Welcome to Washington County Public Schools

About Your School Board

Washington County Board of Education

Front (l-r): Paul Bailey, Wayne Ridenour, Justin Hartings; Back (l-r): Jacqueline Fischer,
Karen Harshman, Ed Forrest, Donna Brightman

What do Board Members do?

Establish a vision for the community’s schools and participate in strategic planning.
Develop effective policies and review them periodically.
Provide accountability to the community on student achievement.
Advocate for the needs of all students at the local, state, and national levels.
Attend several meetings per month (20+hours per week).
Hire Superintendent and negotiate contract.
Evaluate the Superintendent annually.
Conduct student and employee appeals.
Approve or reject program proposals.
Develop, approve, and manage budget.
- Board of Education's Proposed FY13 General Fund Budget (42 page PDF)
- WCPS FY2012 General Fund Budget (200 page PDF - 17.25 MB)
- FY2011 Financial Report (Audit) (86 page PDF)
Adopt school calendar.

To find out more about the School Board or to get involved with School Board Service download a School Board Service brochure.

Board Members

The Elected Board of Education is made up of seven elected members
Members serve four-year terms.

Student Representative to the Board
The Board of Education of Washington County has a Student Representative to the Board who is elected by the membership of the Association of Student Councils for a one-year term. The representative is invited to attend all public sessions of the Board of Education and student opinions on topics of discussion are recorded in the official minutes of the Board.

Email Board Members

To contact all Board members and the office of the superintendent, with one email, click HERE. Several WCPS staff members will also be copied on the email.
See all Board Members

Advisory Committees

The Washington County Board of Education is always looking for interested citizens to fill vacancies on advisory committees. For additional information about the committees that advise the Board:

Download an Advisory Board Application

School Board Business Meetings

Board Business Meetings are held twice-monthly on the first and third Tuesdays of each month at the Central Office Auditorium located on Commonwealth Avenue, Hagerstown. The public is invited and encouraged to participate in the meetings that are tentatively scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m. on the first Tuesday of the month and 6:00 p.m. on the third Tuesday of the month, lasting from 2 to 3 hours in length.

Meeting times may vary, so check the Board Meeting Schedule of the website for the latest information. The meetings are also televised live on Antietam Cable Channel 99 and streamed live online:

Watch and Listen to Board Meetings Online

Board of Education meetings are now available as live streaming video when meetings are scheduled.

Please click on the following link to join a current meeting: Live Board Meeting. This link is only active at the time of a current Board meeting.

If you would like to access the most recent meeting as streaming video, click on the following link: Most Recent Board Meeting.

To access the meeting previous to the most recent meeting, click on the following link: Meeting Previous to the Most Recent Board Meeting.

BoardDocs is a means for WCPS stakeholders to access meeting agendas, minutes, policies & procedures and other information about the business of Washington County Public Schools.