If you ae one that keeps track of local posts on social media, you have likely seen a number of comments about a poster in an HSE School District high school classroom about defunding police and Officer Noah Shahnavaz, a policeman that died in the line of duty working for the Elwood Department.
HSE Schools issued a statement Saturday morning.
“The Hamilton Southeastern Schools Board of School Trustees deeply regrets the pain that was caused due to a student-made research poster that was displayed in one of our high school classrooms,” the statement reads. “As a district we recognize our responsibility to provide a safe environment for students to learn and we failed to provide that in this case.”
Here is the rest of the statement:
Losing Officer Shahnavaz, a young alumnus of HSE Schools, who not only served his country selflessly, but was protecting others in his job as a police officer, was devastating. HSE has let the Shahnavaz family know how deeply sorry we are to have contributed to more heartache for them. The teacher involved has apologized as well, and is deeply remorseful for causing additional pain to her student and their family.HSE does not advocate for defunding the police. HSE works closely with the Fishers Police Department with the resource officers that are present in our buildings, the officers who help with traffic at our schools, and the officers who help monitor our community 24/7 to keep our students safe. We are and continue to be tremendously grateful for their service. Our students, staff and community are much safer because of our relationship with our police department.
HSE Schools will use this experience as an example of how we can and must do better in the future to ensure all our students feel safe, accepted, and supported.
Larry- I’ve always considered you a fair reporter, but your lack of disclosing the fact that the slain officer’s brother was in the classroom where the “Defund the Police” poster was displayed is troubling. Did you know this, or did you choose to leave out this very important detail. I think you need to correct this omission.
I have not been able to do any original reporting on this. Remember, I am just one person writing this blog alone. I was simply reporting on the statement issued by the school board in this post.
This was caused by the same teacher who stood up at a public library meeting several months ago called parents “GATEKEEPERS” and said “parents should let their kids engage with PORN.” Mr. Urban, principal at FHS, knew that this teacher was an activist, so why wasn’t he MONITORING her classroom?
When the parents of Noah Shahnavaz asked her to remove the poster, she REFUSED! She didn’t remove the poster until Mr. Urban FINALLY intervened.
The teacher claims she “forgot” about the poster. But, one news article states the poster was sitting on HER DESK! On HER DESK for all kids to see! Proudly displayed on HER DESK!
Teachers are responsible for maintaining a classroom environment CONDUCIVE TO LEARNING for ALL students!
We don’t need activists in our schools! We need teachers who care about ALL of their students!
I wonder, how long that poster was sitting on her desk
Defund the police is an irresponsible term that no one should support or use. We just received a $650 check from the state. Maybe that money should have gone towards funding teachers and the police for special programs to support social services, child advocacy, domestic violence and programs to circumvent mental disorders. Thanks Larry for all your reporting, it’s very informative.
The WTHR link to Chalkboard site is most helpful with this article. So will Mr. Urban uniformly enforce the new micro aggression rules?
I see no issue with the poster. It was a student project, and did nt have anything inherently offensive on it. Students must learn that there are many viewpoints out there. Does freedom of speech only count towards conservative ideals?