The anti-CRT slate of Hamilton Southeastern school board candidates

Some suburban school districts are seeing a slate of candidates that support a similar goal of getting “back to academics” claiming that schools are focusing too much on social emotional learning, or using diversity, equity and inclusion work as a guise for introducing critical race theory into schools.

Many of these candidates are following a trend seen in Indiana where school board candidates are hoping to accomplish what the anti-CRT bill meant to do but failed to pass during the last regular legislative session.

School districts in suburban counties have continued to stress that critical race theory, which is a college-level course seen in law schools, is not being taught in schools.

The slate of school board candidates in Hamilton Southeastern school district backed by anti-CRT groups include Tiffany Pascoe, Juanita Albright, Dawn Lang and Ben Orr.

2022 Election:Meet the school board candidates for Hamilton Southeastern

The Friends of Fishers political action committee has given $2,000 to each of the four candidates and is a PAC that says it focuses on academic excellence, commitment to transparency with parents and guardians, reward employees based on metric-based academic performance goals, and a commitment to fiscal responsibility.

Among its priorities, the PAC also lists that it wants to evaluate diversity, equity and inclusion practices and “lost learning dollar application and effectiveness to identify future application or resources.”

Fishers One is a community-based organization that is also endorsing the four candidates and emphasizes on its website a desire to get back to “traditional education standards” and says it wants to minimize distractions attributed to non-core curriculum programs.

HSE 1

There is one position open for the Hamilton southeastern district 1 seat. Tiffany Pascoe is the candidate running for that seat and it is the second time she has run for this position. In 2020, Pascoe participated in a demonstration in front of a school board meeting, asking that the schools return to in-person learning. Outside of HSE, Pascoe has served in multiple volunteer positions including as a volunteer for the Fishers Arts Council, a Meals on Wheels volunteer, an Indy Zoo Council member and a volunteer for the Hamilton County GOP. Pascoe is a self-identified fiscal conservative, focusing on school curriculum and is running on a platform that focuses on not creating new taxes and emphasizing parents’ voices.

Pascoe is running against Brad Boyer and Jackie Howell. Edward Gedeon will also be on the ballot but he is no longer seeking to be elected.

More:Anti-CRT, other PACs back school board candidates. Here's why you should care.

HSE 2

There is one position open for the Hamilton Southeastern district 2 seat. Juanita Albright is the candidate running for that seat. She has been a practicing physician in the Fishers area since 2005 and currently works as an internal medicine doctor with Ascension St. Vincent. Albright’s platform focuses on promoting transparency between schools and families, steering away from divisive issues and working with law enforcement to promote safety in schools.

Albright is running against Janet Pritchett for the seat.

HSE 3

There is one position open for the Hamilton Southeastern district 3 seat. Dawn Lang is the candidate seeking that seat and is the president of her consulting firm Perception Access Inc., an advisor for the communication app How’s Mom and is the vice president of strategic partnerships for the software company VisionThree, according to her LinkedIn page. Lang’s platform focuses on parents’ rights in education, curriculum transparency for families and focusing less on controversial political topics. Lang also identified herself as conservative on her website.

Lang is running against Carla Cork for the seat.

More on school board candidates:'We're not giving up': Failed 'anti-CRT' legislation fueling school board races

HSE 4

There is one position open for the Hamilton Southeastern district 4 seat. Benn Orr is the candidate seeking that seat and is a commercial insurance agent for Shepherd Insurance in Carmel, IN. Orr's platform focuses on extending time during meetings for public comment, encouraging parents’ involvement and being more communicative with the community. In 2020, Orr plead guilty to driving while intoxicated and served a year on probation. In a statement sent to IndyStar responding to this situation, Orr said, "Like all of us, I certainly have things about which I wish I'd made better decisions. A few years ago, I was cited in my own neighborhood after driving home from a dinner with my wife. I've learned from it and am a better husband and father because of it."

Orr is running against Julie Chambers and Harry Delks for the seat.

Contact IndyStar reporter Caroline Beck at 317-618-5807 or CBeck@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter: @CarolineB_Indy.

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This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: HSE school board could get these anti-CRT candidates