Hamilton Southeastern School Board Non-Party Candidates Q&A

Thanks to Senate Bill 287, school board candidates can now choose to declare their political party affiliation when running. For the Hamilton Southeastern School Board race covering 4 districts, 2 filed as Republicans, 1 as an Independent, 1 as a Libertarian, and 5 candidates filed with no party affiliation. The non-party candidates are as follows:

• District 1

  • Faiza Maqsood (endorsed by the Hamilton Southeastern Education Association teacher's union)

• District 2

  • Cyrus Keck (endorsed by the Hamilton Southeastern Education Association teacher's union)

  • Ferras B. Abdalla

  • Josh Perry

• District 3

  • Michelle Fullhart (endorsed by the Hamilton Southeastern Education Association teacher's union)

To help voters get to know the non-partisan candidates, we invited them to respond to a series of questions. See their answers below. Note: Ferras B. Abdalla was contacted but did not provide responses.

How do you plan to rebuild trust with community members who are hesitant to vote 'yes' on a tax increase, especially given the recent financial choices that led to teacher pay cuts?

Faiza Maqsood, District 1

"Every member of our Hamilton Southeastern community has chosen to live here because of our vibrant, thriving community. I believe that most of our community would agree that strong schools are at the heart of a strong community, to the extent that public school quality impacts property values. I would urge everyone to vote for this referendum, which replaces the one about to expire, and to help our HSE public schools stay excellent."

Cyrus Keck, District 2

"I won't give a short answer to this because it will take time.  First, I will need to really understand the budget: look at our expenses; evaluate what's needed and not needed; ask the hard questions; understand the past and why the decisions were made.  Then, as we approach the next budgeting season, being transparent on the steps we're taking, why we're taking them, and addressing questions from the community.  Personally, I am very dissatisfied with the last several years from a budgeting perspective, especially after talking to my friends that are teachers in HSE."

Josh Perry, District 2

"I believe rebuilding trust and stability should be a priority of the board. The past several years have damaged the district’s reputation, and restoring this reputation is critical as we tackle financial challenges and declining enrollment. Through my professional work, I have successfully led people with strong opinions by fostering collaboration. The board needs to be comfortable having difficult conversations and disagreements, but should focus on collaborative problem solving instead of political grandstanding. If elected, I would provide a steady, collaborative voice that encourages open and honest dialogue without drama. The board should focus on providing excellent education to students and not making the schools a battleground for political agendas. I would seek to do exactly that, working with the other board members to set a strategic vision focused on the practical matters of education and holding the administration accountable for meeting student needs."

Michelle Fullhart, District 3

"It is hard to rebuild trust with community members when it seems that HSE always has its hand out asking for more money through a referendum, and after some questionable choices of the current board in increasing administrative, legal, and vendor contract costs, it makes it even harder. It is imperative that the board insist that leadership be transparent in how they are decreasing these costs that incurred in the past few years and how they are spending their money wisely going forward. This year’s referendum is coming just three years after the last one that was supposed to last for 8 years, so the community needs to be aware of the reasons why this is needed:

• the impacts of SEA 1 - which was not on anyone’s radar three years ago

• the legislature prioritizing vouchers for private and charter schools over public schools

• funding not keeping up with inflation

Thankfully, residents of HSE are well-educated and many do understand that this is an issue that HSE did not create. Through social media platforms, I strive to provide information that explains what is happening financially with our district, although school finance is very complicated. And as a school board member I will always prioritize finances to meet students’ needs first, and that means ensuring they have great teachers. Further, HSE must also work to brand itself as the wonderful district that it is by continually posting about the great things that are happening with students. This will be a constant reminder to the community why HSE is the main reason why Fishers is such a desirable place to live."

Beyond salary, what working conditions can the board control to improve morale right now, while educators are dealing with larger classes and fewer resources?

Faiza Maqsood, District 1

"Our teachers set the tone of our learning communities in our classrooms every single day. When teachers are supported, empowered, and respected, the impact goes beyond our classrooms. The school board can control the support that teachers receive. This might look like additional support staff, or administrators that are able to be fully present in their buildings. Additionally, the board can review and update policies regarding teachers’ additional responsibilities outside of the classroom. Finally, the school board can make sure that the voices of our teachers are heard, and that their hard work is seen, commended, and appreciated."

Cyrus Keck, District 2

"The first thing is to stop the infighting and political grandstanding at the board level and get back to focusing on what's best for the students and simply recognizing that the teachers are our most important asset.  Culture is a top down thing, and the board should be setting the tone for this."

Josh Perry, District 2

"Competitive salary and benefits are only part of the equation. Another key factor is fostering a supportive work culture where educators are empowered to do their jobs and treated as trusted professionals. I’m not a fan of micromanagement and believe the board should hold the administration accountable and trust teachers to do what they do best. I believe stability on the board and administration will go a long way to ease uncertainty and improve morale. Throughout my campaign I’ve talked to a number of teachers who have noted frustrations with the ever-changing policies and procedures, along with what they believe are excessive amounts of staff meetings. I think there are actionable things the district could do to improve work life balance for teachers as well as ensure they are treated like valued professionals. As a member of the board, I would listen to this feedback carefully and focus on providing top-down support to ensure HSE is regarded as a great place to teach."

Michelle Fullhart, District 3

"Our school district’s success is built on the quality of our teachers. With pay and with the reduction in take-home pay this last contract, HSE is not the desired employer it once was and we are losing amazing teachers to other districts. Here are four no-cost ways to improve teacher morale

• Elimination of unnecessary meetings. This is something I have heard repeatedly from teachers. Their time is valuable and listening to a pricey outside consultant in before or after school meetings is not the best use of their time. Teachers need time to collaborate and plan.

• Allow for 360-degree evaluations. Teachers should be respected enough to be allowed to provide feedback to administrators about the climate and culture of the workplace in a formalized manner without fear of retribution.

• Exit interview requirements. When teachers leave our HR department should want to know why and track those reasons. They can discover trends in the why staff is choosing to go elsewhere, track schools that have higher resignation rates than others, and work to try to rectify that.

• Require district-level administrative staff to substitute in classrooms. This serves many purposes – it helps fill substitute positions that may have not been filled, saves money for the district, allows administrators to experience what a classroom teacher deals with on a daily basis, and helps them better realize the impact in classrooms of administrative-level decisions."

With larger class sizes, student discipline issues and learning gaps often increase. How will you support teachers who are managing more students with fewer instructional aides or support staff?

Faiza Maqsood, District 1

"The first step is to use data to understand how our students’ experiences are changing. It is critical to make sure that our schools have systems in place to capture changes in behavior or learning, including data that comes from teacher insight. This allows us to pinpoint where to provide support from a district level. In collaboration with teachers, by using data to guide us, and having the courage to implement successful, innovative solutions, I believe that we can find ways to alleviate the burden on individual teachers and continue to provide students with an excellent education experience."

Cyrus Keck, District 2

"As a board we largely operate through governance, budget setting, and holding the administration accountable.  Unfortunately these are things that will take time to change and then to work through the organization.  However, bringing to each of those areas a focus on the value of teachers and injecting that into every decision we make will have a long term change and impact, and I am hopeful for a lasting impact as well."

Josh Perry, District 2

"Ultimately the board needs to be mindful of the entirety of work that teachers are responsible for based on the circumstances described here. It should be a major contributing factor during salary and budget planning. Beyond that, we need to ensure teachers feel empowered and supported when tackling these circumstances. This could mean implementing procedural changes based on teacher feedback, investing in new software or resources that could ease some of the burden, offering flexibility for work life balance when possible, and simply ensuring that teachers are given professional courtesy at every opportunity. I believe listening is an essential first step in problem solving, so I would prioritize hearing out teacher’s concerns and work to find innovative, yet practical, solutions that address these challenges."

Michelle Fullhart, District 3

"It is so important that teachers feel supported in their classroom and that students feel safe in their learning environments. Priority must be given to teacher needs since they are the staff most responsible for student success. As a board member, my role would not be to manage classrooms or buildings, but to make sure that district leadership is listening to the teachers and support staff and working to fill their needs. With a tight budget, you cannot always higher extra staff, but administrators can support teachers in by listening to them when academic or discipline issues arise with a student, contacting parents to work together to improve the situation, and ensuring that students who are disruptive are not allowed to continually impact the learning environment from others. For those students who are struggling academically, financially, or with controlling their emotions, there are wonderful community programs such as the Fishers Youth Assistance Program that helps families with basic needs and provides tutoring services, and the Fishers Youth Initiative that provides mentors that can help students build a positive relationship with a caring adult. As the need for these services increase, I think our community, if made aware, would be willing to step up and help fill in these gaps for our students."

If elected, how will you ensure complete transparency in how budget decisions are made? Will you advocate for accessible, public town halls before major financial votes? 

Faiza Maqsood, District 1

"Transparency is key. We have a responsibility to our community to account for how funds are being used in the best possible way. I have personally attended school board meetings this past year and remember leaving feeling unsure how money was being allocated and how decisions were being made. Information about our spending should be made transparent to our community, with a clear line by line budget, and people should have the opportunity to voice their opinions. Time for public comment is critical and should always be prioritized. I believe that I would use school board meetings to share facts and opinions, and I want other public, visible materials on the district website."

Cyrus Keck, District 2

"Whatever we allowed to share legally should be shareable.  As we go through the budget season, I would want to make sure the sources of revenue and major areas of expense are identified and easily understood to the public.  Then we can explain why we decide to allocate the dollars to each of those areas and what we expect to get out of that allocation, which in turn will allow us as the board to hold the administration accountable to those budgetary goals.  As far as public town halls go, yes, if these are allowed by law and policy, then I absolutely am in favor of them.  If they are not allowed, then I am in favor of working to change the laws and policies to allow them."

Josh Perry, District 2

"Transparency and integrity are core tenants I live by. When it comes to major budgetary decisions, I believe that the board needs to speak with a unified voice and avoid individual board members fostering divisiveness by publicly commenting on their own. This way the community receives a united message based on the consensus of the board and we avoid diluting messages and fueling division. I believe strongly in what it means to be a public servant. I would always make myself available to discuss the needs and concerns of my constituents. 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. There are almost always at least two sides to every issue and I believe you need to understand both to make a decision. As a nonpartisan candidate, I have met with constituents with varying political views and don’t shy away from having conversations with people who may have dissenting opinions."

Michelle Fullhart, District 3

"HSE has been very transparent in their budget process, with financials posted online and board meetings including a monthly update of financial statements, so the information is there for those who want to see it, but school finances are very complicated and are not at all like household or even business budgets. School districts have parameters and “buckets” of funding and how much can go in each bucket and what it can be spent on is legislated by the state. (On a side note, private and charter schools who also receive taxpayer money from the state don’t have to follow the funding rules that public schools do.) As a board member, I would continue to post information for constituents to draw attention to financial matters as I have done in the past, answer questions, or refer them to people who can get answers for them. We are stewards of taxpayer money and must be willing to be fully-transparent. As for holding town halls, I would advocate for these before all major decisions, not just financial ones. One of the regrets I have from my past time on the board was that I was not more insistent when I suggested that to the Superintendent that we have a virtual town hall to explain COVID protocols and to answer questions of the public. We were transparent in our decisions, providing explanations and posting information online, but parents wanted an avenue to ask questions and give feedback publicly that was not provided at that time."