Support CCS announces three endorsements in Carmel Clay School Board 2026 elections

Submitted

Support CCS, a nonpartisan political action committee committed to supporting school board candidates who will fulfill the mission and guiding principles of Carmel Clay Schools, announces that Stephanie Flittner, Jennifer Cashin, and Michele Kirby have earned the organization’s endorsement as 2026 candidates for Carmel Clay School Board

This endorsement is a result of the enthusiastic recommendation of Support CCS’s independent team of vetters.

Flittner, Cashin, and Kirby are all current CCS parents, and according to Support CCS, they are immensely qualified public education advocates who have demonstrated by their volunteer work a clear commitment to Carmel’s schools. Each brings unique skills that will benefit the district in years ahead.

Stephanie Flittner (District 1) is a CCS parent, lawyer, and community volunteer with governance and public policy experience through professional and nonprofit roles. She has stayed engaged in Carmel’s schools through the Carmel Education Foundation, PTO, and school volunteering, and she understands the importance of strong public schools, meaningful parent and community engagement, and creating opportunities for all students to succeed.

Jennifer Cashin (District 2) was appointed to the CCS Board in January and is seeking election for a four-year term. A mother of three current CCS students, she is an independent marketing consultant specializing in data analytics. She has for years been an active member of the CCS community, serving on PTOs, helping organize events for the Carmel Education Foundation, volunteering on the 2023 Referendum campaign, and serving as chair of Support CCS PAC from 2024 to 2025. She also co-founded Greyhound Council, a district-wide PTO that brings parents from all Carmel schools together to increase engagement.

Michele Kirby (District 3) is a Registered Nurse with IU Health’s Nursing Professional Development program and mother to five current CCS students, ages 5 to 16. She has held various PTO leadership and fundraising roles at Forest Dale Elementary and Carmel Middle School. Additionally, she co-founded Greyhound Council and guided its development into a resource for all CCS families. She is adept at building community partnerships, analyzing data, recognizing areas for improvement, identifying opportunities, securing resources, and managing projects to produce meaningful outcomes for the populations they serve.

Although all three candidates are running unopposed, Support CCS PAC feels it is important for Carmel to know and trust the people serving on the school board; this is why Support CCS opted to maintain its longstanding endorsement process and invite all candidates to apply. An external review committee of five politically diverse Carmel residents, each with deep knowledge of Carmel’s schools, evaluated each application. The reviewers unanimously recommended all three candidates for endorsement, noting especially their proven record of service, their keen understanding of the challenges facing the district, their commitment to keeping the schools student-centered while enhancing parent partnerships, and their support for teachers and staff.

“We are grateful that these three truly impressive CCS parents have stepped up to serve and lead our schools,” SupportCCS Co-Chair Maranda Bruckner said, “and we also want to express our deepest thanks to our external reviewers for providing expert guidance. We share their view that CCS could not be in better hands, and hope that our endorsement will help assure Carmel residents, in the context of this transition to partisan school board elections, that their Board representatives are distinguished by their experience and dedication to our schools, rather than by their party affiliation. We hope this helps them feel confident that the school system so crucial to our community’s success is in the best possible hands.”

“The work these reviewers have done is incredibly important, even though these races are uncontested,” Support CCS Co-Chair Lindsay Ohmer said. “Campaigns can be stressful, but they provide a real opportunity for voters to get to know and trust the people they are electing to the Board. We see this endorsement process as one significant way to help make up for that lost element of campaigning, and as the election approaches, we will do our best to make sure that each of our endorsed candidates has opportunities to connect with voters and hear their concerns.”

More information about Stephanie Flittner can be found at stephanieflittner.com; more information about Jennifer Cashin can be found at cashinforccs.com; to get in touch with Michele Kirby, please email: kirby4ccs@gmail.com.

To learn more about Support CCS PAC, please visit supportccs.org or email info@supportccs.org.

Support CCS is firmly and proudly nonpartisan, and strives to ensure Carmel’s schools and school board remain so as well. Support CCS is entirely run by volunteers from the Carmel community, parents with kids currently in the schools as well as community members who appreciate CCS and know that our public schools are at the heart of what makes Carmel such a special place to live.