Community Advisory Council
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2025-2026 Community Advisory Council
2025-2026 CAC Executive Board
- Chair, Lizz Hammon
- Vice Chair, Mark Covington
- Second Vice Chair, Matthew Vaughn-Smith
- Secretary, Amrish Vyas
- Policy Chair, Andrea Stremmel
Contact
For more information about the CAC, please call 410-313-6600 or email cac.hocoboe@gmail.com with your questions.
2025-2026 Schedule
Meetings are held virtually at 7 p.m.
- Tuesday, Sept. 30
- Tuesday, Oct. 28
- Tuesday, Nov. 18
- Tuesday, Dec. 16
- Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026
- Tuesday, Feb. 24
- Tuesday, March 24
- Tuesday, April 28
- Tuesday, May 26
Overview
The Community Advisory Council (CAC) is a state-mandated advisory group that reports to the Howard County Board of Education (BOE). In addition to providing the BOE with feedback, the CAC helps disseminate information about the Howard County Public School System (HCPSS) to the public. CAC meetings are open to anyone in the community who wishes to participate.
Representatives of the CAC sit on various policy reviews and education initiative committees in order to share our concerns, offer constructive solutions, and later provide feedback to the BOE.
Representation on Committees/Task Forces/Initiatives
The CAC has representatives on every HCPSS policy review committee as well as other initiatives such as the School Start and Dismissal Times, the School Health Council, and the Academic Calendar Planning Committee.
The CAC uses these opportunities to provide feedback and opinions of the community to HCPSS administration and the Board of Education.
Issues the CAC has addressed:
These are just a few of the issues and topics that CAC has attempted to address:
- Cultural Proficiency
- Equity & Inclusivity
- Bullying, Harassment and Intimidation
- Policy Creation
- Effective Discipline
- Mental Health
- Education Legislation
- HCPSS Communications
- Digital Education
- G/T and AP Education
- World Language Instruction
Membership
The CAC is a volunteer organization and is open to all community members who have an interest in Howard County schools. New members are voted in at each monthly meeting.
To become a member, complete this brief online form.
Meetings
View the 2025-2026 meeting schedule
The CAC meets virtually one evening a month for approximately two hours.
At monthly meetings:
- Guest speakers to provide CAC members with information about initiatives, educational programs and processes.
- Education-related initiatives, reports, and research findings are presented to the entire group by HCPSS administration and community organizations.
- Everyone is encouraged to ask questions of the guest speakers, to express their thoughts and share comments from themselves and others in the community.
- Votes of consensus are taken when the CAC is prepared to offer opinions or recommendations to the Board or a policy committee.
- The CAC Executive Board prepares a report to reflect the outcome of the discussions and votes. This report is officially presented to the BOE in both oral and written form.
Past meeting minutes are available on the BOE BoardDocs website.