journey: Highland View Elementary School, Silver Spring International Middle School, graduating from Albert Einstein High School in 2021.

Are you an MCPS alumnus? Which school(s) did you attend? What year?

No. I attended public schools in Kansas: grades K-1 at Santa Fe Trail Elementary School in Overland Park. We then moved to Abilene where I attended Garfield Elementary School (grades 2-6), Abilene Junior High and Abilene High School, graduating in 1980.