I turned 72 years of age September 3rd.  On September 13th, I began to feel my age.

The day started upon arrival at the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School District Administration Building on Cumberland Road just before 6:30am.  Local television news crews were already on the scene, many doing live stand-up pieces for their morning news broadcasts.

Monday morning, the district placed a notice on its Web site that there would be a special meeting Wednesday morning at 7am.  The school board has a habit of scheduling work sessions at 7:30am which do not include actions.  This 7am session included action items “to be determined.”  That was very unusual.

Just after 5pm on September 12, the online posting from school officials listed the agenda items.  The board would accept the resignation of Dr. Yvonne Stokes and approve her separation agreement.  Dr. Matt Kegley would be named interim superintendent and paid a  stipend to take on the added responsibility until a new permanent superintendent is chosen.  The board provided no indication of when the search process would begin to replace Dr. Stokes or how it would be conducted.

I was at that event and its aftermath for a while Wednesday morning, went to  my home office to write the first story about it, then changed clothes to attend the State of the City Address at the Chamber of Commerce luncheon.  Then, I went back home to write that story.

There was a City Council Budget & Finance Committee meeting that evening.  It was at that session I began to feel the weight of a busy news day.  I will be writing about the 2023 Fishers city budget later, but allow me to express a few thoughts about our local school district.

As a resident of Fishers for 32 years, I have seen many changes in this place I have called home for so long.  The 1990 census put the population of the Town of Fishers at 7,508.  The 2020 census showed a population for the City of Fishers as just under 100,000.  Fishers has become a much larger and much more diverse place compared to the Fishers I experienced in 1991.  In general, that’s a good thing.

When Dr. Stokes was hired as the local school superintendent in April of 2021 as the first African-American to hold that position, I saw that as a step forward in the maturation of Fishers as a community.  I had a cordial relationship with Dr. Stokes.  She appeared on my podcast series several times and we spoke a few times during her tenure running the HSE Schools.

Any superintendent will make friends and enemies.  Superintendents are decision-makers and some people will like those decisions, and others will not.  I have never encountered a universally-loved superintendent.

One of the biggest remaining questions about Dr. Stokes’ resignation is whether this was genuinely voluntary or was this a “forced resignation,” as community member Stephanie Hunt argued during public comment at the Wednesday board meeting.  Board President Dawn Lang would not answer this question I posed at the post-meeting news conference – was Dr. Stokes told by the board her contract, which runs through the end of June 2024, would not be renewed?  When Indianapolis Star reporter Rachel Fradette asked the same question during her interview with Lang, the board president once again would not answer the question.

Reporter Fradette, in her IndyStar story, wrote that under Indiana state law, the board is not required to disclose such communications between the board and a superintendent.

Having lived in this community for a long time, I speak to many people and many choose to speak with me.  There is no way to officially confirm this, but more than one person in a position to know have told me Dr. Stokes was, in fact, informed by a majority of the current school board her contract would not be renewed.

Was her resignation forced?  There is no way to know that so members of the local community will need to reach their own conclusions.

Was race a factor in all this?  Dawn Lang was adamant in speaking with the media after the meeting, insisting race had nothing to do with this and she and the board have nothing but general praise for the former superintendent. Dr. Stokes co-wrote a statement with Lang which was very positive in tone.

However, Dr. Stokes chose not to appear at the Wednesday morning board meeting.  That says more than any words could express.

Dr. Stokes will receive her full pay through the length of her remaining contract and will retain several benefits through the end of June next year.  She and the board entered into a nondisclosure pact and promise not to sue each other over any of this.

I was out of the meeting room for a time after the session ended, so I only was able to see a part of the impassioned remarks of a local African-American woman, identified by the IndyStar as Norma Johnson.  The 77-year-old made her point clear to the assembled media – she is convinced race was the reason for Dr. Stokes resignation and race was the reason, in Ms. Johnson’s view, Dr. Stokes never was given a fair shake by the current school board.

In Stephanie Hunt’s remarks before the board Wednesday, she said she was speaking on behalf of Black educators at HSE Schools, whom Hunt claims cannot speak out themselves due to “fear of retaliation.”

I do believe there is something positive to say about Wednesday’s board meeting, and that is the designation of Matt Kegley as the interim superintendent.  When I asked Dr. Kegley what his first priority will be in this new role, he raised the issue of the school funding referendum, which will be on the November ballot.  He knows the passage of this referendum is crucial to the future of the HSE School District.

Matt Kegley has a long association with the HSE Schools and will be a person capable of trying to bring stability to the states’ 4th-largest school district, something local teachers’ union President Abby Taylor told the board is badly needed at this time.  Dr. Kegley left open the possibility he could put his hat in the ring for the permanent job once the board decides how to proceed on Dr. Stokes’ replacement.

As Fishers continues to become a more diverse community, what the school board does, and how the local community reacts, will tell us all a lot about where Fishers is headed in the future.  As a local volunteer journalist, I will be watching, even at the age of 72.