Readers say Crosser, Lambert & Richardson are best suited for Noblesville school board

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Dear Editor:

We are writing to support Christi Crosser, Stephanie Lambert, and Bret Richardson for Noblesville School Board. There have been some misleading claims expressed in previous letters to the editor by critics of the current school board that we’d like to address.

A previous writer took exception to Noblesville Schools’ posture regarding referendums. The writer attempted to make the case that incumbent candidates were liberal spendthrifts that shouldn’t be trusted with taxpayer money. In the process, he chose not to reveal a lot of data that doesn’t support that premise.

We have worked in and around state government for 35 years and know this: school finance is one of the most complex and multi-faceted policy areas there is. If you’re being given only a few cherry-picked data points (as was the case with the previous writer) you likely aren’t seeing the whole picture. School funding is an extraordinarily complex subject that doesn’t lend itself to political statements in a campaign. But here are a few thoughts in effort to simplify:

• None of the current school board candidates were on the board when the referendums currently in effect were passed. As the previous writer suggests, Noblesville may well be a center-right community – and a majority of those voters ultimately approved those referendums.
• As parents of a child who was at Noblesville West Middle School when a shooting occurred, we were thrilled and relieved that the 2018 referendum passed (over the objection of some of the current naysayers). Those investments allowed for a school resource officer in every school and substantially upgraded mental health resources, making our kids safer.
• Asserting that Noblesville should be like Carmel is troublesome for many reasons:
  1. Noblesville has a higher percentage of socioeconomically disadvantaged children (which generally increases costs).
  2. Carmel’s property tax base is about twice as large as Noblesville’s. So, if the tax rates were the same, Carmel would generate about twice as much revenue.
  3. Noblesville schools lose far more money than Carmel due to property tax caps, and therefore must rely on referendum funding to a greater degree than Carmel to generate the same property tax revenue.
  4. Noblesville actually collects less property tax revenue per student than Carmel.

So it’s easy to see that when the writer elects to discuss only tax rates, and totally avoids a discussion of collected revenues, voters are misled.

• The writer criticizes the number of times incumbents have voted “yes” on board decisions. The reason there is consensus on the board is because the superintendent is doing what he was hired to do. He is executing the vision articulated by the board, communicating effectively and building support for his decisions. Lots of no votes would be a sign of dysfunction. Unlike other school corporations, thankfully, Noblesville doesn’t have chaos and infighting distracting them from their mission.
• The previous writer correctly points out that teachers are taxpayers too, and they value fiscal responsibility. What he doesn’t share is that Lambert, Crosser and Richardson are the only candidates in the race endorsed by the Noblesville Teachers Forum.

Finally, voters should keep in mind what happens in a referendum. When a school board supports a referendum, it is simply honoring the idea that the people should have the freedom to decide whether they want to make increased investments in schools to provide better programs and facilities. When a board passes a referendum, it is really taking a stand for America’s ultimate freedom – the freedom of self-determination by the voters.

Christi Crosser, Stephanie Lambert and Bret Richardson are proven proponents of academic freedom, academic excellence, support for all students, and accountability to taxpayers. That’s why we are voting for them on Nov. 5.

Anita & Steve Rogers
Noblesville