Four candidates running for Montgomery County Board of Education will face voter questions at a public forum on Wednesday, Oct. 14.

The League of Women Voters of Montgomery County is hosting the event from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Montgomery Community Television studio, 7548 Standish Place in Rockville, as first reported by Moderately MoCo. Veteran journalist Sonya Laurence Green, a former supervisory assignments editor at Voice of America in Washington, will moderate. Residents can also watch a free livestream on YouTube.

Both contested races will be covered. In the District 3 race, Sally McCarthy faces Cassandra "Cassi" Sung. In the at-large race, Omar Lazo faces Brenda Diaz. Every Montgomery County voter casts a ballot in both contests, even though district candidates must live in their district.

The two other Board of Education seats on the Nov. 3 ballot are uncontested.

The District 3 race carries particular weight for Potomac-area families. McCarthy, 55, was raised in North Potomac and graduated from Thomas S. Wootton High School. She holds a doctorate in education policy from the University of Maryland and spent more than 25 years in education policy work, according to The Baltimore Banner's voter guide. Sung, 39, oversees systems and analytics at the law firm Eversheds Sutherland and co-facilitates the Chamber of Mothers DC Area Chapter.

In the June 23 primary, McCarthy led the District 3 field with 46.6% of the vote, according to Ballotpedia. Sung finished second with 17.3%. No incumbent holds the seat.

In the at-large race, Lazo, 49, is a small business owner who serves on the Montgomery College Board of Trustees and chairs the Montgomery County Workforce Development Board, according to The Baltimore Banner's at-large voter guide. Diaz, 49, is a former MCPS classroom teacher at Gaithersburg High School who coached JV softball at Wootton.

The new board members will inherit pressing decisions. The board voted on March 26 to relocate Wootton High School to a new Crown Farm campus in Gaithersburg, a plan that drew a legal challenge still pending before the Maryland State Board of Education. MCPS also faces a $3 billion deferred maintenance backlog and a $36 million gap between expenses and approved funding, district officials told the board on Aug. 20.

In her Baltimore Banner voter guide response, Sung said enrollment decline should be diagnosed before closures are considered. "Families don't leave public schools without a reason … Treating it without diagnosing the cause is how you lose more families, not fewer," she said.

Residents who want to attend in person must register by Tuesday, Oct. 6. Seating is limited and registration closes early if the studio fills. The confirmation email serves as the ticket. The League asks attendees to arrive early enough to clear security and be seated by 6:45 p.m. Questions for the candidates can be submitted through the League's online form until Wednesday, Oct. 7.

Early voting in Maryland begins Thursday, Oct. 22, and the deadline to request a mail-in ballot by mail is Tuesday, Oct. 27, according to NBC Washington's voter guide. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3.