We are sad to see Lois Jarman drop out of the BoE race today. She’s a wonderfully qualified candidate and we hope to see her on the board in 2018. Like the classy lady that she is, she gave a very classy statement that summarizes her reasons for not going forward:

As a public school educator having served seventeen years in the classroom, I wanted to do more for my students and colleagues to improve our public education system after my retirement. I filed my candidacy for a seat on the Board of Education in December of 2015. I would like nothing more than to continue serving the students and staff of Frederick County Public Schools.
This year, there was a tremendous wealth of wonderful candidates entering the race, and I was extremely proud to be among the top six to go on to the general election. I feel honored to be among such an impressive group that counts education as a top priority for our county. It was a close, hard-fought race, but the bottom line is that I finished last among the top six candidates. Historically the person in last place after the primary has never been elected in November.
For that reason, I firmly believe that my time, energy, and effort would best serve the students and citizens of Frederick County by working for and putting my support behind some of the other fine candidates who are continuing to the general election, one of those being Joy Schaefer.
I have just yesterday contacted Stuart Harvey at the Board of Elections and requested that my name be removed from the ballot for November’s election.
Under other circumstances, I might consider staying in the race even given the odds; however, there is one candidate who I believe is dangerous and could change the direction of the Board of Education and put it on a negative trajectory. I do not want to take a single vote from the other highly qualified candidates if it means risking the election of this person.
It is important that we come together to elect the three who will be best for our students. There is much at stake, and we need to ensure that the three open seats go to advocates who will work for the good of all our students this fall. I look forward to running again in 2018, when I intend to fight to win a seat and work alongside these excellent candidates.

Oh, who could she be speaking of? We’ll let you light up the comments section with your guesses.