The recent election was consequential for all kinds of reasons on the state and national levels. There’s no dearth of reactions to these results and what they mean. But local elections matter too, particularly outcomes related to school boards across Marion County and the surrounding suburbs.

For instance, no sooner had the election ended than Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) saw a member of its board resign. As anticipated, Perry Township still has an open seat after its field didn’t include enough candidates to fill its seats. And all the northern suburbs rejected candidates running with a pronounced conservative lean. 

Read on for the particulars in the school board races from all 11 Marion County districts, Carmel, Hamilton Southeastern, and Noblesville.

Indianapolis Public Schools

Four new members just got elected to the Indianapolis Public Schools’ board. Deandra Thompson defeated incumbent Kenneth Allen and Carrie Harris for the at-large seat. Ashley Thomas defeated Allen Schoff for the District 1 seat (replacing Will Pritchard). Allissa Impink ran uncontested in District 4 and replaces Diane Arnold. Lastly, Gayle Cosby defeated Hasaan Rashid for District 2. 

Cosby previously served on the board from 2012-2016. She returns to the board largely supportive of IPS’ current direction yet critical of the idea that IPS should more closely partner with local charter schools. 

While these newcomers won’t take their seats officially until January, the board already changed with the surprise resignation of Kenneth Allen with a couple months left on his term. Allen put himself out there to fill the constable seat for Center Township and succeeded in that bid. The board now has 30 days to appoint a replacement. The easiest thing to do would be to appoint Thompson, already elected to fill Allen’s seat, two months early. But that’s certainly not required.

Three of the four new members seem at least open to increasing charter school partnerships, which I bring up because it has the possibility to be an area of particular focus in the next year given overtures the current board put out earlier this year. Meanwhile, all the new members seem, at least to varying degrees, quite supportive of Rebuilding Stronger even if they hold slight differences as to the success of its implementation thus far. 

Carmel Clay Schools

Jon Shapiro and Kris Wheeler won the two available at-large seats on the Carmel Clay School Board. Our earlier coverage dug into the sharp partisanship of their opponents (Dina Ferchmin and Robin Clark). Shapiro and Wheeler captured the seats with relative ease, which in turn means the majority of the five-member board remains securely nonpartisan. A very good outcome indeed, in my opinion.

Hamilton Southeastern Schools

Similar to Carmel, the Hamilton Southeastern school board race was starkly ideological. Three candidates, all backed by a local conservative group called Fishers One, lost their bids to join the school board to two incumbents (Sarah Parks-Reese and Suzanne Thomas) and Latrica Schooley. 

Two years ago, four candidates backed by Fishers One swept onto the board, shifting the seven-member entity in an explicitly conservative direction. This year’s results don’t upend the conservative majority. Rather, they mean the majority remains narrow rather than growing.  

Noblesville Schools

Another suburb, another ideological battle for what are ostensibly non-political positions. Three at-large seats were up for grabs in Noblesville. The three conservatives were endorsed by the Indiana Family Action PAC while the moderate slate earned an endorsement from the Noblesville Teacher Forum.  The three moderates all won.

None of these suburban developments would indicate a major shake up. In each case, they offer a rebuke from voters about the explicitly conservative direction these boards might have been heading or else doubling down on. 

I find it particularly interesting in the wider context of Trump’s national victory (and his victory in Indiana by a wide margin, including across every one of the donut counties around Marion County). I won’t pretend to know what to entirely make of these two disparate things being true at once, but it’s certainly something that piqued my curiosity.

Speedway

A quick one to get out of the way. Speedway doesn’t hold elections for its school board members. Instead, they are appointed by the democratically elected Speedway Town Council. So the election had no immediate impact on Speedway’s school board. 

Beech Grove

Four open at-large seats, five candidates running. April McManus, Beth Prindle, and Tara Wolf all retained seats as incumbents. April Rinks filled the fourth seat as a newcomer. 

Decatur Township

Larry Taylor and Estella Vandeventer kept their seats as incumbents. Both ran unopposed, meaning there’s no change on this five-person board.

Franklin Township

Another race where both candidates ran unopposed. Incumbent Beth Yoder returns to the board and Ryan Donovan joins as a newcomer.

Lawrence Township

Incumbents Amy Norman and Crystal Puckett returned to the board. They are joined by Shaila Mulholland. Only Puckett ran opposed, though she made light work of her opponent, winning around 65% of the vote.

Puckett’s run stirred up some controversy as two existing board members (Jessica Dunn and Marta Lawrence) supported her opponent due to disagreement over salary increases for Lawrence Township Superintendent Shawn Smith and other district administrators and leaders. Puckett and Norman favored these increases while the other incumbents disagreed with the moves.

Perry Township

Perry Township was in the unique, and slightly sad, position of having four open seats and only two candidates running. So incumbents Emily Hartman and James Hernandez filled two seats. But what of the other two? Astin Vick, a write-in candidate, got a third with just over 500 total votes. And the fourth remains open. 

How will Perry Township fill its seventh and final seat? Two options: 1) appoint a new member, or 2) keep a sitting board member on for another term. There should be clarity by the end of the year.

Pike Township

Like Perry, Pike Township has a seven-member board. Four seats were open, with five candidates running to fill them. Two incumbents kept their spots: Angela Barnes and Nichole Kelley. They are joined by two newcomers: Toni Wilson and Steve Hoofer. The fifth candidate, Matthew Hopp, ended up the odd man out, having earned about 15% of the vote to Hoofer’s 18% (the next closest candidate in vote totals).

Warren Township

Warren has yet another seven-member board that saw five candidates running for four seats. All the incumbents retained their positions. They included Howard Dorsey Jr., Julie French, LaShauna Triplett, and Gloria Williams. 

Candee Hopkins, the fifth candidate, lost to Dorsey Jr. by just half a percentage point in vying for the fourth and final spot. 

Washington Township

Three seats, three candidates. No surprises here as Tracey Krueger and Deidre George Davis won re-election bids while Steven Thompson took the third seat.

Wayne Township

Three open seats, four candidates. Two incumbents (Susan Graves and Karen Burke) return and are joined by Cheri O’Day Marcotte. The fourth candidate, Walter Miller, was at least six points behind each of the other three candidates.