Greenbelt is represented on the Prince George’s County Board of Education by the District 2 Boardmember. This is a nonpartisan position but it will appear on the primary ballot this month. Current District 2 Boardmember Jonathan Briggs is not running for reelection and three candidates are running to replace him: Alvaro Ceron-Ruiz, Terence Clegg and Caroline Decaire-
Goldin. All three have ties to PGCPS as a parent, former teacher or graduate. In addition, Clegg and Decaire-Goldin are Greenbelt residents and Ceron-Ruiz is a graduate of Eleanor Roosevelt High School.
Alvaro Ceron-Ruiz
Alvaro Ceron-Ruiz is a graduate of Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) and former student school board member. He is running because PGCPS has shaped his life and because he has experienced PGCPS schools as a first-generation American and low-income student and experienced the governance process as student member of the board. “I believe firsthand experience is essential to matching the real needs of students, families, and schools with real action,” he told the News Review.
Ceron-Ruiz is a current University of Maryland student majoring in public policy and criminology and criminal justice.
1. What do you see as the top two priorities for Board of Education members to address in the next year?
In the next year, the Board of Education must prioritize protecting funding for the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future and addressing the literacy crisis. The challenges we face, from staffing and academic supports to student services, are rooted in our financial stability. As former Chair of the Board’s Policy and Governance Committee, I gained experience working with and building relationships with our partners in Annapolis, which will be critical as the Blueprint is projected to have a short fall starting next year, threatening a larger budget crisis for us.
At the same time, we must
address literacy with urgency. Reading is the foundation for success in every subject, and students who are not reading on grade level by third grade are unfortunately four times less likely to graduate from high school. Ensuring strong early literacy instruction and intervention must remain a top priority if we want to improve long-term student outcomes in PGCPS.
2. What is your position on technology in the classroom, including the place of screen-based learning and educational platforms? How would you prioritize classroom technology and subscriptions within the budget relative to other student support services?
Technology has a real place in our classrooms but as a support, not a substitute for strong teaching and genuine connection between educators and students. When schools use it well, it can make a meaningful difference. Targeted reading tools can help address the literacy crisis head-on, and adaptive platforms can better serve students with IEPs [Individualized Education Programs], 504 plans and English learners through accommodations, translation tools and assignments that actually meet them where they are.
When it comes to budget decisions, I’d back technology investments that show real results and are actually being put to use in our schools. But that can’t come at the expense of what students need most: mental health support, academic intervention and the people who provide them. Technology is truly only as effective as the educators and systems around it.
3. How do you plan to hold those who report to the board and your fellow members accountable as to board policies and requirements that haven’t always been enforced in recent years, such as attendance requirements, budget deadlines and governing rules in general?
Public trust in the Board of Education is not to be assumed but earned through transparency, professionalism and accountability. Board policies, attendance requirements, the Open Meetings Act and COMAR [Code of Maryland Regulations] exist to ensure effective governance, and they must be followed consistently by both board members and the superintendent. As a former board member, I have seen firsthand what works and what does not, and I understand the importance of adhering to the rules that govern our work. I also believe experienced members have a responsibility to help educate and mentor new members on the board handbook so everyone understands their obligations from day one.
The board must elect fair but firm leadership that enforces expectations consistently. Further
accountability should be reinforced through community oversight, the board’s Ethics Panel and, when necessary, the Maryland State Board of Education to keep the focus on students rather than politics.
4. How do you plan to improve transparency and proactive communication with the District 2 community?
As a board member, I would provide regular updates to District 2 families through community meetings, newsletters, social media and school visits so the community understands not only what decisions are being made, but why they are being made. While previously on the board, we advocated for and got public data dashboards, but we need to do a better job of educating families on how to use and interpret them so they can track school performance and hold us accountable. In addition, I would advocate for a public-facing budget dashboard that makes it easier for taxpayers and families to understand where resources are being invested.
Equally important is meeting people where they are. That means being present not just at board meetings, but at community meetings, grocery stores, barber shops, faith-based organizations and other neighborhood gathering places, while also partnering with municipal leaders to ensure information reaches every corner of District 2. Trust is built through consistent engagement, accessibility and follow-through.
Terence Clegg
Terence Clegg says his number one reason for running is really three: his three children (ages 10, 9 and 5) who all attend Prince George’s County Public Schools, two of whom engage with special education services. Clegg says he wants to do what he can to make children’s lives better, including his own, for children to get the most out of educational experiences and “make that fight less exhausting for all families.”
Clegg holds a bachelor’s in political science from North Carolina A&T State University and a juris doctor from Howard University School of Law.
1. What do you see as the top two priorities for Board of Education members to address in the next year?
Literacy and special education are the two areas that demand the board’s immediate attention. Too many of our students are not reading at grade level, and the consequences follow them throughout their education and beyond. Families of students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) and 504 plans used for students with disabilities deserve a school system that treats those plans as binding commitments, not suggestions. Both issues require the board to ask harder questions, demand better data and hold leadership accountable for results.
2. What is your position on technology in the classroom, including the place of screen-based learning and educational platforms? How would you prioritize classroom technology and subscriptions within the budget relative to other student support services?
I support technology in the classroom, but only when it clearly improves instruction, access or student outcomes. Screen-based platforms should not replace strong teachers, in-person discussion, handwriting, reading, collaboration or the daily habits students need to focus and grow.
Our students should learn coding, digital citizenship and responsible research skills because those are a part of their future. I think our budgets for digital tools should be evidence-based and audited regularly for usage, privacy, accessibility, student impact and redundancy.
I would prioritize educators, special education, mental health supports, tutoring, literacy, math intervention and safe classrooms before adding new platforms. Technology should serve the learning plan, not drive it. The goal is to prepare students for a tech-driven world while protecting attention, relationships, communication skills, and deep learning.
3. How do you plan to hold those who report to the board and your fellow members accountable as to board policies and requirements that haven’t always been enforced in recent years, such as attendance requirements, budget deadlines and governing rules in general?
Real accountability means being honest in both directions. I will ask tough questions when policies go unenforced, deadlines are missed or commitments to students fall short, and I will push for real consequences when they do. But accountability is not only about what is broken. When our schools, educators and leaders are getting it right, I will say that just as loudly and fight to sustain it. Ultimately, voters will hold me and my colleagues accountable for whether we do this job well. That accountability runs both directions and I intend to model the standard I expect of others.
4. How do you plan to improve transparency and proactive communication with the District 2 community?
I have been an engaged community member for the entire time I’ve lived here. I know that we deserve to hear from our officials regularly and not just at election time. I plan to make myself available at community events and hold regular community meetings of my own, be it virtually, in-person or both. I plan to provide plain language updates on board actions and decisions and make myself genuinely accessible to parents, educators and community members across the district. I want to make sure that District 2 residents can find the information they need, understand it and use it to engage. Most importantly, I will prioritize building relationships with PTAs and community organizations and helping start PTAs and PTOs where none exist so that we have more opportunities for communications to flow in both directions. Our community should never have to wonder what their board member is doing or why.
Caroline Decaire-Goldin
Caroline Decaire-Goldin says she is running for the school board because “as a former PGCPS teacher, current PGCPS parent and longtime champion for educational equity, … I want every family to feel confident that their student will be taught by a well-prepared teacher, in a classroom where they know they belong and are supported to reach ambitious academic goals that put them on a path to chase their wildest dreams.”
Decaire-Goldin holds a doctoral degree in education and a master of education in policy and leadership from American University. She serves as Director of Teaching and Learning in the D.C. Office of the State Superintendent of Education.
1. What do you see as the top two priorities for Board of Education members to address in the next year?
1) Building trust and leveraging communication channels that meet families where they are, and 2) finalizing the Strategic Plan and aligning resources to drive equitable student outcomes. Families are the most critical partner in sustaining strong schools, and many feel left out of decision-making — especially the annual budgeting process. This year’s budget caught many families by surprise when specialty programs were proposed for cuts. We have real work to do to build trust through transparent accountability and accessibility.
Additionally, with the superintendent in place and the Strategic Plan in its final phases, there is an opportunity to clarify goals for student success and ensure every school is resourced with staff and facilities to meet them. As someone who has spent eight years working in teacher preparation and retention, I will be closely monitoring vacancy rates, with heightened attention on special education staff hiring to address the state corrective action plan.
2. What is your position on technology in the classroom, including the place of screen-based learning and educational platforms? How would you prioritize classroom technology and subscriptions within the budget relative to other student support services?
Technology can play an important role in providing engaging, differentiated content to students. However, as an educator and a parent, I feel strongly that technology should be one strategy in a diverse toolbox and, like everything, used in moderation. I would like to conduct a landscape analysis of all apps students are expected to access, by grade level, so we can concretely understand how much time students are spending on technology each day and the purpose of each engagement. I also want to understand if screens are being used to fill staffing gaps — for example, using an app instead of hiring an interventionist or aide. Staffing schools with qualified educators and ensuring safe facilities are my budgetary priorities over maintaining a myriad of apps. That said, it’s best to make decisions based on data with an eye on equity, so understanding the lay of the land is an important first step.
3. How do you plan to hold those who report to the board and your fellow members accountable as to board policies and requirements that haven’t always been enforced in recent years, such as attendance requirements, budget deadlines and governing rules in general?
The Board of Education has a responsibility to evaluate the superintendent annually; therefore, adherence to deadlines and reporting requirements should be built into those performance goals. This is not an arbitrary expectation, as the reporting requirements and deadlines for things like budget transparency are intended to ensure stakeholders can be partners in the school system.
Additionally, my work in state education policy has required regular public oversight hearings where my office must answer questions from elected bodies on programs and policies. I plan to hold district leadership similarly accountable by requesting data-informed presentations and updates on specific topics grounded in community testimony.
For fellow boardmembers, board culture starts with modeling the behavior we expect — showing up prepared, meeting deadlines and following the rules we set for others. Actions that routinely undermine our service to advancing student outcomes are not welcome.
4. How do you plan to improve transparency and proactive communication with the District 2 community?
I believe in meeting families where they are, which is why most events I’ve hosted over the last few months have been out in the community where District 2 families already gather. I also believe in leveraging systems and structures that already exist. There are already so many engaged local groups — municipal events, small business owners, parent meet-ups, WhatsApp groups — and the board can do a better job identifying those channels to share information.
It’s also important to give people an onramp to access and engage with the board and amplify their voices in decision-making. For example, I recently created videos explaining the PGCPS CSI [Critical Success Indicators] dashboards because stakeholders should know what those are and how they can use them to monitor equity and accountability. Providing more opportunities for families to feel informed and welcomed to provide input — by design — is critical to meaningfully engaging the local community as true partners.