Less than four years after graduating from the Harford County school system, 22-year-old Liliana Norkaitis is back—and serving on the county’s Board of Education as one of Maryland’s youngest public officials.
“There’s young people and there’s young people. There’s some young people, I wouldn’t trust them,” said Harford County Executive Bob Cassilly, who appointed Norkaitis to the board in February. “There’s other young people who are, like, wow. They’re there, they are mature beyond their years, they’re wise, they’re poised. She was that second group.”
Harford County’s school board is made up of nine members: six elected members and three appointed members. Originally, Norkaitis started running for a seat up for election this fall, announcing her candidacy last October. But after the resignation of one member and failed appointment of another, Norkaitis was appointed to one of the at-large seats in early February. She will hold the position until 2029, when her predecessor’s term was set to expire.
“I ultimately ran to represent the taxpayer,” Norkaitis said. “I hopped in the race just to make sure that everyone is represented in [school board] budget discussions, but also to be able to just try to bring some common sense into these budget discussions.”
A Harford County native, Norkaitis attended kindergarten through 12th grade in public schools, eventually graduating from Fallston High School, just west of Bel Air, Maryland, in 2022.
“I think [this] is why I am so passionate about the school system, because it has done very well in preparing me for where I am,” she said.
A surprise appointment
After high school, Norkaitis attended the University of Maryland, where she majored in government and politics with a minor in rhetoric and graduated in three years. She was also part of the Honors College and College Republicans.
Norkaitis did internships with Republican Sens. Joni Ernst of Iowa and John Neely Kennedy of a Louisiana Republican, as well as Rep. Andy Harris, a Republican who represents Harford County and Maryland’s Eastern Shore.
This prompted her to run for a seat on the school board shortly after her college graduation. She initially filed to run for office last October.
But then in early January, Board of Education President Aaron Poynton revealed an incident incident that had occurred in April 2024, when members from the school board were at a conference in New Orleans.
According to a report from the Maryland Office of the Inspector General for Education, Harford County Public Schools Superintendent Sean Bulson believed that while he was in his conference hotel room after a night of drinking, he had been robbed of his school-issued cell phone and laptop, as well as his personal phone, Apple watch and tablet.
Norkaitis, still a candidate for an elected position on the board at the time, issued a statement about the incident on her Facebook page.
“The children, parents, and teachers of Harford County deserve a new superintendent with the utmost moral character who will promote a culture of success for HCPS,” she said.
Bulson was placed on a leave of absence, and at its Feb. 9 meeting, the board voted to terminate his contract, which was supposed to end this June 30. Dyann Mack now serves as interim superintendent.
Poynton subsequently resigned, citing a heavy workload. To replace him, Cassilly nominated previous board member Terri Kocher However, the Harford County Council rejected Kocher’s appointment, leaving Cassilly scrambling for a nominee.
The next person Cassilly thought of for the role was Norkaitis.
“I thought, ‘You know what? You know our schools, you didn’t graduate that long ago. You know the issues,’” Cassilly said.
‘What have I done?’
Norkaitis’ appointment to an at-large seat on the board was approved by the county council, prompting her to withdraw her candidacy for the elected seat.
“[My] first question was, ‘Wow, what have I done?’” Norkaitis said. “The role of a school board member is one that does not receive much thanks. It’s one that is often filled with controversy.”
But ultimately, Norkaitis feels as if she was meant for the role.
“It felt as a civic duty that I know that I bring a perspective of being astute, [of being] a product of the system at a time when we just are lacking in that,” she said.
Cassilly said her maturity and perspective is a large part of why he nominated her.
“She’s a very bright, no-nonsense, get-things-done kind of person,” he said. “She’s good at democracy.”
But Norkaitis is not without her critics. Cathy Kowalewski, who is running for a seat on the school board this fall, said she believes a young person isn’t what the board needs right now.
“I’m not opposed to having a well-rounded [board],” Kowalewski said. “But I also think it’s key to have one or two board members [with] experience in education.”
She also thinks the board should be fully elected, without appointed members like Norkaitis.
“The county executive is always going to appoint [board] members that align with his political views, even though the board is supposed to be nonpartisan,” Kowalewski said.
Establishing her place
Norkaitis is still working to establish her place on the board, navigating the ins and outs of a position she’s only held for a few months.
Passing the budget for the upcoming school year was a priority for the board. Norkaitis herself advocated for cutting the budget to keep taxes low and ensure county departments can run without trimming staff.
“We do this political dance every budget cycle,” she said.
A key goal she has now is to improve transparency, particularly with the taxpayers, and ensure every dollar is being used to help Harford County students.
“They have the background that they need to be able to navigate this chaotic political landscape that we have,” she said.
Norkaitis initially got involved with the Republican Party during the COVID-19 pandemic, where she began phone banking before the 2020 election.
“This is really an opportunity where people can get involved, no matter their age, no matter their background, no matter how much they even know about the political process,” she said.
Now she serves on the Republican Central Committee, the representative group of the Harford County Republican Party. She also works for the Maryland General Assembly as the communications and community outreach director Maryland’s 7th district, which serves parts of Baltimore and Harford counties.
Full circle
Despite Bulson’s departure, Norkaitis hopes to bring back the trust many parents feel has been lost in the Harford County Public Schools.
An ally in that mission is interim superintendent Mack. But this isn’t the pair’s first time working together. Mack was Norkaitis’ principal at Bel Air Elementary.
“It was just one of those moments where it was just a sense of pride for me,” Mack said. “Now to sit on the same board as her, making sure that students like her get a great education and can so often be successful, it’s great to partner with her.”
The board is currently searching for a new full-time superintendent when Mack’s interim term ends June 30. Mack is a finalist for the permanent position.
“It’s arguably the most important decision that a board member could make,” Norkaitis said about the superintendent search. “Having to make that decision in my first few months on the board is a little daunting, but nonetheless, [I’m] excited to be a part of the process.”
Amid the superintendent search, Norkaitis said she knows that she belongs on the board at this point in her young career. She said she hopes to continue working for academic success and efficiency of the board alongside supporters like Cassily and Mack.
“I picked the right path,” she said.