Kristin Kouka, president of the Carmel Clay Schools board of trustees, will serve as the district’s next Indiana School Boards Association delegate and legislative liaison, two positions another board member wanted to land.
Before the vote at the Aug. 12 school board meeting to appoint Kouka, school board member Greg Brown moved to appoint himself for the roles, first suggesting he serve alongside Kouka and – after that measure failed – to serve in the role himself.
Brown said he had expressed his interest in the role to other board members and was under the impression they would consider him for the appointment.
“I’m a detail guy, and I’ve got time. I thought I would be a good candidate for it,” Brown said at the meeting. “There was no discussion with me, and I find it interesting the board has now been cited as recommending Kristen, and I just found out in the last day by reading the (school board meeting) agenda. I had hoped to be it, that was the discussion. I felt there was some agreement that we could move me into that.”
Board member Katie Browning, who serves as the ISBA delegate and legislative liaison, said she could not support Brown serving in the role because of his involvement in local politics, including testifying in front of a state Senate hearing in January 2023 – without notifying the rest of the school board of his plans to do so – in favor of a bill that would have required school board candidates to declare a political party on the ballot.
“I feel you cannot represent the board in a nonpartisan way,” Browning said to Brown
Brown, who had won election to the school board two months before the hearing, said he testified as a citizen and not as a school board member.
The board voted 3-1, with Kouka abstaining, against the motion for Brown and Kouka to serve together, and Brown’s motion to appoint himself to the role did not get seconded and failed without a vote.
School board member Louise Jackson said she did not support Brown’s motion to have two ISBA delegates because of the precedent it would set in allowing multiple board members to serve in roles simply because they have an interest. However, she said she believes the board should consider Brown the next time the positions become available.
“He’s raised his hand twice now,” Jackson said. “Can we consider him or put him at the top of the list for the next session? He’s being pretty patient.”
Kouka’s term as an ISBA delegate and legislative liaison runs through June 30, 2025.
Brown and Kouka were elected to the board in 2022. Jackson and Browning’s terms on the board conclude at the end of the year.
