'The youngest I've ever seen': Viera High School student, 18, announces school board run

Max Madl may be the youngest person to run for office on the Space Coast in at least 15 years.

The 18-year-old Viera High School student filed Tuesday to run for the District 4 school board seat in the hopes of bringing a student perspective to Brevard's school board. He'll face off against current board member Matt Susin and Avanese Taylor, the mother of a victim in an August 2023 hazing incident at Viera High.

"I'm probably the youngest candidate Brevard County has ever had in any election," Madl said. "The biggest thing I want to reassure voters would be yes, I am young, but I've lived in Brevard County and gone to Brevard Public Schools my entire life, and I know what it was like to experience being a student firsthand."

Tim Bobanic, supervisor of elections, said the age range of candidates varies widely. But most, he said, are older than Madl.

"I would say in the 15 years that I've been in elections, that's the youngest I've ever seen," he said. "But I commend anybody, no matter what their age is, for putting their name out and choosing to run for office."

Madl, who attended Suntree Elementary School and DeLaura Middle School prior to Viera High, is set to graduate from high school and Eastern Florida State College with his associate degree this spring. He said he was compelled to run after attending school board meetings since his sophomore year at Viera High.

There's a lack of consideration and understanding for how policies impact students with the current board, he said.

"People on the board — they're out of touch," he said. "Many of the board members we have now either haven't been in our schools for years, or they haven't been in our schools at all. And the problem with that is, they don't know what it's like to be in the classroom recently."

Board Chair Megan Wright, who won the District 1 seat in 2022, is also a former Brevard Public Schools student.

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While Madl considers himself an expert in what Brevard students are experiencing, he has also seen things from a teacher's perspective, saying his mom is a teacher of 26 years and that he's spent this year teacher-assisting at his former elementary school.

"I've heard all (my mom's) concerns as well while growing up," he said. "I know what it's like on both ends."

Though Madl is only 18, he's gotten experience in high school working as part of Viera High's student government association. Since he was a freshman, he's helped with projects related to faculty and staff relations, volunteering in the community, organizing pep rallies and homecoming and more. He's also been on the school's school advisory committee since his junior year, which has given him the chance to discuss topics like where to allocate finances and approving books for the school.

He first became interested in attending school board meetings when a policy was passed during his sophomore year that required students to scan their ID badges each day. If they didn't have their ID badges, they would automatically receive a detention — something Madl felt was unfair for most high school students.

Since then, he's kept coming back because of the "controversy" on the board and the desire to be informed about what's happening in the district.

"I love knowing what's going on in my schools in the area and the schools I have attended," he said. "I just think that's reassuring, that I know what is actually happening."

Susin said that as a former teacher, he's "ecstatic" that a young person is running.

"I am looking forward to learning more about his experience as (a) BPS student, and welcome the opportunity to debate from our vastly different perspectives and life experiences," he said.

Something that's missing from the current board, Madl said, is an easy way for students to share their perspective. It's a change he would like to implement.

"A lot of students are afraid to come up and say something to the board, or they don't know that that's an option even available to them," he said.

"So I think by giving them a platform, whether it be online, in person, whatever it may be, to express their feelings and concerns about new policies being passed — I think that would really bring in a student perspective on the policies."

Madl is running unaffiliated with a political party.

Finch Walker is the education reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Walker at 321-290-4744 or [email protected]. X: @_finchwalker.

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: 18-year-old Florida high school student running for school board