The Baltimore County Board of Education is back to full strength for the first time in nearly a year after Gov. Wes Moore appointed two new members to fill vacancies created by resignations earlier this year.
Pete Fitzpatrick, a public education advocate, registered nurse and licensed paramedic, and Autrese Thornton, an education consultant and board-certified coach, were appointed to complete the unexpired terms of two former board members.
Thornton, a Randallstown resident, was sworn in on June 24 and participated in her first board meeting later that evening. She fills the at-large seat vacated by Tiara Booker-Dwyer, who resigned in August 2025. Thornton’s term expires Dec. 4, 2028.
Fitzpatrick, a Catonsville resident, was sworn in on June 26 as the District 1 representative for southwest Baltimore County. He attended his first board meeting on July 14. He succeeds former board member Robin Harvey, who resigned in March 2026 to run for the Maryland House of Delegates. Fitzpatrick’s term expires Nov. 30, 2026.
Both appointees bring extensive backgrounds in education advocacy and public service.
Thornton serves as a mentor manager for a youth and community services nonprofit, a community conversation facilitator for Teach For America, and a subject matter expert for the National Board for Certified Counselors. She also operates her own empowerment coaching business and works as a Baltimore County caseworker. Before that, she spent nine years as an assistant principal with Baltimore County Public Schools after serving as a special education teacher in Baltimore City Public Schools.
Fitzpatrick has more than 30 years of experience in emergency medical services and critical care transport. He works as a flight nurse and shift coordinator at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C., and serves on both the Baltimore County Police Accountability Board and the Maryland Opioid Restitution Advisory Council. He has also been an active advocate for public education in Baltimore County.
The appointments followed a lengthy and, at times, contentious selection process. There were vacancies on the nominating commission that took some time to fill. With the school board down one, then two members, board decisions that required seven votes for adoption were problematic and sometimes delayed.
Thornton was one of three finalists recommended by the Baltimore County School Board Nominating Commission for the vacant at-large seat.
Fitzpatrick’s path to appointment proved more complicated. Although he was the only applicant for the District 1 vacancy, the nominating commission initially declined to recommend him. After Gov. Moore’s office informed the commission that state law required it to submit up to two nominees for consideration, the commission reversed course and forwarded Fitzpatrick’s name.
The controversy ultimately played into the resignation of nominating commission Chair Scott Jenkins, who reportedly believed Fitzpatrick should have been nominated from the outset.
