Harford County Board of Education student member James McVicker III has altered his proposed voting rights legislation to solely focus on expanding student member voting to cover the school system’s calendar.

McVicker, 17, is a senior in the Cyber Security program at Harford Technical High School. He initially proposed legislation during a school board work session two weeks ago, and gave two different options — one allowing a student board member to vote on the district’s calendar, curriculum and budget; the second only allowing the student to vote on the calendar and curriculum.

When presenting his pared-back legislation to the board Monday, McVicker said students should have representation in votes for matters that directly affect them.

“My peers and I are forced to live with the decisions made by this board, which is unlike any other member that sits with me today,” he said. “It is a no-brainer to allow the student [member] to vote on these certain topics.”

A handful of community members in attendance questioned if the student member’s voting privileges should be expanded, noting students’ age. Some said that the role is more of a learning opportunity, not a full board position.

McVicker said student board members are fully sitting board members with restricted voting rights. Currently, state law prohibits student members from voting on matters involving employee discipline, appointment and promotion, student suspension, calendar and curriculum, and budgetary matters.

McVicker said with his focus shifted to only calendar voting, he believes the legislation will have a good chance of getting pushed through to the Maryland General Assembly and possibly approved. Expanding student voting for the calendar, he said, would be a “huge win.”

The proposed legislation would only affect Harford County and would have to be approved by the General Assembly, not the local school board, as all school boards are regulated through Maryland State Code.

McVicker said he’s actively working with school board members to draft a letter of support for his proposal and gain sponsors within the state House of Delegates and state Senate. He also launched a petition that had 174 signatures as of Thursday afternoon.

“When speaking about student member voting rights, when was the last time you stepped foot in an HCPS building?” McVicker asked the community on Monday. “Because I do it every day.”

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