Want to lower the temperature around school board debates? Vote Forgey, say these Noblesville voters

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Dear Editor:

After the shooting at Noblesville West Middle School four years ago we, along with other parents, formed a group dedicated to advocating for the safety of all children in schools. We spent every day pushing state and local officials on several issues, including more resources to address serious and chronic mental health issues among children.

No one measure will prevent every incidence of school violence, but it was clear to Noblesville parents, who just experienced a violent tragedy at our own children’s school, that today’s generation of children face unprecedented pressures that can not only challenge an individual child’s mental health, but potentially result in a situation that endangers everyone in a school.

Thankfully, no one is more aware of these pressures than Noblesville school administrators and most school board members, including Joe Forgey.

Unfortunately, there is a group of outside influencers who, for purely political reasons, are smearing school leaders for doing what is necessary to protect children. These interests aren’t all from Noblesville, and they aren’t interested in what happened to our kids. They are pursuing their political agenda in many communities across the nation by making up phony stories about what is being taught in schools and duping local school board candidates into buying into their fake issues.

They are denouncing social and emotional learning and other mental health efforts as “socialism,” “racism,” and “indoctrination.” This is wrong.

Developing character traits of resiliency, empathy, respect and kindness, and skills such as emotional regulation and goal setting not only serve to lessen conflicts that often lead to school violence, they help create a generation of graduates with skills that employers find critical in today’s workforce. We can all agree that preparing students for the future is a big reason why our education system is so key to the success of our community.

Parents are their children’s lifelong support system and play the most important role in their development. Social-emotional learning is intended to strengthen, not counter, that support.

Joe Forgey gets it. He has dedicated his entire adult life to children, serving as a beloved pediatric dentist for generations of Noblesville kids. He exemplifies the calm, thoughtful, academics-focused and child-centered leadership we currently have in Noblesville. He will hold school leaders accountable, but above all else, he will support our kids. He’ll keep the focus where it belongs – on kids, not political agendas.

Hopefully Noblesville voters will set aside the politics, divisiveness, and ugliness characterizing the debate about schools in America. Quite frankly, we need to lower the temperature, not raise it. We need less divisiveness, not more. The only way to achieve that is to elect Joe Forgey on Nov. 8.

Steve & Anita Rogers
Noblesville