Supporting teachers and politics have come together and created a controversy within Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Schools.
It all started with a news release issued Wednesday morning from a local organization, Fishers One, accusing HSE Board Member Sarah Parks-Reese with social media messages on her school board Facebook account, encouraging people to buy car magnets going to a fund supporting HSE Teachers, when the money was going to a political action committee for the local group HSEqual.
Ms. Parks-Reese responds that HSEqual has committed and publicly stated that all proceeds from the sale of these car magnets will be donated by the HSEqual Political Action Committee (PAC) to the HSE Foundation to help fund additional teacher grant opportunities. “I honestly can’t think of a better way to support our teachers with both visual and financial support,” said Parks-Reese.
For those that may be “uncomfortable” with using the HSEqual PAC as a conduit to support HSE teachers, Parks-Reese says it “is not in my ability to regulate or control. There is no law or policy that prohibits any group from fundraising in the name of teachers, nor is there a law that specifies what financial conduit that group can or cannot use.”
As to using her HSE Facebook page to encourage purchases of the car magnets, Parks-Reese contends that doing so “does not violate Indiana Code or HSE District policy and for any group to claim or infer that I was being dishonest or disingenuous in my post is a personal attack.”
Fishers One, in its Wednesday release, described HSEqual as “a far-left leaning organization.” Jaimie Cairnes of HSEqual responds,”HSEqual is not a far anything organization. We are an organization committed to supporting equity in our schools.”
Ms.Cairnes says HSEqual used the PAC as a conduit to support teachers because it easier to process payments. She adds that the HSEqual PAC will be announcing a contribution to the group supporting the upcoming school referendum, the Advance HSE PAC. So far, Fishers One has not supported the upcoming operating referendum for HSE Schools.