Cassandra "Cassi" Sung
Running for school board in Montgomery County District 3
Email: friendsofcassandrasung@gmail.com
Website: www.cassandrasung.org
Facebook: facebook.com/vote4cassi
How old will you be on Election Day (Nov. 3)?
39
Are you currently employed? If so, where, and what is your job title?
Firm Intelligence Manager at an AmLaw100-ranked law firm
What is the highest level of education that you completed, and where did you get that degree?
Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration, with a minor in communication, from Lycoming College in Williamsport, Pennsylvania
Why are you running for the school board?
I'm running because I believe how we educate our children shapes not just their futures, but the future of our county and country. School is where kids form their worldview, and every child deserves a safe place to learn, their basic needs met and an education built on curiosity and empathy.
As a mom watching my daughter start her own school journey, this isn't abstract for me. I want her, and every Montgomery County Public Schools student, to see themselves represented among the adults working in their schools, and to have equitable access to the resources and support that let them thrive, regardless of ZIP code or background.
The 2025 Supreme Court ruling on opting out of LGBTQ+ inclusive instruction was a turning point for me. It made clear how much is at stake in decisions that can feel distant from families until they aren't. I decided I couldn't just watch from the sidelines.
My professional background is in overseeing the implementation of complex systems, making sure good ideas actually work in practice, not just on paper. I want to bring that same discipline to Montgomery County Public Schools: expanding mental health resources and restorative justice, improving communication so families aren't left out of decisions that affect their kids and building real accountability so the community can see progress, not just promises.
I'm running to be a voice for every family in District 3, especially those who haven't always felt heard.
What makes you a good candidate for the board?
I'm the parent of a child who just started kindergarten, with a second child a few years behind her, which means I'm brand new to Montgomery County Public Schools as a public school family from both ends of the pipeline. That perspective is one I don't think is currently reflected on the board, and I believe it should be.
I bring a genuine curiosity and drive to understand how things work, something I credit in part to my ADHD, paired with a professional background in complex systems and data. I've spent my career overseeing the implementation of software and processes that pull information together across large organizations. That's a different lens than most current board members bring: someone who can look at a policy or budget line and ask not just "Is this the right goal?" but "Will this actually work the way we think it will?"
I also bring a strong sense of justice and transparency. I want decisions made in the open, with clear reasoning families can follow.
Most importantly, I'm not looking in from the outside. My children are living every decision this board makes, from her first day of kindergarten through his first day, and every year after. That gives me an urgency in getting this right that isn't abstract for me.
I bring a fresh perspective that isn't well represented on the board right now, and that's exactly what this county needs filled.
What is the most important issue facing your school board and what would you do about it if elected?
Right now, the most important issue is really two sides of the same coin: technology in the classroom and the budget decisions that shape everything else.
On technology, Montgomery County Public Schools spends millions repairing Chromebooks--screen repairs alone are estimated at over $3 million--while we still have no real policy on generative AI, and growing evidence that screen-heavy instruction isn't serving all students well. I support the screen time and technology audit that's already been proposed, and I'd push to make sure it explicitly covers AI tools, not just device usage. My view is that technology should be the last tool a classroom reaches for, not the default.
On the budget, Montgomery County Public Schools is absorbing rising costs from state mandates like the Blueprint, and too often, the first cuts proposed land on direct student-support positions, counselors, social workers and family engagement staff, rather than administrative costs at the central office. This year, community pushback forced the board to restore some of those positions after the fact. I don't think it should take public outcry to get there.
If elected, I'd bring my professional background in systems and data implementation to both problems: pushing for a technology audit that produces real, actionable guardrails, not just a report, and pushing for a public budget tracker that ties every dollar to a stated board goal, so the community can see exactly where cuts are landing and why. Families deserve to see the trade-offs being made with their tax dollars, not just told to trust the process.
Please name a public leader you admire and explain why.
Michelle Obama. She's not a politician, and I think that matters. She built an identity as first lady around being a mother, an advocate and a communicator, not just a political spouse.
Her "Let's Move" initiative tackled childhood nutrition and physical activity head-on, and she planted the White House Kitchen Garden to get kids thinking about where food actually comes from. That's the kind of practical, kid-focused leadership I respect: meeting children where they are and building habits that stick.
She's also just a phenomenal speaker. She can command a room with total authenticity, no notes needed, and make people feel something, whether she's talking about her own upbringing or pushing for a cause she believes in.
She raised two daughters through eight years in a global spotlight while staying grounded and present as a mother. That balance, public strength and private steadiness is something I aspire to.
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.
The Blueprint's goals are ones I support: expanding early childhood education, raising teacher pay and closing opportunity gaps for multilingual and low-income students. The problem in Montgomery County Public Schools isn't the goals, it's how the Blueprint is funded and mandated.
The Blueprint is a state mandate that shifts more implementation cost onto counties each year, while the actual cost of compliance has consistently run well above what was funded when it passed in 2021. Add inflation eroding the original funding increase, and Montgomery County Public Schools is left absorbing a growing gap. Counties that don't fully implement the Blueprint also risk losing a meaningful share of state funding, which pressures Montgomery County Public Schools to comply even when the money to do it well isn't fully there.
I'm concerned about where the resulting budget pressure has landed. Recent proposed cuts have targeted pupil personnel workers, family engagement staff, social workers and college and career navigators, the staff who support attendance, housing instability, immigrant families and mental health crises, rather than administrative bloat at the central office level. Kids can't meet the Blueprint's academic goals if their basic needs, safety, stability, a sense of belonging, aren't met first. Cutting the staff who meet those needs, in order to protect the Blueprint's academic mandates, works against the Blueprint's own purpose.
I'd push to protect direct student-support positions, scrutinize central administrative costs first and use my systems background to help the board make Blueprint compliance decisions with real data on where the burden is actually falling.
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 real problem in Montgomery County Public Schools. After the pandemic, our rate spiked to 26% in 2022-23 and has since declined to about 22%--real progress, but nearly one third of high schoolers are still chronically absent. I've spoken with our Truancy Prevention Program and been genuinely surprised at how deep this runs.
The pandemic made us more health-conscious, and that's not wrong, but missing more than two days a month, every month, has become normalized in a way that's outrageous. Some students have legitimate medical needs; those aren't the issue. The real gap is in unexcused absences, where we're not doing enough.
I want the board to push a reset: families and Montgomery County Public Schools are a team, not adversaries. That means clearer, more consistent communication, and stronger family engagement rather than punitive policy that pushes kids further away from school.
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?
No, I'm not satisfied. The policy sets vague principles for transparency and oversight, but doesn't require students to master foundational skills before using AI. That's backwards. Kids need to learn to write, calculate, research and think critically themselves before AI becomes a tool rather than a crutch. You can't evaluate AI's output if you never learned the underlying process, and critical thinking requires understanding how something works, not just getting an answer.
I'd push for clear, grade-level guidelines that require students to demonstrate foundational competency before AI use is introduced for that skill, along with "AI-free zones" for core learning, like mastering multiplication before using a calculator. Students should learn to write an essay before AI helps revise it. The current policy leaves this entirely undefined, and without that mastery-first sequencing, we risk raising a generation dependent on AI rather than equipped to use it well.
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?
No, I don't think we're adequately resourced. Youth mental health is arguably worse than it's ever been, our kids are more connected to the world, and to a nonstop stream of news and current events, than any generation before them, and that comes with a real cost.
I want to see mental health staffing and support expanded system-wide, not concentrated only in a handful of schools. Our kids need consistent access to the people and resources that keep them safe, wherever they go to school in this county.
I'd also push for recurring, bite-sized trainings throughout the year, real refreshers on warning signs and how to respond, rather than relying on training that happens once and isn't reinforced. Every adult in a building, not just counselors, should know what to look for and what to do next.
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?
No. The librarians and media specialists who select books are trained professionals, and I trust their judgment. Removing books shouldn't happen because a single community member objects, especially when that person doesn't even have a child enrolled in the school where they're demanding the removal.
If there's a genuine concern, that should prompt discussion and review by the professionals responsible for the collection, not an automatic pull from the shelf. We are not in the business of banning books. If a student wants information, they'll find it, whether on a library shelf or online, and a book vetted by trained staff is a far safer source than an unfiltered internet search.
Books have also helped kids recognize signs of abuse they didn't have words for. That kind of access can keep a child safe, and I don't want to take it away.
