Like his predecessors before him, the new student representative on the Harford County Board of Education is trying to secure partial voting rights.

Anthony Cofrancesco, 17, an incoming senior at Havre de Grace High School and the first representative from his school, has started contacting local politicians to try and get approved partial voting rights for his position.

The partial voting rights, Anthony said Wednesday, would allow the students to vote on matters than affect students directly, such as policies.

The student rep would not vote on any kind of budget or disciplinary matter, he added.

As it is, the student representative has a preferential vote the other board members can take into consideration, but it does not count in terms of decision-making.

Although student members have tried to get voting rights in the past, Anthony thinks it may happen this time.

"I'm really thinking that this is the year that we will get it," he said.

This time around, too, he has the support of the board of education in the form of a resolution. Anthony also pointed out that other counties have followed suit in allowing student representatives' votes to count.

"There are numerous other counties who have not only partial voting rights," he said, "but also full voting rights for their student member on the board."

Getting partial voting rights is important, he said, especially given the makeup of the board.

"[There is] only a single student representative representing all of the students," he said.

There are roughly 38,000 students in Harford County Public Schools.

The first step in this legislative process, which will require a law to be passed, is the get the support of local politicians.

For the bill to pass, it needs to support of Harford County's delegates and senators. In previous attempts, student representatives have gotten approval from the delegates, but not the senators.

So far, Anthony said he has been in contact with Sen. Nancy Jacobs and Sen. Barry Glassman and plans to keep e-mailing and calling to see if they would support a bill if drafted.

"I honestly don't see why there would be opposition," he said.

Although Jacobs could not be reached for comment, her Chief of Staff Suzanne Collins relayed a message from her saying that Jacobs had opposed the bill in the past and would not be changing her mind.

Glassman, too, said Wednesday that there wasn't much support for the bill on the Senate side. The partial voting rights are also so watered down, he added, that it "doesn't even make sense to even fool with it."

That being said, Glassman encouraged Anthony to meet with him and make his case because the senators could change their minds, but he doubted it.

"I just don't think it's necessary," he said. "[The position] wasn't designed for partial voting rights."

The student representative, in Glassman's opinion, serves as an ex-officio to the board, meaning the position isn't supposed to have a vote.

A message left for Sen. J.B. Jennings Wednesday afternoon was not returned.

If his first attempt fails, Anthony said, he plans to go to the middle and high school student body, as well as teachers and parents, with a countywide petition.

Anthony said he will put "a lot of hard work" into the process, rallying support from people throughout the county to get legislators on board.

Without voting rights, he argued, what's the point of the student representative? Taking it to the next level, too, will show students that they are trusted.

"I think it's just a really important step to say that we trust that the student representative on the board is able to make decisions," he said.