Baltimore County Elects Eastern Tech Junior As Next Student School Board Member

BALTIMORE COUNTY, MD — Students elected their next student member of the Board of Education of Baltimore County.

Eastern Technical High School junior Foresight Ogungbe will serve as the next student member, known as the SMOB.

Baltimore County Public Schools announced the news on Friday.

Ogungbe's one-year term starts on July 1 when current SMOB Ugonma Chike-Kalu leaves the post. Chike-Kalu is a senior at Western School of Technology and will graduate next month.

Ogungbe campaigned on the issues of school safety, mental health support, equity in education and stronger student representation. Her full speech is posted here.

This is the sixth year that all BCPS middle and high school students could cast ballots for the student member of the board, and 6,734 students cast votes on Thursday.

Before voting, students were able to learn more about the candidates by viewing their video question-and-answer sessions and videotaped speeches. Candidates also campaigned via social media and virtual school visits.

Ogungbe's fellow candidate was Sophie Vijayan of Towson High School.

Ogungbe is a magnet student in Eastern Tech's Academy of Health Professions program. At her school, she is president of the Class of 2026, vice president of the African Student Association and vice president of the Black Student Union. Her countywide activities include serving as vice president of Baltimore County Student Councils and chair of the Board of Selected Students.

At the statewide level, Ogungbe is the only student member on the School Safety Subcabinet of the Maryland Center for School Safety and serves as a liaison between MCSS and the Maryland Association of Student Councils. In 2024, the speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates appointed Ogungbe to the 24-member Maryland Youth Advisory Council.