Geoffrey Seidel
Running for school board in Frederick County
Email: GeoffSeidelforBOE@gmail.com
Website: www.GeoffSeidel4FCPScommonsense.com
How old will you be on Election Day (Nov. 3)?
70
Are you currently employed? If so, where, and what is your job title?
Geoffrey Seidel is a clinical project manager at Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc. and adjunct professor at Mount St. Mary’s University, with 48 years of nursing experience and extensive expertise in education, clinical research and evidence-based practice.
What is the highest level of education that you completed, and where did you get that degree?
M.S. in health administration from St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia and completing doctorate of organizational leadership from Hood College (2027)
Why are you running for the school board?
I am running for the Frederick County Public Schools Board of Education because I believe every child deserves the opportunity to succeed, every teacher deserves the support to teach, every parent deserves a voice and every taxpayer deserves accountability.
After 48 years in nursing, extensive experience as an educator and more than 25 years in cancer clinical research focused on precision medicine, reproducibility and evidence-based practice, I have learned a simple lesson: good intentions are not enough. Results matter. I believe Frederick County Public Schools should operate the way we expect any high-performing organization to operate: establish clear goals, measure outcomes, listen to those being served and change course when evidence shows something isn't working.
My priorities are straightforward: academic achievement, safe and orderly schools, effective special education services, excellent teachers, responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars and meaningful pathways to college, careers and apprenticeships.
I also believe we must rebuild trust. Parents should be heard and respected. Taxpayers deserve transparency about how their money is spent. Board decisions should be understandable, accountable and focused on students.
My guiding principle is simple and based on the evidence-based and proven nursing process: Assess. Diagnose. Plan. Implement. Evaluate. Improve. The question should never be simply, “Did we implement the program?” It should be, “Did it work and how do we know?”
I am running to bring that standard of leadership, transparency, accountability and evidence-based decision making to Frederick County Public Schools. Put students first. Support teachers. Respect parents. Protect taxpayers. Measure what matters. Deliver results.
What makes you a good candidate for the board?
A good Frederick County Public Schools board member needs more than opinions. We need leaders who turn concerns into questions, questions into evidence and evidence into action—and then accept responsibility for the results.
Put students first. Every decision should answer: “How does this improve outcomes for students?” Follow the evidence. Don’t ask, “Do we like the program?” Ask: “Is it working, and how do we know?” If evidence shows it isn’t working, we must have the courage to change course. Make accountability measurable. If we can’t measure it, we can’t manage it. If we measure it, we must act on it. Major initiatives should have clear objectives, defined metrics, timelines, responsible leadership and publicly reported results. Protect the public trust. Every dollar is a taxpayer dollar. Spending should be tied to priorities, outcomes and accountability; not simply tradition or precedent, contrivance or agenda. Challenge convention and own the outcome. A board member should ask, “Why do we do it this way?”
Disciplined curiosity means challenging inherited assumptions/conventions while demanding evidence, but questioning is only the beginning. Leadership means making decisions, monitoring results, acknowledging when something isn’t working and correcting course.
My standard is simple: Set the goal. Measure the result. Report the result. Own the result. Improve the result; THAT is accountability. A strong board member needs character, competence, courage, curiosity and accountability. Listen. Ask. Measure. Act. Improve.
The goal isn’t to prove we’re right; the goal is to get it right for our students.
What is the most important issue facing your school board and what would you do about it if elected?
The most important issue facing the Frederick County Public Schools Board of Education is institutional accountability; ensuring that policies, programs and spending produce measurable results for students. A board’s responsibility is not to micromanage classrooms. It is to establish expectations, allocate resources responsibly, monitor performance and hold leadership accountable for outcomes.
When elected, I will strengthen a results-based governance framework built around a simple cycle: Assess. Diagnose. Plan. Implement. Evaluate. Improve. This is the evidence-based, proven nursing process that I have embraced for over 48 years.
Before approving major initiatives, I would expect clearly defined objectives, evidence supporting the approach, measurable outcomes, baseline data, timelines and identified responsibility for implementation. Then comes the part that is often overlooked: evaluation. We should routinely ask: Is it working? How do we know? What does the data tell us? What happens if the results fall short? Frederick County Public Schools already has key performance indicators. I would use them more aggressively as governance tools—not simply as numbers reported after decisions have been made. I would also insist on disaggregated data. System-wide averages can conceal meaningful differences. The board needs to understand performance by school, grade, subject and student population. Finally, accountability must include fiscal stewardship. Every taxpayer dollar should be connected to a priority, an expected outcome and a means of measuring whether that outcome was achieved.
Good governance is not about defending yesterday’s decisions. It is about making better decisions tomorrow. My commitment is straightforward: clear goals, measurable results, transparent reporting and accountability when results fall short.
Please name a public leader you admire and explain why.
A public leader I admire is Ronald Reagan. I admire his ability to communicate complex ideas in language people could understand and his capacity to connect public policy with fundamental principles and everyday concerns. Reagan understood that leadership requires more than having good ideas; it requires the ability to listen, communicate, build consensus and inspire confidence. His optimism and emphasis on personal responsibility, limited government and individual freedom gave people a clear framework for understanding his vision.
I also admire his willingness to work across political differences. His presidency included significant negotiations and compromises with political opponents, demonstrating that principled leadership does not require refusing to work with people who disagree.
Most importantly, I value Reagan’s belief in the American people and his ability to communicate that confidence. His leadership reminds me that public service should be grounded in optimism, civility, courage and a clear sense of purpose. For me, effective leadership means standing for something, listening carefully, communicating clearly and bringing people together to accomplish what matters most.
The Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, passed by the General Assembly in 2021, is a 10-year plan that includes increased funding to support early childhood education, higher teacher starting pay, college/career-readiness standards for high school graduates, and expanded services to multilingual and impoverished families, among other goals. Since the Blueprint's implementation, test scores have increased modestly in many parts of the state, but some school officials complain about the costs and administrative burdens placed on them by the Blueprint. Please tell us your views on the Blueprint and how it is affecting your school district.
I support the goals of the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future—early childhood education, recruiting and retaining excellent teachers, college and career readiness and helping students who face greater barriers succeed. But good goals are not enough; results matter.
Frederick County Public Schools cannot opt out of the Blueprint, but we can decide how we implement it. Local school systems have responsibility for developing implementation strategies and determining how requirements are carried out. That means there is room for local leadership, innovation and common sense. I believe the Frederick County Public Schools Board of Education has not always fully embraced that responsibility.
Carroll County provides an important example. Its school system has actively engaged its community in Blueprint implementation and developed locally administered options and pathways that provide students and families with greater flexibility. That is the kind of local leadership I want for Frederick County. The Blueprint may set the requirements, but It should not eliminate common sense.
When elected, I will ask: What problem are we solving? What does the evidence tell us? What result do we expect? How will we measure it? What will we do if it isn’t working? Every dollar should have a purpose. Every program should have a goal. Every goal should have a measure.
The Blueprint is a 10-year plan. We should give it time to work, but not a 10-year exemption from accountability. If something works, strengthen it. If it needs improvement, fix it. If it doesn’t work, change course.
State requirements. Local leadership. Measurable results. That is how we put students and families, not bureaucracy, FIRST.
Chronic absenteeism has been a problem in many schools since the Covid-19 pandemic. How big of a problem is absenteeism in your school district, and what if anything can the Board of Education do about it?
Chronic absenteeism is a significant challenge for Frederick County Public Schools. In 2024–25, 16.7% of Frederick County Public Schools students were chronically absent—roughly one in six students. But attendance is not simply a discipline problem. It is a student-success problem.
As a board member, I will expect Frederick County Public Schools to identify why students are missing school and then determine which interventions actually work. The board should monitor attendance by school, grade and student population, establish measurable improvement targets and regularly evaluate results. We should distinguish between excuses and causes. Transportation, health, family circumstances, disengagement, school climate and other barriers may require different solutions.
The board’s job is not to micromanage attendance officers. It is to set expectations, provide resources, monitor performance and hold leadership accountable. My approach is straightforward: Find the problem. Understand the cause. Target the solution. Measure the result. Change course when necessary. EVERY absence matters, every day matters and every student deserves the opportunity to be in school and succeed.
Are you satisfied with your school district's policy on AI use by students? If so, why? If not, what would you suggest to improve the AI policy?
I am not fully satisfied with Frederick County Public Schools' current approach to student AI use. AI presents both opportunity and risk, and the board should establish a clear framework that prepares students rather than leaving schools to figure it out independently. Frederick County Public Schools should establish age-appropriate standards defining when AI is allowed, when it is prohibited and when students must disclose its use. Students should learn verification, privacy, bias, citation, cybersecurity and academic integrity. Teachers need consistent guidance and professional development so expectations are understandable and enforceable.
The board should also require measurable outcomes. Are students learning more? Are critical-thinking skills improving? Is academic dishonesty increasing or decreasing? If we cannot measure the impact, we cannot responsibly judge the policy.
My governing principle is: Set the standard. Teach the standard. Measure the standard. Enforce the standard. Improve the standard. We should not ban a technology students will encounter throughout their lives.
Teach students to use AI wisely, without allowing AI to do the learning for them.
Youth mental health has been a growing concern for years now. Do you think your school district has the resources and personnel in place to deal with this issue adequately? If not, what would you suggest to improve the situation?
I believe Frederick County Public Schools has significant mental health resources, but we should never assume that resources automatically equal results. The board’s responsibility is to ensure students can access appropriate support while maintaining clear boundaries between education and clinical care.
When elected, I would ask: Where are the greatest needs? Are students getting help quickly? Which interventions work? And how do we know? I would support targeted staffing where data demonstrate unmet need, stronger partnerships with qualified community providers and improved coordination among counselors, psychologists, social workers, families and outside providers. I would also establish measurable outcomes and require regular reporting to the board. We should measure what matters, and not simply what is easiest to count.
Schools should identify concerns, provide appropriate support and connect families with resources. They cannot, and should not, become substitutes for community mental health providers.
My approach is: Identify. Connect. Support. Measure. Improve. The goal isn't more programs. The goal is better outcomes for students.
Do you think there are circumstances when books should be removed from school libraries? If so, what kind of books should be removed, and who should make those decisions?
Yes. I believe books should be removed from school libraries when they contain material that violates applicable law or fails established standards for age-appropriate educational content. There is an important distinction between controversial ideas and sexually explicit material. Intellectual disagreement is not sufficient reason for removal. However, schools have a heightened responsibility when selecting materials for minors, and established legal standards, including the framework established in Miller v. California, must be respected.
I would not support a system where individual board members decide which books stay or go. Instead, Frederick County Public Schools should have clear, consistently applied criteria, a transparent reconsideration process, qualified professional review, meaningful parental participation and board oversight. The board’s responsibility is to establish the rules and hold the administration accountable for applying them consistently.
The standard should not be “Who complains the loudest?” "Art" cannot be applied to pornography when considering pornography standards for children under 18. The standard should be “Does this material meet our legal, educational, and age-appropriate standards?” Clear rules. Due process. Consistent application. Accountability.
