Two exchanges Wednesday night revealed sharply different perspectives among Hamilton Southeastern school board members: how the district should refer to students who do not have a regular home, and what belongs on the walls of HSE classrooms.
A policy title, and the words inside the policy
The first came during the board’s review of policy updates recommended by its Policy Committee.
Sarah Parks Reese asked why the committee had recommended changing the title of a policy from “Homeless Students” to “Children Experiencing Homelessness,” but had left the older phrasing in place throughout the body of the policy itself.
She moved to send the item back to the Policy Committee so members could consider whether the language inside the policy should be changed as well, noting the committee had not discussed that question at its most recent meeting. The board voted 5-2 to return the issue to committee, with Ben Orr and Board President Tiffany Pascoe voting no.
The Policy Committee is made up of two board members — Dawn Lang and Juanita Albright.
Reading from a prepared statement, Orr argued the person-first phrasing is tied to national advocacy organizations he said carry a political agenda. Parks Reese asked whether there was alternative wording he would recommend that did not stigmatize the children involved. Orr said “Homeless Children” was a “fine description.”
Latrica Schooley said she did not think arguing over terminology was a productive place for the board to be, but added that words matter — particularly when the students in question have experienced trauma.
Context: Both phrasings appear in official use. The federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, which guarantees enrollment, transportation and school stability protections for students without fixed, regular and adequate nighttime housing, uses the statutory term “homeless children and youths,” and the federal grant program districts draw from is titled Education for Homeless Children and Youth. Person-first constructions such as “students experiencing homelessness” have become common in state guidance, district policy and the materials of advocacy groups that work on the issue. Indiana school districts are required to designate a homeless student liaison under the federal law regardless of which term the policy uses.
Criticism of the board president’s post
Later in the meeting, during the portion set aside for individual board member comments, Parks Reese and Schooley criticized Pascoe over a social media post that read:
If there are any politics or ideation rhetoric in any HSE classroom please message me directly the teachers name and building so I can address.
In times of RIFs and looking for support from the community to pass a referendum, this is not in alignment for earning the community’s trust nor acceptable (at anytime). I take your tax dollars as well as the environment your child learns in seriously.
Thank you in advance for advocating for our schools and a neutral learning environment.
The post included Pascoe’s personal cell phone number.
Parks Reese said the post amounted to acting outside the authority of an individual board member and that established rules should be respected. Schooley said the post did not reflect a consensus of the board and that complaints about a teacher should not bypass the superintendent and the district’s human resources staff. Under Indiana law, school boards act as a body, and individual members hold no authority to direct district operations on their own; personnel matters run through the superintendent.
Orr, again reading a statement, said all students should feel welcome in HSE classrooms, but said some signage can be construed as signaling that certain students are not welcome. Signs that may appear on their face to be welcoming, he said, are part of a partisan political agenda.
Pascoe responded briefly: “I am not going to entertain the false accusations, unprofessional.”
Context: Pascoe’s reference to “RIFs” points to the reduction-in-force process the district carried out this spring, when 18 teachers received notices amid declining enrollment; Superintendent Matt Kegley later said attrition had opened enough positions that none of those teachers would lose a job. The referendum she mentioned goes before voters Nov. 3, and would replace the operating referendum approved in 2023.