Do we actually care who’s on the school board?

Four of seven HSE seats are up Nov. 3. Most students can’t vote on any of it. For the few who can, the deadline to register is Oct. 5.

By CHARLOTTE LAWRENCE
Guest Columnist

Ask a student in the Hamilton Southeastern school district who sits on the school board, and you’ll usually get a moment of silence, then a guess.

It’s an easy thing not to know, especially for students. However, if there was a time to close this gap, it’s now, due to the upcoming ballot that is going to transform the board almost completely.

Four of the board’s seven seats are up for election, and none of the four members holding them (Tiffany Pascoe, Juanita Albright, Dawn Lang, and Ben Orr) appear on the candidate list, meaning the majority of the board’s seats will change when the new terms begin in January 2027.

Across Hamilton County, 27 candidates filed for 18 school board seats. This is also the first cycle under Senate Bill 287, signed by Gov. Mike Braun in 2025, which lets school board candidates list a political party on the ballot for the first time.

The math on who can actually vote

But how big of a difference can students really make? HSE graduated 1,754 students last spring, and this year’s class is around the same size. But Indiana requires you to be 18 by Election Day, and Indiana’s kindergarten cutoff means most seniors have birthdays spread across a 12-month window starting in August.

This means that only students born on or before Nov. 3, 2008, qualify, which adds to around 400 or 500 seniors (around one in four). In a district of roughly 20,000 students, that’s about 2 percent.

So the honest framing isn’t “students should vote.” It’s that almost none of us can, which makes the handful who can matter more.

“It doesn’t change anything for me”

Chaney Ferris, a senior at Fishers High School, said, “Honestly, I’m not even registered. I graduate in May and then I’m gone, so whoever’s on the school board isn’t really my problem anymore. I don’t even know who’s running. Nobody’s ever explained why it matters to me.”

That argument stands stronger than adults like to admit. Board terms run four years. A senior voting in November graduates in June and is gone before most of what the new board does actually takes effect. Candidates also run within specific geographic districts, and voters may only cast ballots for candidates in the district where they live, so a student might have exactly one name to choose from.

Indiana students aren’t outliers here, either. CIRCLE at Tufts found that 15 percent of eligible Hoosiers ages 18 to 29 voted in the 2022 midterm, among the lowest rates in the country, against 23 percent nationally.

What’s actually on the line

There’s a money question on the same ballot. HSE is asking voters to renew the referendum that pays its teachers. More than 97 percent of that money goes to teacher salaries and benefits, and the rest pays for school safety.

The ballot will show a big number, up to 36 cents for every $100 a home is worth, over eight years. Superintendent Matt Kegley says HSE won’t charge that maximum in any year. For a typical homeowner, he estimates it comes out to about $3 more a month starting in 2027.

That is not abstract. It’s whether your teachers stay. The referendum it replaces passed in 2023 with 70 percent support, but school finance experts estimate 40 to 50 Indiana districts will put referendum questions on ballots this fall.

Olivia Werbanowski, a senior at Hamilton Southeastern High School, said, “I’m registered and I’m voting. I spent 13 years in this district, so I have opinions about how it’s run. Leaving doesn’t mean I stop caring.”

Both things can be true

There’s a fair case on the other side. Some residents argue that students voting on an eight-year tax they won’t pay isn’t a good idea. Plenty of voters will reject the referendum on cost and still back public schools. And a student who votes for a name they don’t know isn’t participating, they’re guessing. So, the standard isn’t “vote no matter what.” It’s if you’re eligible, learn your district’s candidates, understand the referendum, then decide either way.

Amiee Day, a now-retired teacher who is involved in the community, said, “I spent my whole career in a classroom. I know exactly who the school board’s decisions land on, and it’s the kids and the teachers. That’s why I never miss a vote.”

The deadline

Voter registration closes Monday, Oct. 5. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3, and early voting opens Oct. 6. Indiana has no same-day registration, so Oct. 5 is the date that counts. Register at indianavoters.in.gov, at a BMV branch, or at the Hamilton County Election Office in Noblesville.

If you’re 18 by Nov. 3, you’re one of maybe 450 students in this district with a vote on who runs it. That’s a small number. Small numbers decide local races.

Charlotte Lawrence is a senior at Fishers High School, and is currently serving as a high school intern for Fishers City Councilor Tiffanie Ditlevson.