4 candidates working for Decatur faculty board

Three faculty board seats are up for election in Decatur faculties, a district of round 6,700 college students in southwest Marion County. 

Like different districts in Indiana this 12 months, Decatur is grappling with staffing challenges, particularly in hiring substitute lecturers. In August, the U.S. Division of Training’s Workplace for Civil Rights reportedly launched an investigation into the district based mostly on allegations of sexual harassment involving a former district worker. 

Additionally in August, Decatur was one of many first districts to announce that it will match the state’s tutoring grants for low-income and low-performing fourth and fifth graders with a view to counter the pandemic’s results. 

This election

This November, there are 4 candidates working for 3 positions on the five-member faculty board. The seats are at-large. 

Three of the candidates are incumbents — Judith Collins, Dale Henson, and Jimmy Ray — whereas Steven Chase Lyday is a newcomer. The following board will oversee the district because it emerges from COVID and decides how you can spend the remainder of its federal emergency funding. 

Who votes and how you can vote

Voters can vote for all of the at-large candidates. The highest three vote-getters will be part of the varsity board.

Voter registration ends on Oct. 11. Marion County residents can register to vote at indianavoters.in.gov. 

Early voting begins on Oct. 12 on the Indianapolis Metropolis-County Constructing at 200 E. Market St. Extra early voting websites, together with one in Pike Township on the Indianapolis Public Library’s Pike Library Department, open on Oct. 29 and will be discovered on-line at https://vote.indy.gov/early-voting/. 

On Election Day on Nov. 8, Marion County residents can vote at any of the county’s voting facilities, which will be discovered at https://vote.indy.gov/. 

Meet the candidates

Judith Collins, at-large seat

Judith Collins is the present board vice chairman and has served on the board for over a decade. Throughout her time on the board, the district has constructed new faculty buildings and weathered fiscal crises that threatened to droop bus companies and result in mass layoffs. 

Dale Henson, at-large seat

Dale Henson is the present board president, having served on the Decatur faculty board for over a decade. Henson was the fireplace chief of Decatur Township Fireplace Division and now serves as the chief director of the Indiana Fireplace Chiefs Affiliation. 

Throughout his time on the board, he’s overseen the seek for a brand new superintendent, resulting in the hiring of the present faculties chief, ​​Matthew Prusiecki. 

Jimmy Ray, at-large seat

Jimmy Ray was appointed to the varsity board in 2017 and gained re-election in 2018. In response to the district, Ray is a lifelong resident of Decatur Township, a graduate of  Decatur Central Excessive Faculty, and father to a few graduates of the district. 

Steven Chase Lyday, at-large seat

Steven Chase Lyday is chief of police at Avon faculties and president of the Indiana Faculty Useful resource Officers Affiliation. He attended Decatur faculties, coached soccer at Decatur Central Excessive Faculty, and beforehand served as a police officer with Decatur faculties. 

His targets as a faculty board member embody bettering faculty security by means of preventative measures, and recruiting and retaining lecturers “by making them among the many highest paid within the state.” He would additionally like to make sure fiscal accountability within the district. 

His marketing campaign website is right here.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana schooling coverage and writes about Ok-12 faculties throughout the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.