Dina Ferchmin noticed several changes at Carmel High School in the decade between her oldest son’s freshman year and youngest son’s graduation, and they gave her cause for concern.
She said her youngest son, who graduated in 2023, had little homework compared to her oldest and could retake tests multiple times to improve the grade, which caused her to question the school’s academic rigor. She also said she saw an “uptick of teachings” contrary to her family’s values, such as a “constant message that white males were responsible for the world’s suffering,” which she said created unnecessary shame for some students.
She said she also witnessed increasing racial tension on campus.
“When my oldest son was on the football team, the other football players were every race you can imagine. He would say to me, ‘Mom, these are my brothers,’” Ferchmin said. “By the time my youngest was graduating, he would notice race, and he would be like, ‘Be careful what you say to this guy.’ You could tell he was no longer given the freedom to be colorblind, because it was emphasized. We’re dividing our kids with that.”
These are among the reasons Ferchmin is running for the Carmel Clay Schools board of trustees in the Nov. 5 election. Other candidates for the two at-large seats are Robin Clark, Jon Shapiro and Kristine Wheeler. Incumbents Katie Browning and Louise Jackson are not seeking reelection.
Among Ferchmin’s priorities is an increased focus on academics. She said although CCS consistently ranks among the top public school districts in Indiana as a result of its standardized test scores, there are large disparities between schools. For example, in 2024 at West Clay Elementary, 75 percent of students were proficient in math and English, but at Forest Dale Elementary, it was only 50 percent.
“I’m talking a laser focus on academics so that our kids can just blow the rest of the nation out of the water in terms of academics,” Ferchmin said. “Because I want that laser focus on academics, we don’t have time for politics. We don’t have time for the teaching of other values in the classroom.”
Ferchmin said she believes CCS should be more financially transparent, specifically regarding how tax dollars are spent. She would also like to see increased advocacy for teachers and has formed a teacher advisory board with fellow school board candidate Clark to gather information from educators on how they could be better supported in their work.
Clark and Ferchmin are endorsed by the Carmel Excellence Political Action Committee, which “supports common sense conservative school board leaders and teachers who will help our schools build a strong academic foundation,” according to its website.
School board races in Indiana are nonpartisan, meaning candidates are not required to disclose their political party affiliation and a party won’t appear next to their names on the ballot. But Ferchmin is open about her conservative values and joined the Hamilton County Republican Party in the CarmelFest parade in July.
Ferchmin said her winding journey to the Hoosier state taught her about the “beauty in diversity.” Born in Argentina to a father whose family fled the Nazi occupation of Poland during World War II and a mother whose family fled communism in eastern Europe, her family relocated to Puerto Rico when she was 7 years old after political upheaval led to high inflation and violence.
Inspired by her father’s belief that the U.S. is the “greatest country on earth,” Ferchmin graduated from the United States Military Academy West Point and joined the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where she met her husband, a Green Beret. Because she spoke five languages, she served as a liaison between NATO and the Bosnian and Croatian governments in the mid-1990s.
In 2014, her husband’s private sector job led the family to Indiana, and they chose to live in Carmel in part because of the top-ranked public schools.
Ferchmin, who owns a business consulting firm with her husband, said CCS provided her sons with “unbelievable” opportunities, such as a class trip to the Galapagos Islands, and that she wants to ensure students at CCS are well-equipped for life after graduation.
“There is nothing more important in our community than our children, and it is imperative that we prepare them for their future,” she said. “That is why we need to really just focus on giving them the tools that they need, to teach them how to be respectful and kind to each other, and to work together with people of many different backgrounds.”
Learn more about Ferchmin’s campaign at DinaFerchmin4CCS.org.
