Top public school system defies anti-DEI law, pushes explicit LGBT material on children

Children are not political props. They deserve an education that equips them with knowledge and skills—not adult obsessions with race, gender, and engineered equity.

(Corpus Christi for Unity and Peace) — Despite Indiana’s Senate Enrolled Act 289 (SEA 289, 2025)—which explicitly prohibits public schools from compelling students or staff to adopt divisive concepts based on race, sex, or identity—and federal efforts to eliminate discriminatory equity ideology, Carmel Clay Schools (CCS)—ranked #2 public school district in Indiana and #1 in Hamilton County by Niche 2026—persists with a full spectrum of DEI-aligned practices. A meticulously sourced 2025-2026 parent and community audit lays bare how this elite district normalizes adult political agendas, retains explicit sexual content, lowers academic standards, and embeds identity politics from kindergarten onward.

These actions appear to violate both the letter and spirit of state law, transparency mandates, and federal compliance certifications tied to funding. SEA 289 bans mandatory trainings or programs that promote differential treatment based on protected characteristics, assert inherent superiority or inferiority of groups, assign collective guilt for historical events, or determine moral character by identity. It requires public posting of all related materials on diversity, equity, inclusion, race, ethnicity, sex, and bias.

Federal directives reinforce this by targeting race-based preferences and “equity ideology.” Yet CCS documentation reveals widespread, ongoing practices that directly contradict these reforms. Middle school: relentless LGBTQ+ promotion and one-sided activism At Clay Middle School (ages 10–13), the district uses official channels for ongoing promotion of LGBTQ+-focused messaging.

School announcements, visual displays, and sponsored events push identity-based programming without equivalent opportunities for other viewpoints. Administrative approval extends to LGBTQ+ clubs, with school resources—including facilities, staff sponsorship, and faculty contacts—used to organize and encourage participation by students and “allies.” A photographed poster at Clay Middle School celebrates historical LGBTQ+ figures Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson, framing transgender identity, drag performance, homelessness, drug addiction, and suicide as central to equality movements.

Pride and transgender flags, along with identity-affirming posters, appear across middle and high school classrooms and public areas. Carmel High School’s Gender & Sexuality Alliance (GSA) and Carmel Pride Instagram accounts document teacher/staff participation in club meetings, pride celebrations, and events that appear school-sponsored. This constitutes political activism in classrooms and official normalization of specific identities, violating SEA 289’s restrictions on endorsed ideological programming.

Explicit materials in libraries The CCS school and classroom libraries contain books with explicit descriptions of homosexual sexual activity and sexual experiences involving minors. On August 12, 2024, the CCS School Board voted to retain All Boys Aren’t Blue, setting a precedent for similar materials. Retaining pornographic content accessible to students directly conflicts with efforts to protect minors and community standards.

Elementary indoctrination begins early Input from parents of fifth-grade students highlights mandatory reading of Ghost by Jason Reynolds, which emphasizes themes of domestic violence, alcoholism, racial identity, poverty, and systemic inequality as central elements. Positioned as “culturally responsive literature,” it reduces young readers’ literary experience to trauma and grievance narratives. Even more concerning is the kindergarten curriculum.

Wit & Wisdom Module 1 (The Five Senses) exposes non-independent readers to visual art and media taught through race and class lenses. Students view Diego Rivera’s Flower Day—a painting by an avowed communist that encodes class struggle, labor exploitation, and subordination of the poor—and a “Bojangles” step-dance video framed through 1930s racial barriers and segregation. Module 4 continues with an identity-geography approach using curated continent books and cultural artifacts.

These choices shift foundational ELA time toward sociopolitical framing rather than neutral literacy skills, undermining the educational neutrality SEA 289 seeks to protect. Daily “feelings check-ins” via Google Forms collect private emotional data from students, paired with public “mood chart” displays where children place face icons ranging from sad to happy. Teachers invite disclosures about custody arrangements and home life challenges, creating “safe spaces” for trauma sharing despite lacking licensed counselor qualifications.

This amateur emotional surveillance and data collection raises serious privacy and developmental concerns. Rebranded equity structures and grading policies The district’s “Student Support Team (previously E/I)” represents a continuation of the former Equity/Intervention framework. Teachers face required participation through committee sign-ups, embedding DEI priorities under the guise of student support.

This rebranding does not eliminate the underlying ideology. A November 11, 2024, presentation to the School Board on “Grading with Equity” advocated reducing performance disparities through policies including a minimum 50 percent grade for assignments not submitted, prohibition of zeros on exams, multiple retakes, and unenforced homework deadlines until the end of the quarter. Honors courses reportedly maintain stricter standards.

Teachers and parents report these changes prioritize equal outcomes over earned achievement—precisely the type of differential treatment SEA 289 was designed to stop. Districtwide pattern of ideological programming LGBTQ+ signs appear across middle and high school classrooms and public areas. School resources support identity-based programming while administrative approval lacks balance.

The combination of official communications, curriculum choices, library content, emotional data practices, rebranded equity teams, and equity grading creates a coherent system that places identity, grievance, and outcomes above merit, neutrality, and academics. Carmel Clay’s own 2026 Niche accolades—#2 in Indiana, top 1 percent nationally (#66 out of 10,000+ districts), A/A+ ratings across all 15 schools—make these revelations more damning. A district with such resources and reputation should exemplify excellence, not resistance to lawful reforms.

Instead, it models how rebranding (“Equity” to “Student Support”) and selective interpretation allow prohibited practices to continue despite SEA 289, Gov. Braun’s MEI executive order, and federal certifications. The audit’s sources—hyperlinked Clay Middle announcements, on-site posters, board documents, Instagram posts, curriculum scopes, and parent testimony—provide irrefutable evidence. Parents and taxpayers have every right to demand immediate compliance: full public posting of all materials as required by law, removal of explicit books, discontinuation of one-sided identity events and signage, restoration of objective grading, protection of student privacy, and a return to neutral, knowledge-based instruction.

Indiana families were promised schools free from ideological indoctrination. Carmel Clay’s documented practices in the 2025-2026 school year demonstrate that promise remains unfulfilled in at least one premier district. The time for polite rebranding is over.

School board members, administrators, and state officials must enforce Senate Enrolled Act 289 rigorously. Explicit content must be removed. Curricula must prioritize literacy and critical thinking over identity lenses.

Grading must reflect merit. Programming must be balanced or discontinued. Children are not political props.

They deserve an education that equips them with knowledge and skills—not adult obsessions with race, gender, trauma, and engineered equity. The audit stands as a public indictment. Hamilton County and Indiana residents should treat it as such and hold Carmel Clay accountable.

Excellence in academics cannot coexist with excellence in activism. One must give way—and the law is clear which one should prevail. Reprinted with permission from Corpus Christi for Unity and Peace.