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Is Chs Too Rich - Kassandra Darnell
Is Chs Too Rich - Kassandra Darnell
Two TikTok videos of Carmel High School went viral at the beginning of February. The
videos showcased the many different facilities available at CHS and the sheer size of the high
school. As a result, many conversations on social media surrounding the idea of CHS being too
rich or questioning if it is ethical for the high school to have this much money. As a CHS
alumna, I can easily say that the more important question is not if it is ethical, but why is it
unethical?
Prior to attending the University of Indianapolis, I had lived in the same house in Carmel
my entire life. I grew up watching the expensive changes Mayor Jim Brainard made (including
spending millions of dollars on the city’s infrastructure, according to the IndyStar), and some of
my earliest memories are of construction sites for roundabouts. In the fourth grade, my parents
transferred me and my siblings into the Carmel Clay School system after going to Our Lady of
Mt. Carmel, a private catholic school on the Carmel-Westfield border, since Kindergarten
I am well aware that Carmel and its residents are predominantly white and very affluent,
considering the median household income is $119,772, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
During my adolescence, I was surrounded by peers who lived in large, luxurious houses, could
always afford the newest clothes from high-end brands and drove Teslas and sports cars.
Meanwhile, I rarely invited friends over whose parents were in a higher tax bracket because I
perceptions were very distorted as a pre-teen surrounded by much wealthier friends). My siblings
and I spent several years eating free-and-reduced lunches. My parents worked multiple jobs and
my mother tirelessly studied for years in order to earn her doctorate so her children could receive
free education at UIndy as a perk of her being a professor. I would not have been able to afford
college otherwise and she will be in debt until the day she dies. Even so, I understand I am more
The point is, I understand what it’s like to envy the kids that live in Carmel, even though I
was one of those kids myself. It’s hard not to when you see 15-year-olds running around with
Louis Vuitton purses while your parents struggle to keep their house. But why are many of the
families in Carmel so affluent to the point that the property taxes they pay are used to create a
state-of-the-art high school with a population almost as large as UIndy (CHS’ student population
is 5,414, according to the Indiana Department of Education, and UIndy’s population is 5,600,
according to the university’s website)? The answer is white flight, a phenomenon that resulted
from white people moving out of predominantly minority-populated areas and neighborhoods
Downtown Indianapolis in particular has a rich history of Black culture and historically
Black neighborhoods, according to an article from The Reflector, and during the 1970s Hamilton
County saw an increase in demand as white people, higher-income households and those with a
college education moved out of Marion County, according to Savi.org. And with more families
that fit these criteria moving into the area as a result of white flight, as well as the different
improvements Mayor Brainard has made to the city since 1995, the increase of the city’s wealth
doesn’t come as a surprise. Throughout my adolescence, I watched as more and more luxurious
homes were built over old farmland on the West side of Carmel, which would ultimately lead to
higher property taxes that could funnel into Carmel’s public school system. Since the city only
has one public high school, a lot of funding is available for improvement.
While the affluence of CHS is a result of systemic racism because of phenomena like
white flight, that doesn’t mean racism isn’t still prevalent there today. More than 70% of students
at CHS are white and 3.6% are Black, according to NBCNews, and groups like Unify Carmel are
working to prevent the Carmel Clay school system from using certain methods, such as supposed
critical race theory, to teach about race and racism, according to the Carmel Current. I certainly
heard more than enough racist remarks thrown around by students during my four years at CHS
that ultimately went unnoticed by school officials, mostly because there are so few Black
CHS and all of its programs and amenities certainly seem excessive, especially in
comparison to school systems that do not even receive the amount of funding needed to maintain
facilities. CHS is still expanding today with its most recent addition being a renovation of the
school’s auditorium. While I am grateful for all of the opportunities that were provided to me
because I attended CHS, it’s also important to acknowledge why the students have access to
these amenities and how we got here. For schools in the Indianapolis Public School system, even
a fraction of the amount of funding that CHS receives could change lives. Maybe its time to