The Baltimore Sun 2026 Voter Guide: Baltimore County School Board District 3
Maggie Litz Domanowski
Kelli Slattery McClelland
Hometown:
Age:
Occupation:
Education:
Previous Political Experience:
Baldwin, MD
47
Administrative Assistant
Towson University, Bachelor's Degree
Incumbent
Timonium, MD
44
Educator, mother, full-time caregiver, business owner
Bachelor of Arts, Sociology, Metropolitan State University of Denver
Master of Arts, Applied Sociology, UMBC
Professional Teaching License, Elementary and Special Education
After my own personal tragedy as the result of a large truck crash, I worked for a non-profit organization that focused on legislative advocacy related to truck safety. That work included meeting with representatives in both chambers of Congress to educate members and their staff about the safety issues facing our communities and offering legislative alternatives that would address those issues.
What is one decision by current leadership that you believe is actively harming residents — and what would you do differently within your first 100 days?
Having recently completed an extensive search to select the next leader of Baltimore County Public Schools, I am pleased to say that we have chosen an outstanding candidate. BCPS is already moving forward with renewed purpose and optimism to address the most pressing issue facing our public schools: academic achievement.
I am confident that our first 100 days have already begun, and I am excited to continue advancing Dr. Heiser’s vision and goals. I look forward to working with him and Team BCPS to build a brighter future for our students by providing the high-quality, equitable education every student in Baltimore County deserves.
Current BCPS and school board practices in data reporting and public communication make it difficult to build the community trust necessary to do the important work of increasing student achievement. In my first 100 days I will work closely with community members, educators, staff, and Board members to identify the gaps in communication and work to develop and implement policies to address these concerns.
What is a position you hold that is unpopular with your base, and why are you willing to defend it?
I strongly believe in providing students with a content-rich education that presents history accurately and reflects facts supported by science and sound reasoning. To think critically and engage in thoughtful debate, students need access to objective information and a safe school environment where they can express their thoughts, ideas, views, and opinions, even when others may disagree.
Classrooms should be places where every student feels safe, accepted, and respected. No student should be bullied or made to feel unwelcome because of their race, religion, culture, or sincerely held beliefs. When this occurs, appropriate action must be taken to address the behavior and ensure that every student understands that bullying and exclusion are not how we treat one another at Team BCPS.
I believe that an individual can effectively serve on a school board even if they do not have children in public schools. The most important quality of an effective board member is that they have, as their guiding principle, a belief in the necessity and power of a fully funded, well-functioning public school system that can provide high quality educational opportunities to all students. Many parents of BCPS students do not hold that value, and many citizens without children in the public school system do hold that value
How will you measure success in this role in a way that voters can independently verify?
Voters will be able to measure my success by the questions I ask and the decisions I make as their Board of Education representative. I am committed to making decisions that advance academic achievement for all students and to acknowledging and correcting any missteps along the way.
In this role, I will prioritize students by ensuring that every policy, budget decision, and initiative is evaluated by its impact on their learning and classroom experience. This means supporting effective, evidence-based instruction; maintaining safe, respectful, and orderly classrooms; reducing unnecessary disruptions; and ensuring educators have the resources and support they need to teach effectively.
I will also insist on transparency and accountability so families and the community can measure whether our decisions are improving student outcomes. When policies or programs fall short, I will ask difficult questions, review the evidence, and support necessary adjustments. My goal is to keep students at the center of every decision and ensure that every student has the opportunity to learn, grow, and succeed.
My first priority on the Board of Education is to accurately and transparently communicate information to the public. Real transparency goes beyond simply reporting large swaths of data and figures and leaving it up to citizens to wade through the information-dump to find meaning. I am committed to not only openly sharing information to the public, but also synthesizing that information into meaningful and digestible key points. I am also committed to transparency about my values as a board member and how that informs my work on the board and the information I share with the public. I believe the public deserves to have accurate information first and then an opportunity to voice their concerns and perspectives to their elected representatives. This can be independently verified by witnessing press conferences and board meetings and comparing what happens to what I communicate with the public. This can also be verified by my presence in our communities and schools, listening to my constituents, no matter their vote. Second, I will come to Board meetings prepared so that we can get right to work on improving our schools. When voters witness my work on the Board, they will see a solitary focus on ensuring our students receive equitable access to high quality education by supported educators and staff. Finally, how I operate in support of accountability, transparency, and competence will be visible in every action I take. The Board operates as a body. Each member of the Board of Education has a choice to promote the health of that body or to diminish it, and I plan to work collaboratively across all levels of local government and alongside my colleagues to roll up our sleeves and do the work our students and educators deserve.
What specific program or area of spending would you cut, freeze or restructure? What would you protect? Why?
I would like Baltimore County Public Schools to conduct an independent search for healthcare and benefits providers rather than continue our current arrangement with Baltimore County Government. BCPS’s size gives it significant purchasing power when negotiating healthcare and benefits. Since it employs a large number of educators, staff, and administrators, it may be able to attract competitive bids, negotiate lower premiums, secure broader coverage, and obtain stronger service and wellness provisions.
An independent search could also encourage more providers to compete for BCPS’s business, potentially improving value and reducing administrative costs. However, cost should not be the only consideration. Any proposal should be evaluated based on coverage quality, affordability for employees, provider access, prescription benefits, customer service, long-term stability, and the effect on employee recruitment and retention.
A transparent, independent process would allow BCPS to compare its options objectively and determine whether managing the process separately from Baltimore County Government could produce better value for employees and taxpayers.
Now that the Budget and Finance Committee has been reinstated, I am fully committed to working with Committee Chair Julie Henn and appropriate BCPS staff to determine whether we can secure a more cost-effective healthcare and benefits package, while continuing to provide high-quality coverage for our educators, staff, and administrators, through an independent contractor.
Every decision about programming and spending should be based on a thorough examination and evaluation of the impact on the Board’s core priorities: academic achievement, safety and climate, highly effective teachers/leaders/staff, and infrastructure. This should be an iterative and continuous process regardless of available funds. There is no time when we should be needlessly spending money and resources on ineffective and inefficient programs. I would advocate for cutting and/or freezing spending in any program or area that does not advance BCPS priorities, with particular attention to third-party contracts. An area of spending I would protect is funding teacher, support staff, and administrator salaries to ensure we have the highly effective people we need to support our school system.
What is the biggest issue in your jurisdiction that is overstated, and what is one that is undercovered or misunderstood?
One issue I believe is overstated in our school system is the need for students to have constant access to vast amounts of digital content and artificial intelligence. While technology is rapidly transforming the world, we do our students a disservice if we neglect the foundational value of pen, paper, novels, and textbooks.
I am encouraged by the return of cursive writing instruction in our schools, given the evidence that writing in cursive can support cognitive development, memory, and learning. I also believe the importance of content-rich curricula deserves greater attention.
Students need a strong foundation of factual knowledge before they can critically analyze information. When we understand that our students come from diverse communities and home environments, the most equitable approach is to provide every student with a curriculum rich in accurate, meaningful, and fact-based content.
The biggest issue that is overstated is lack of achievement in our schools. There are significant gaps in achievement between our highest performing and lowest performing schools. There is a lot of work to do to improve the proficiency and growth of our students. Those things are true. However, the reality is that only around 40% of our students enter Kindergarten demonstrating readiness in mathematics and language/literacy and that context is often not part of the achievement conversation. The lack of equitable access to early learning opportunities shapes the future of our K-12 achievement. This is the least covered and least understood issue in BCPS. Without comprehensive reform in our approach to early childhood learning, as outlined in the Blueprint for Maryland’s future, we will continue to struggle with closing the gaps in growth and proficiency throughout the pathway to graduation.
What is one visible quality-of-life issue you will commit to improving within one year?
The most significant quality-of-life issue I can continue addressing as a representative on the Baltimore County Board of Education is the quality of education we provide. Although that may seem like an obvious answer, education is one of the most important investments we can make in our children’s present and future.
A high-quality, knowledge-rich education helps students build confidence and prepares them to make informed choices about their futures. Strong foundational skills open doors to higher education, skilled careers, and greater personal opportunity. Students who graduate literate, capable, and well prepared are better positioned to pursue further education, enter skilled professions, and contribute positively to their families and communities.
School safety is at the heart of many conversations I have had with voters. It is the most cited reason I have heard for why families opt for alternative educational placements. Within my first year as a member of the Board of Education, I will work with my colleagues, the community, and the Superintendent to take significant steps to ensure that we make real gains in school safety without diminishing the right of every child to access a quality education. Making the necessary gains will require a full commitment from all stakeholders, transparency, and collaboration.
What are the school system’s strengths and weaknesses? How would you seek to improve the weaker points?
In the past, I would have described one of BCPS’s weaknesses as a reluctance to pivot or change course when an approach was not producing positive academic outcomes for students. At times, compliance and checking a box appeared to take precedence over pursuing what might have been the better course of action for our students.
My past experiences have shown me the importance of remaining open to improvement and responding to evidence. Under our current leadership, I am encouraged by the cultural shift I am witnessing. We are identifying and addressing concerns affecting students, educators, and schools more quickly, rather than simply accepting that “this is the way it has always been.”
One of BCPS’s greatest strengths is our exceptionally dedicated teachers, staff, and administrators. After our students, Baltimore County’s educators are among the brightest stars in our school system. They carry tremendous responsibilities every day, yet continue to show up and give their best.
Without our teachers in the classroom and our support staff in school buildings, BCPS could not fulfill its mission. Their commitment is the foundation of our school system.
The highly skilled educators, support staff, administrators, and amazing students that fill our schools and central office each day are our greatest strength. Every time I watch a Board of Education meeting, I am particularly struck by the professionalism and competency of our Student Member of the Board, Ms. Foresight Ogungbe. She is emblematic of the kind of talent we foster here in BCPS.
The primary weakness of the BCPS school system is the overall lack of trust of the system within the Baltimore County communities it serves. The work of BCPS is critical to sustaining thriving communities in Baltimore County, yet years without transparency and accountability of BCPS leadership to community stakeholders has sown distrust in the school system. I am committed to helping to repair this relationship between the school system and our community by modeling open communication and collaboration with my constituents, carrying their concerns forward up the leadership chain within the school system, and reporting back to the community openly and transparently about the work of the board.
Do you support the Baltimore County inspector general having oversight of BCPS? Why or why not?
I fully support granting the County Inspector General oversight of Baltimore County’s largest budget: the BCPS school budget. BCPS auditors and administrative staff are highly capable of managing day-to-day financial operations, but additional oversight from the County Inspector General would provide broader, more transparent, and timely investigations into allegations of waste, fraud, and abuse involving taxpayer dollars intended to educate our children.
A school budget approaching $3 billion must be understandable, traceable, and transparent to the communities that fund it. Granting the County Inspector General this authority would be an important step toward strengthening accountability and ensuring that resources are used effectively to improve student outcomes.
Yes, I believe that inspector general oversight of BCPS can begin to re-build trust in our system. Equally, I believe it is imperative that any implementation of oversight must be economical, well-planned, and backed by well-crafted legislation to ensure independence of that oversight.
As BCPS undergoes a leadership transition, how can the board ensure that academic progress doesn’t stall for students?
The Baltimore County Board of Education has already taken an important first step toward ensuring that student academic progress does not stall during this leadership transition: we confidently selected the best candidate to lead BCPS.
Under Dr. Heiser’s leadership, the Board helped Nottingham Middle School obtain low-performing-school status and begin the community schools process its advocates had requested. We are also developing a policy on appropriate and effective classroom screen time following a motion I introduced at our first official Board meeting with Superintendent Dr. Heiser, which passed unanimously.
The policy was prompted by concerns from numerous parents about the amount of time their children were spending on screens at school. It will seek to ensure that curricula do not become overly dependent on digital content while recognizing that age-appropriate digital literacy remains an important part of a well-rounded education.
The day to day work of educating BCPS students will continue as the hardworking teachers, support staff, and local school administrators continue to advance academic progress in their learning communities. Fully supporting these individuals with adequate resources and compensation will enable them to continue this work while BCPS leadership turns over at the highest level. Additionally, continuing the day to day operations of the school board while also balancing the demands of a nationwide superintendent search will require careful attention, organization, leadership, and cooperation among school board members.
The five bargaining units that partner with BCPS have contracts expiring in 2027. In your opinion, what should the future of BCPS’ partnerships with its unions look like?
Baltimore County Public Schools’ future relationship with its five bargaining partners should be grounded in genuine partnership, one built on mutual respect and a shared commitment to improving academic outcomes and classroom environments for all students. We are all on the same team, working toward the same goal.
We can strengthen this partnership by establishing regular, transparent communication and involving employee representatives early in decisions that affect educators, staff, and students. Collaboration should extend beyond contract negotiations to include budget planning, school climate, academic initiatives, staffing, and policy development.
BCPS should honor negotiated agreements, address concerns promptly, share relevant information openly, and create joint committees to evaluate progress toward shared goals. Each partner should be treated as a valued professional voice, with disagreements handled respectfully and solutions guided by evidence.
Most importantly, together with our bargaining partners, we should remain focused on our common mission: improving academic achievement, supporting educators and staff, and creating safe, effective classroom environments for every student.
It is my goal that by 2027 the relationship between BCPS and the bargaining units will be founded on trust, transparency, and honest communication regarding the needs of their members and the shared goal of a world-class education system. With that foundation, all negotiations regarding new contracts will be in earnest and can focus on balancing the needs of the people who make our system work and the long-term commitment we have made to our students.
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