When a Noblesville West Middle School seventh-grader was shot by a classmate in May, Matt McGovern immediately thought about his daughter, who is also in the seventh grade at Clark-Pleasant Middle School.
McGovern’s coworker’s daughter was actually in that classroom in Noblesville when it happened, which brought the incident even closer to home for his family.
He asked himself: What if it were his daughter? What is his daughter’s school doing to make sure that never happens? Is it enough?
Those questions are why he is one of about a dozen Clark-Pleasant parents, grandparents and community advocates who have come together to form a political action committee in support of a referendum that is on the ballot this election, he said.
McGovern is a Clark-Pleasant Education Foundation board member. His wife is also a teacher in the school system.
If approved by voters, the referendum would raise property taxes in the district and bring in an additional $1.5 million per year for eight years. The money would fund more full-time police officers, more security and more mental health counselors at all nine of its schools.
The goal of the PAC, dubbed the Clark-Pleasant Committee for Safe and Nurturing Schools, is simple: Make sure everyone in the community is aware of the referendum and knows exactly what the extra tax dollars would be spent on.
For the owner of a $123,500 home, which is the median home value in the school district, the increase would cost them about $48 more in property taxes each year, according to the campaign’s website.
The group has organized three community forums so far in the Whiteland and Greenwood areas, where they’ve discussed the referendum in detail with people in the community, answered questions and addressed concerns. They’ve also purchased about 100 yard signs to date and plan to purchase another 100 in the coming weeks, McGovern said.
As Election Day edges closer, the group is planning to go door-to-door to urge residents in the district to vote “yes” for the tax increase, even if they don’t have children in the school district. Not everyone on the committee does, he said. Some are grandparents of kids in the schools. Others are just concerned citizens.
“We’re going to be finding those communities that have a high density of homes, where we can have a big impact,” McGovern said.
They have a created a website, social media pages and a GoFundMe account to help raise campaign funds. So far, they’ve raised $1,150, all of which has to be reported to the state.
By law, the school district itself cannot advocate for the referendum. School officials, including employees and elected board members, cannot encourage or discourage support of the referendum during the school day, and the school district cannot use its facilities or funds for campaigning purposes.
But school officials can be involved politically after hours, said Dale Simmons, an attorney with the Indiana Election Division of the secretary of state’s office.
“They’re not prohibited from being a part of these PACs,” Simmons said. “It’s definitely not uncommon.”
Clark-Pleasant Superintendent Patrick Spray is a member of the PAC, but he said his role is more to provide information about what the school district would do with the money and why it’s needed than it is about advocating for it.
Spray says the school district will likely partner with other local police departments to share the cost of having at least one full-time officer in each of its buildings, or build their own police force.
Right now, three part-time officers monitor all nine buildings, and those officers rotate in from three different police departments — Greenwood, Whiteland and New Whiteland.
Clark-Pleasant would also use the additional money to hire full-time mental health counselors. These would be professionals who are trained in trauma therapy and crisis intervention, unlike guidance counselors, who focus mostly on academics, Spray said.
The last piece of the new puzzle would be an active monitoring system in all school buildings, which would include several cameras inside and outside that would be watched closely throughout the school day. Currently, they have some security cameras, but they’re not monitored that closely, Spray said.
“Nobody likes to pay taxes, especially more taxes. But this is probably one of the only opportunities to know exactly where those taxes are going,” he said. “In all of the conversations I’ve had, they all understand that we need to have more resources at all of our schools.”
So far, no groups have formed against the referendum, McGovern, Spray and PAC member Johannah Pollert all said.
“The only push back is obviously that there’s a tax increase, and I get that, but everything costs money,” McGovern said. “Security costs money.”
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”So what is the question on the ballot?” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
For the eight (8) calendar years immediately following the holding of the referendum, shall the Clark-Pleasant Community School Corporation impose a property tax rate that does not exceed ten cents ($.10) on each one hundred dollars ($100) of assessed valuation and that is in addition to all other property taxes imposed by the school corporation for the purpose of funding school safety initiatives, programs and student mental health support?
[sc:pullout-text-end][sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”Who is on the committee?” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
Here is a look at the 10 active members on the Clark-Pleasant Committee for Safe and Nurturing Schools:
Bethany Guilfoy
Denise Speer
Holly Ison
Jenny Zahm
Johannah Pollert
John Schilawski
Maribeth Alspach
Matt McGovern
D. Mike Wood
Patrick Spray
[sc:pullout-text-end]
