VOTE411 Voter Guide

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I live in Fishers and both of my boys attend Harrison Parkway (2nd and 4th grade). I have several friends that are teachers and have gotten more and more involved with the ongoings of the school board over the last several years. We've lived in Fishers since 2014.

I've been on other boards and am deeply familiar with focusing on governance and not execution. Additionally, with over 15 years of executive level experience leading small and large teams, I have the ability to make difficult decisions that ultimately will work to have the best outcome for the most number of people. I'm deeply familiar with the budgeting process and reading income statements, which will be a significant benefit to the role of approving budgets and holding the administration accountable to those budgets. Lastly, my general personality is not one to get sucked into the emotions of a decision, so I'm able to step back, identify the problems we're trying to solve, and work towards a solution that will be the most beneficial to the most number of people. Finally, I understand and accept that no matter what decisions we make as a school board, we will not make everyone happy all of the time. I am ready for that eventuality, but I will work hard to minimize this!

I am very cautious to make determinations before I see and understand the full budget. I want to prioritize teachers, as they are the frontline for providing the education to our students. But I also know that there are other overhead costs that I don't yet fully understand, so those would need to be reviewed.

I have heard things like there are high legal bills. I would want to explore that and understand what, if anything, we can do to cut those costs. I'd review standing contracts to see where we can reduce costs and services that may not be needed.

Ultimately this is a budgeting exercise: identify the must haves, rank the wants, and work to fit everything within those constraints.

As with evaluating any employee, start with the job description. The superintendent must be achieving the goals set forth in their job description, so the job description itself must be aligned with our expectations before anything else.

Assuming the job description is where we want it, or once changes have been made, from a board perspective this should be part of a monthly cadence to check in on how things are going. This is not simply the superintendent telling us it's going well; this is a function of providing evidence to demonstrate the successes of those areas.

By doing this, we can typically catch performance issues before they escalate to needing an escalation, and course correct quickly. Failure to frequently review performance against stated goals is a guaranteed way to lose accountability.

These are my preliminary thoughts and subject to change as I learn more, but I think improving the way the public can interact at the school board meeting is a good first step. It feels disjointed and like the public can't directly address things with the school board.

Outside of that, I think all major decisions should provide a reason as to why the decision was made, the criteria that was used in making that decision, and how the decision that was reached stacked up against those criteria as compared to other options. This way people know multiple solutions were explored and why they ultimately were not chosen.

As a 35+ year Fishers resident and HSE Schools alum, I am deeply embedded in my community. I attended HSE Schools from K-12 and was involved in FFA, including state and national level career development events as well as various volunteer opportunities including the Carrie Colglazier Workday, Fishers Freedom Festival, and many others. Now my two children, Parker and Caroline, are students at Harrison Parkway Elementary. I have volunteered on field trips and in the classroom over the past few years, as well as regularly attend school events with my family. I'm currently a member of the 2026-2027 cohort of HSEngaged, where I'm getting an inside look at the innerworkings of the district. While it's still early in the program, it's been an incredibly insightful experience and I'm grateful for this opportunity.

In my role as Commercial Underwriting Manager at Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance, I manage a large and diverse team and believe the experience I have gained there would be invaluable working on a passionate board. I have been praised for my ability to unify and lead through a steady presence without the drama. I went to Purdue with the goal to teach middle and high school agriculture and science. I spent time in the classroom student teaching and as an Instructional Assistant for the emotional and behavioral disabilities program at Carmel Clay Schools. I truly enjoy working with kids and spent my summers in college working as a camp counselor at Conner Prairie. These experiences have shaped my understanding of how we can best support youth. As a lifelong resident of Fishers, I have seen the community evolve and change over the past few decades. I believe that my deep ties to the community make me uniquely qualified to understand the challenges that our schools are currently facing.

It is no secret that the district is facing budgetary challenges, especially if the referendum is not passed this year. Declining enrollment has the potential to further reduce the "per student" funding the district receives from the State. I strongly believe in fiscal responsibility, however I think we must be careful making cuts that could further exacerbate the declining enrollment issue. We need to continue to provide the great programs that made this district successful. We have an opportunity to attract students to our district. Over the next several years we need to monitor enrollment so that we can right-size the district's footprint based on new enrollment numbers. We may have an opportunity to save on operational costs and refocus those savings towards teachers and programs. One program that I believe shows great promise is the HSE Network Model, which can help with the current skills gap and further support students who want to enter the skilled trades after high school.

Ultimately any approach needs to be big picture and objective. The district needs stability, but also progress. The first step would be to review the strategic vision on the 1 year, 5 year, and 10 year horizons. This would set expectations and metrics that the district would need to achieve. I would work with board members to ensure we had a robust process in place that provided regular review and feedback to the superintendent on their progress. I also believe in trusting and empowering the administration, and teachers, to do the job that they were hired to do. There is a balance to holding those accountable without overstepping.

I strongly believe in integrity and transparency, and see this as a requisite of the job. I am always careful with my words and seek to say what I mean, but I'm not afraid to have difficult conversations. The board owes the community a high degree of care, as they are dealing with children and also tax dollars. This position grants you one vote of seven, and nothing gets done without collaboration. I believe that the board needs to speak with a unified voice. Regardless of disagreements, the community should receive a united message based on the consensus of the board to avoid diluting the message and breeding divisiveness. I truly believe in the duties of public service and would work hard for the people of this district. I would always make myself available to discuss their needs and concerns. Even during this campaign, I've met with a diverse group of people with varying political views and stakes in our district and would continue to do so if elected.