A handful of Hamilton County school districts, including Hamilton Southeastern Schools, are among 14 in the state whose educational materials have been submitted for review on Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita’s “Eyes on Education” portal.
The portal contains submitted material that involves “objectionable curricula, policies or programs affecting children,” according to the attorney general’s office.
The HSE documents on the portal consist of screenshots of the district’s gender support plan, Black Lives Matter material for teachers, and tweets regarding “whiteness and white supremacy” from a person who led a presentation to teachers. All the material appears to be from 2021.
HSE Director of School and Community Relations Emily Pace Abbotts confirmed in an email that the documents are from the district, and date back to the 2020-21 school year. She said they are outdated and no longer in practice.
“We were unaware of Attorney General Todd Rokita’s ‘Eyes on Education’ portal, only learning about it through local media coverage shortly after the site launched,” she stated, adding that parents are always welcome and encouraged to bring questions and concerns to the district.
Other Hamilton County school districts with material submitted to the portal are Noblesville Schools and Carmel Clay Schools.
The attorney general’s office stated it will follow up on submitted materials that might violate state law using investigative tools, including public records requests, and publish findings on the portal.
Josh DeFonce, media director for the attorney general’s office, said the office will continue to post verified material on the site and if schools respond, their responses also will be posted.
“Transparency is a good thing and parents engaging in the upbringing of their children should be what everyone wants, including schools,” DeFonce stated.
To view the portal, visit in.gov/attorneygeneral/education-liberty/.
