As most Fishers-area residents know by now, the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board is set to vote on a nondiscrimination policy Wednesday night. As I was thinking about that vote, my mind went back to an opinion piece published in today’s (Sunday’s) Indianapolis Star. It is written by two juniors and two seniors at the University of Notre Dame.
The four students are thinking ahead to the start of their work life. But in that article, all four made one thing clear – they have no plans to stay in Indiana after graduation.
The reason why is the biggest concern. Here is what they jointly wrote:
“Indiana has a perception, deserved or not, as a state stuck in the past. Many young, talented, college students do not even consider remaining in Indiana after graduating.”
A major reason Indiana has this reputation is the General Assembly’s inability to enact a strong bias crimes law. A measure was passed in the legislative session this year, but it was a half-way measure that does not include protections for gender identity and gender. Without those groups being a part of the law, Indiana will continue to be on a list of only five states nation-wide without a strong bias crimes law.
Not all business leaders and organizations are in agreement on this issue, but the tech firms are still saying the law, as it stands in Indiana, is not good enough. This is a major setback in the highly-competitive industry of luring the best young tech talent. Most of that group refuses to locate to a state not seen as having a strong bias crimes (sometimes described as hate crimes) law.
As I have written before, this failure by our state lawmakers has the danger of leading Indiana into becoming an economic backwater if this is not fixed soon. Just as people involved locally in the high-tech industry here in Fishers will tell you, this lack of a strong bias crimes bill will make their recruitment efforts for talent in the future much more difficult, if not impossible. Those tech industry leaders in Fishers include John McDonald of Cloud One and John Wechsler, founder of Launch Fishers and the Indiana Internet of Things (IoT) Lab
That brings me to the HSE School Board. On April 24th, the board rejected an amendment to the board nondiscrimination policy that includes a list of student and employee groups covered by the policy. That amendment failed to pass by a 4-3 vote.
The measure that did pass 4-3 basically says the school district will follow state and federal law in its nondiscrimination policy.
There is now a major public debate underway. The day after the vote, April 25th, a Facebook group was organized named HSEqual advocating for the strong language voted down by the board April 24th. At last count, HSEqual had about 3,300 people following the Facebook page.
Emma Kate Fittes, a reporter for the Indianapolis Star, posted a story April 26th laying-out all the school districts around HSE Schools with nondiscrimination policies containing much stronger language than was approved at the April 24th session of the HSE board. In other words, people living close to the Fishers area have other choices of school systems.
Ask any Fishers-area real estate agent this question – what is the biggest draw to Fishers for most families? The answer you will almost always get is the school system is a big reason families choose to live in the boundaries of HSE Schools. Our school corporation is the goose that laid the golden egg for Fishers. I am fearful this issue has the potential of killing the goose that laid the golden egg.
I wrote a week ago on this blog that this controversy, which has attracted some national news coverage, has the danger of tearing this community apart. I’ve seen that happen in other communities and I still fear it could happen here.
I also urged everyone to be respectful and listen to each other. I am seeing signs of that since April 24th and that is good news.
However, compromise may be a difficult path on an issue like nondiscrimination policy. I spoke with Jaime Cairns and Michael Vance, co-founders of HSEqual, on a podcast recorded and posted last Thursday. I asked Mr. Vance, who has a daughter that is transgender, whether a compromise is possible on an issue such as this.
He paused for a moment, then said, “I do not think there is, certainly not long-term.”
This will not be an easy vote for our school board members. But I would hope all seven will take into consideration what is at stake here. Nothing less than our reputation as a welcoming place for all is on the line. We cannot just say we are welcoming to all, we need to put it into policy specifically.
Governor Eric Holcomb was the first sitting Indiana governor to deliver the commencement address at Ball State University Saturday. He found the situation with college graduates serious enough that he felt compelled to urge the graduates to stay in Indiana.
The four Notre Dame students that penned the Op-Ed column in the IndyStar were all clear – they are all leaving the Hoosier state at their graduation. Sadly, there are far too many graduates of our outstanding Indiana colleges and universities planning to leave this state.
The HSE School Board will be making a decision that will define what our school corporation’s district will be, not just in the Indy metro area or the state of Indiana, but around the nation. What will that definition be? Will HSE Schools continue to be a magnet for families moving to Fishers? We will likely know Wednesday night, May 8th.