HANCOCK COUNTY — Races involving the political parties aren’t the only ones on the fall ballot: voters in all four school districts will be voting for school boards, which are nonpartisan elections. But only one district, Mt. Vernon, will have contested races.
Five candidates are running for three seats on the Mt. Vernon School Board.
The race is among Phil Edwards, Chad Gray, Chas Jones, Damon King, and Tony May, the only incumbent seeking re-election. Mike McCarty’s and Beth Smith’s seats are also on the ballot, but neither are running for another term. All five members of Mt. Vernon’s board represent the school district at large. None of them represent a political party on the board.
Phil Edwards
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Click here to purchase photos from this galleryEdwards comes from a family of educators. His father was a teacher, his daughter is a teacher and his wife has a degree in elementary education. He said he wants to be on Mt. Vernon’s board to support educators and help make sure they have the tools they need to do their jobs well.
Edwards is in his 17th year as pastor of Fortville Nazarene Church.
“I feel like I’ve been a part of this community for a long period of time,” he said. “I have seen Fortville literally change before our eyes over this 16-year period and I’m just excited to continue to give back to the community and I feel like I’ve been here long enough that I have something to offer.”
He said he’s gained experience that would help him on the school board by serving on various church boards throughout his 41-year career in ministry. Edwards is also president of the Fortville/McCordsville Area Chamber of Commerce; a chaplain for the Fortville Police Department; a member of Olivet University’s Board of Trustees; and vice president of Fortville Christians Unite, a gathering of area churches.
If elected, encouraging educators and school administrators would be one of his priorities.
“I know sometimes that’s a thankless job,” Edwards said. “I want to be a cheerleader for them.”
He’d also listen to them.
“Sometimes the best thing we can do, instead of analyzing something and giving our opinion, is just to listen and see where they’re coming from, and then how can we help and how can we accomplish what needs to be accomplished,” he said.
Chad Gray
Gray has worked in education for 23 years and is currently a teacher at the Pendleton Juvenile Correctional Facility.
“I just feel like it’s another opportunity to use that experience to help in the schools,” he said of his motivation for running for Mt. Vernon’s board.
Two of his children have graduated from Mt. Vernon and two are currently enrolled in the district.
Gray said the school corporation is in a significant situation as it prepares for renovations at its middle school and mulls building a new school near its main campus in Fortville.
“It’s an important time as the school district continues to grow,” he said.
Schools especially need good guidance during a pandemic, Gray continued, adding he thinks it will spark lasting changes.
“The education world as a whole is traditionally slow on change,” he said. “We do things the way we do them, but I think that the pandemic’s really forced people to look at that and I feel like some of the changes are going to stick around.”
Chas Jones
Before starting his own real estate company, Jones said most of his career was in education and included roles in administration and as an adjunct professor throughout central Indiana. He holds master’s degrees in education and administration.
“It’s crucial to have people on your board who have a background in education as well as business, and I happen to have both,” he said.
Jones has lived in the Mt. Vernon district for almost five years. One of his sons graduated from the school system and another son and an adopted daughter are currently enrolled.
If elected, he said his focus would be on keeping parents informed, high-ability programs, fiscal responsibility and supporting teachers and administrators.
He too wants to be part of guiding the district’s expected future growth.
“Mt. Vernon is becoming larger,” he said. “It’s no longer going to be looked at as a rural school. It’s serving a more diverse population… It’s really becoming almost a suburb of Indianapolis.”
Damon King
King has lived in the McCordsville area for about 15 years. All four of his children have gone through Mt. Vernon schools since elementary school. Two have graduated and two are still enrolled.
“It’s been a foundation to our family overall,” he said. “I just really would love to pay it forward. It’s been a great school system for us and I really just want to make our great school system even better. I see an opportunity with the growth that we’re experiencing to make some positive changes to really put these kids with the right tools for them to be able to be successful as they leave our schools.”
King participated in MV Community Champions last year, the initiative that drove the development of the district’s future growth plan. He said he learned a lot about the challenges related to growth of the community and the impact to the local schools.
He said his background as a parent and in technology would be beneficial as a board member.
“I like to think I stay on the edge of what’s available out there, and I’d love to be involved in preparing our school system, preparing our teachers, preparing our kids with the right equipment, with the right software, with the right skill set and training,” he said.
He’s also interested in bringing a more diverse voice to the school board that reflects the community’s increasing diversity.
“I would love to be involved as things change and as we evolve as a school system,” King said.
Tony May
May, whose son and daughter graduated from Mt. Vernon within the last six years, is seeking his third term on the board.
“We’ve made a lot of progress in eight years,” he said. “I can see where my skill set is still useful. As long as my skill set’s useful, then I’ll be willing to serve on the board.”
He said he’s well aware of the challenges the district faces. About 10 years ago, when Mt. Vernon was in dire straits financially, the state’s Distressed Unit Appeals Board allowed the district to refinance debt obligations and transfer revenue to its operations. That assistance ends in 2023, and Mt. Vernon will have to find a way to operate without it afterward.
Then there’s the recent creation of the Vernon Township Fire Protection Territory, which will also result in less tax funds going to Mt. Vernon and other taxing units across Hancock County.
On top of that, there’s the 50% growth expected for the district over the next decade.
May said in the time he’s been on the board, it’s maintained a fiscally conservative focus that’s been effective. That’s included bidding out more contracts to ensure the best cost for taxpayers, he continued.
He’s also advocated for strategic planning among school administration at both the facility and district levels.
It’s important to prepare for Mt. Vernon’s growth, but in a responsible way that doesn’t get too far ahead of itself in case the economy takes a turn and leaves the district in a bind, May said.
“I think I’ve shown I can deal with the challenges,” he said.
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In Hancock County’s other three school districts, voters will not have contested races in which to vote. In Greenfield-Central schools, incumbents Daniel Brown, Hillary Close and Kathleen Dowling are running for re-election unopposed. In Southern Hancock, the same is true of incumbents Matt Ackerman, Laura Haeberle and Daniel Walker.
There will also only be three candidates for the three open seats at Eastern Hancock Community School Corporation. Members Scott Johnson and James Jackson are running for re-election, and Steve Brock is a first-timer on the ballot. Scott Petry is not running for another term for the Eastern Hancock School Board.
Brock said he decided to run for school board as a way of giving back to the community after recently retiring from a career as a plant manager at General Motors. Brock’s children started school at Eastern Hancock, but his career took him all over North America before he recently returned to the county. Now, his grandchildren are attending the corporation.
Two of Brock’s three children have become teachers, and he said they are a valuable source of feedback on educational issues.
“I get their opinions about things at a national or state level that impact the schools,” Brock said.
With no opponent on the ballot, Brock said he’s been preparing for the role by studying the minutes of previous board meetings and discussing educational priorities with members of the community. As a board member, he said, he would want to make sure all stakeholders, including teachers and parents, are involved in the decision-making process.
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Age: 53
Occupation: Aeronautical engineer, Rolls-Royce
Political experience: Mt. Vernon school board member since 2012
Family: Wife Florence, two children
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Age: 64
Occupation: Pastor, Fortville Nazarene Church
Political experience: None
Family: Wife Sara, three children
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Age: 46
Occupation: Teacher, Pendleton Juvenile Correctional Facility
Political experience: None
Family: Married, four children
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Age: 48
Occupation: Realtor
Political experience: None
Family: Wife Rhonda, three children, two stepchildren
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Age: 52
Occupation: Financial representative, Northwestern Mutual
Political experience: None
Family: Wife Victoria, four children
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