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Dear Editor:
I want to share more with you about why I am running for the Carmel Clay Schools Board of Trustees, my thoughts on our school community, and my priorities if I am elected.
We are at a pivotal moment where parents demand more involvement in their children’s education and more transparency and accountability for the leaders who oversee our schools. Our school board and superintendent have struggled with leading us through these challenges. Parent-teacher conferences were canceled, parents and grandparents were not allowed to visit our schools, and the school prevented parents and community members from commenting at our school board meetings.
I am running for the school board to provide better people leadership to our community. I believe our school board can benefit from a transformational leader like me who can inspire and motivate others to be more engaged and involved in the education of our children. We need a leader who can unite our community to ensure we continue producing the best educational product.
We have 11 elementary schools, three middle schools, and one high school. We have over 16,000 students enrolled in our schools, of which 70 percent are white, 15 percent are Asian, 3.5 percent are Black or African American, and 3.5 percent are Hispanic. In recent years, there’s been a lot of talk of racial demographics, but did you know 11 percent of our students have a disability? We should do our best for them and their families. And that is why I have called for establishing a PTO-type support group for these families, so they don’t feel alone (sheldonbarnes.com/ccs-village).
We have about 2,400 staff, of which about 1,000 are full-time educators. A total of 99.6 percent of them are rated “effective” or “highly effective” by our school corporation. Regarding the demographics of our educators, 96.6 percent of our full-time educators are white. Only 0.8 percent are Black or African American. There are similar percentages for other groups. These statistics do not include our instructional assistants and support staff. Can we work with our legislators to make it easier to certify them? I love our teachers and know that they work hard every day to create a welcoming environment that is conducive to learning.
Our graduation rate is 97 percent. Carmel Clay Schools students, teachers, and staff perform at a very high level. Our students’ academic achievements make us a top-performing district in the State of Indiana and across the country.
From a financial perspective, there are five budgeted funds:
- The education fund
- Operation fund
- Operating referendum fund
- Safety operating referendum fund
- The debt service fund
The current year approved budget for the education fund is $109 million, the operating fund is $27 million, the active fund referendum is $24 million, the safety operating referendum fund is $3.7 million, and the debt service fund is $27 million. These are our fiscal constraints. I mention these funds and figures because it is you, taxpayers, who provide the funds to pay our debt, secure our schools, and fund the operations to educate our children.
Our greatest strengths are our students, parents, administrators, and community.
My priorities as a school board member are:
- Ensuring we maintain our excellent schools within our financial constraints
- Ensuring we have a solid plan to recruit and retain the best teachers
- Increasing our engagement with our students, parents, and community
- Ensuring we are doing our best for our students who have a disability
Your humble public servant,
Sheldon Barnes
Carmel Clay School Board candidate