Two Republican state delegates are calling for the Baltimore County school board to revote on a budget that was passed in February, citing what they claim was an illegally cast vote by a former member. But school system officials said the vote was deemed legal and the chair appears ready to move on.

Dels. Kathy Szeliga and Ryan Nawrocki said in a Tuesday news release that a board member cast a vote when she was “no longer legally eligible to serve.”

They are referring to Robin Harvey, a former board member who is running as a Democrat for the District 10 seat in the Maryland House of Delegates. The Maryland State Board of Elections website shows she filed for the seat on Feb. 24 — the same day as the board’s vote on the budget, which happened later that night.

Gboyinde Onijala, spokesperson for the school system, said the board’s counsel told board members that Harvey’s vote was legal.

The vote was 7-4. Per school system policy, the board needs seven votes to approve almost anything. A 6-5 vote, for instance, would have resulted in the budget not passing.

Szeliga and Nawrocki argued that since Maryland law prohibits school board members from running for public office, Harvey should have been disqualified from voting. They both represent District 7A.

Harvey did not return a request for comment.

“When the people running our schools can’t follow the law, it sends exactly the wrong message,” Szeliga said in a statement. “You don’t get to ignore clear legal requirements just because it’s convenient. This wasn’t a technicality; it was the deciding vote on a $2.5 billion budget. The Board needs to fix it and take a lawful vote.”

Speaking at Tuesday evening’s board meeting, board Chair Jane Lichter said it’s “difficult to understand why this matter continues to be revisited.” She said a board member informed her of the Maryland law back in February. She consulted the board’s lawyer and later confronted Harvey, whom Lichter said was unaware of that law.

Harvey “promptly” submitted her resignation letter the same day, Lichter added. Her vote on the budget was “passed legally.”

Harvey was elected to the school board in 2022 and served as the board’s vice chair. The February meeting where she voted to approve the budget was her last as a school board member.

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