Superintendent Michael Beresford sits in his office. He said the CCS board passed a resolution opposing Indiana House Bill 1005, a proponent of education savings accounts and voucher expansion, which would result in decreased funding for public schools.

At the Carmel Clay Schools (CCS) board meeting on March 22, superintendent Michael Beresford spoke up in support of the Asian community in light of the Atlanta shooting in his Superintendent’s Report. At the same board meeting, the CCS board also passed a resolution opposing Indiana House Bill 1005 (IN HB 1005), a currently pending bill that supports education savings accounts and voucher expansion, which would increase funding toward private schools and decrease funding from public schools. Additionally, Beresford and the CCS board also decided several weeks back to overturn the plan to reopen CCS middle and high schools as reopening plans were not feasible, so the school schedule will remain unchanged for the rest of the school year.

“I really want our Asian and Pacific Islander community to know that we’re standing with them, and if they need any help with anything after school, we’re here to help them,” Beresford said.”It’s been a rough year for our Asian community, just like some other communities, and I want them to know that we are with them and we stand with them.”

Remi Shirayanagi, president-elect of Advancement of Asian Americans in Arts and Athletics (A5) and junior, said while she did not hear Beresford’s statement firsthand, she appreciates the statement.

“Especially considering around 20% of the population at CHS’s students is Asian American, creating a community that supports that 20% is really important,” Shirayanagi said.

Regarding IN HB 1005, Beresford said many school districts in Indiana have passed resolutions opposing the bill, given its potentially detrimental impacts on public schools’ budgets.

“(In the IN HB 1005), about 40% of the new money for education in Indiana is going to private schools, and they have this thing called ESA, which is an education savings account, where they would give parents money they can use to have their kids educated privately somewhere,” Beresford said. “Those two things (ESA and voucher expansion) combined are taking a lot of money out of the budget for public schools.”