Let’s start by noting that Brooke Lawson is awesome. For objective evidence, see the fact that she was named “Classroom Quarterback of the Year” in May 2023, the same month that she joined CCS.
In the past year, she’s impressed me personally by orchestrating a fantastic “Managing Childhood Anxiety” webinar series that CCS put on for parents, as well as her being part of the team that surveyed CCS parents about their concerns with social media and then put together the “Raising Strong Minds in a Digital World” community event. Not to mention, whenever she’s spoken to the board, her passion for helping our kids is instantly apparent.
But if Greg Brown had his way, CCS would never have employed this award-winning educator.
You see, Greg Brown and groups like Moms for Liberty and Carmel Excellence think they know better than educators and mental health professionals when it comes to ensuring our kids’ well-being. They decry things like social emotional learning, even as they demonstrate they don’t really know what it is.
When Greg Brown saw that the CCS board was set to approve the administration’s hiring of a new Mental Health Director, he tried to stop it. He did this by sending an email to the list built during his school board campaign, urging people to come speak out against it. Thankfully, one of his former supporters was so upset by this behavior that they forwarded the email on to a group of parents who had stood up to the misinformation spread by the Brake, Brown & Sharp campaign. The email appears below, but it’s important to note a couple things.
First, the email claims to only contain publicly available information. As someone who pays very close attention to our board meetings, I’m quite certain that’s a lie. The hiring of Ms. Lawson was not included in the publicly available meeting agenda. It appears Greg Brown was attempting to generate the illusion of community opposition to Ms. Lawson by providing inside information to his supporters.
Second, the reason Ms. Lawson’s hiring did not appear on the agenda was because it was a consent item. That is, it was routine district business that did not require additional detail. The reason for this is because the board is only responsible for hiring and managing the superintendent. The superintendent’s office and administration are responsible for hiring the rest of our schools’ staff. Greg Brown even admitted as much in his email, yet still attempted to generate opposition to Ms. Lawson. He also attempted to block her hiring by voting against the district filling the position, even though it is not the board’s place to make specific hiring decisions. In his speech explaining his vote, he seemed to advocate for preventive care for our young people, a position he seems to have opposed at other times.
Thankfully, Greg Brown’s unethical behavior failed and our district has had the benefit of having Ms. Lawson on the team for the past year.
Here's the email Greg Brown sent to his supporters in an attempt to create the appearance of widespread community opposition to Ms. Lawson's hiring.
If not Carmel Excellence, then who?
If you're proud to live in one of the top school districts in the state...
If you appreciate and support our teachers...
If your kids have benefited or are benefiting from a world-class CCS education...
If you want our schools to stay welcoming to all students and their families...
I hope you'll join me in opposing Carmel Excellence and voting for Jon Shapiro and Kris Wheeler.
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As mentioned on the homepage, this site contains both facts and my opinions on those facts. I believe the difference is quite obvious, but if you question which category any particular statement falls into, please reach out via the Contact page and I will be glad to clarify.
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