O’Neill Selected as School Board President

Patricia O’Neill  is the new president of the Board of Education for the next year replacing Philip Kauffman.

According to a press release, the Walter Johnson High School graduated is looking forward to work with the leadership of Montgomery County Public Schools, the Montgomery County Council, and the Montgomery County Executive to “ensure that every child in each of our schools receives a world-class education.”

“This is an important time in the history of our school district as we continue to face unprecedented levels of growth and are preparing students and staff to meet higher expectations,” O’Neill said.

It was also stated in the press release that O’Neill is currently the longest serving member of the Board. She was first elected to the Board of Education in 1998 and has served four times as board president. For the past year, O’Neill served as vice president of the board and chair of the Policy Management Committee. O’Neill has a degree in social science from Southern Methodist University. She is also a former president of the Maryland Association of Boards of Education (MABE), and past co-chair of the Washington Area Boards of Education. She has served on numerous advisory committees for education-related issues, including the Maryland Blue Ribbon Panel on Teen Pregnancy and the Maryland Comparable HSA Task Force.

O’Neill was a member of the Parent-Teacher Association in the Walt Whitman Cluster and served in various volunteer and leadership roles.

The board also selected Mike Durso as vice-president. Durso is a Silver Spring resident who was elected to his first four-year term in 2010.

According to a press release, he has served as chair of the Board’s Fiscal Management Committee, and is a retired-educator with more than 40 years of experience. Durso has a degree in American History with a minor in Education Philosophy from The Catholic University of America and a master’s degree from American University in Educational Administration.

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