2025 MCPS SMOB Debate: Candidates make their final cases

On Friday, April 4, students gathered in the Blair media center to hear Blair junior Anuva Maloo and Northwest junior Peter Boyko, the finalists for this year’s Student Member of the Board of Education (SMOB) race, debate on why voters should pick them over their opponent.

The debate lasted throughout the lunch period, beginning with a series of standard 2 minute responses and rapid fire questions. After giving quick introductions, the candidates braced themselves to respond to the first question: “In a year, if you are elected, where do you see your effect on the county?”

Slow answer questions

Maloo started by highlighting the importance of unlocked doors on bathrooms and functional menstrual dispensers, two major focuses of her campaign. “[Pads and tampons] are necessary products and there’s no reason the county does not treat [them] as a priority,” Maloo said.

Her plans also involve improving safety measures for students. Maloo brought up her personal experiences regarding the series of bomb threats that Blair received in the previous school year and the loss of her friend from an overdose. These events, she explained, helped to form the basis for her conviction that fentanyl strips and narcan kits must be made more readily available in schools.

Recognizing how students in magnet programs have greater access to specialized and unique electives, Maloo promised to advocate for students not in such programs to have access to similar classes and share students’ class requests with the Board of Education.

SMOB debate

Photo: Anuva Maloo speaks during the debate

Anuva Maloo speaks during the debate Photo courtesy of Madeline Elazar.

When Boyko was given a turn, he too incorporated a personal element to the debate. He described how a student in his own school brought a loaded gun onto the property, an event which served as a “wakeup call” for him to the dangers of poor security. If elected SMOB, he would strive to improve safety for students all across the county with preventative measures, including a better-enforced identification policy that would keep guns and strangers off of school campuses.

Deeper into the issue of safety, Boyko expressed that he wishes to use MCPS's budget to hire more security guards and invest into security technology. Like Maloo, Boyko believes in unlocked bathroom doors and the expanded accessibility of toilet paper and pads in school bathrooms.

Boyko assured the audience that representation is one of his highest priorities, vowing to include students from every high school and middle school, as well as some elementary school students, on his advisory council.

In response to the second question, which asked the candidates how they would help to reduce the opportunity gap between schools in different areas, Boyko emphasized the need for the county to take a look into redistricting. Maloo described her experience growing up in the Northeast Consortium and explained how she too wants to work on redistricting as a solution.

The finalists went on to explain how they plan to promote student involvement in school and extracurriculars, describing their own after-school activities and endeavors. Maloo highlighted funding issues and how many schools lack booster clubs that can raise money for extracurricular activities. She aims to create a department within the Board of Education dedicated to sports and extracurricular funding. Boyko once more underscored the importance of redistricting in regard to funding disparities and promised to promote student opportunities through monthly SMOB minute videos and newsletters.

Rapid fire questions

The rapid fire questions prompted the finalists to describe the first actions they would take as SMOB, their plans for making period products a more steady resource in schools, their biggest priorities, and how they hope to ensure that student voices are heard. Boyko reaffirmed his commitment to stocking menstrual product dispensers and Maloo, her dedication to bathrooms with doors and without locks.

While she claimed that the issues surrounding period product accessibility are related to a lack of proper monitoring, Boyko instead attributed them to MCPS’ budget policy, emphasizing that only $2 are spent on menstrual products per female. Each candidate expressed that if elected, they would give students an opportunity to share their thoughts via social media or other anonymous forms.

To conclude the debate, students in the audience asked the finalists questions of their own, including how they feel about weapons detectors in schools. While Boyko took a firm stance in support of weapons detection systems, Maloo stated that she does not believe the SMOB can realistically install such expensive technology in every school.

Overall, the debate provided a much clearer picture of what Boyko and Maloo each stand for. More information about each candidate can be found on their Instagram profiles, @anuva4smob and @peterforsmob, and in the Meet the Candidates video. Students can vote anytime during the school day when the ballot opens on April 23rd.