Tim Moehl was motivated to run for Carmel Clay Schools Board of Trustees by the 2018 decision to close Orchard Park Elementary.
“I was taken aback by the decision,” Moehl said. “Now, first off, Orchard Park Elementary may be the best candidate for the closure of an elementary school if an elementary school needs to be closed. The vote to close the school and the subsequent demographic study used to justify the closure, more than six months later, did not seem appropriate. The school board seems to move behind closed doors with or without an open plan. Closing the school without a plan for the existing property has held the neighborhood in limbo. Decisions must be made and justified in a timely manner. I hope I can encourage the board to work in a more open manner.”
Moehl is one of nine candidates running for two at-large seats on the board.
Moehl, who spent four years on the Carmel Plan Commission, said he will provide valuable insight in working with other members of the school board.
“I believe with my experience on the Carmel Plan Commission that I have a keen sense of how Carmel residential development has changed in the last 10 years,” Moehl said.
At the start of 2019, Moehl said there were 5,238 students enrolled in grades 9 through 12. That has increased at the start of this school year to 5,418 students. Enrollment had been expected to decrease during the next several years.
“With developments like Gramercy, Sunrise and Jackson’s Grant will there be a decline (in enrollment)?” Moehl said. “I believe the school board needs a 10-year plan. I would like the 10-year plan (to) be open and apparent to anyone that accesses the Carmel Clay school board website. I never want another surprise closure.”
Moehl said he wants a plan created to address social justice issues.
“The teachers are not providing a consistent message to the students,” he said. “A school system-wide program for the discussion of these social issues is needed in the classroom. If I were a teacher, I would really want to rely on input from professionals to help outlining classroom presentations in these matters. Presentation of the facts, from all professionals, as opposed to opinions, would benefit the community as a whole.”
Moehl and his wife, Heather, and have two sons, Mikey, a Carmel Middle School eighth-grader, and Tommy, an Orchard Park Elementary fourth-grader. Moehl is a structural forensic engineer.
For more, visit facebook.com/timmoehl.
