There was talk of parking, traffic flow, plans for landscaping, but in the end, the Nickel Plate Review Committee provided unanimous support Wednesday evening for plans to renovate Fishers Elementary School, located on Lantern Road.

The expanded building should be ready by the start of school in August, 2026.

The elementary structure is located on the site of what was known as Fishers High School about 80 years ago.  There was talk about whether to renovate the current building or sell the land and build an elementary school on a nearby site.

The commercial and residential development in the area made finding another location a challenge, so Hamilton Southeastern Schools decided to keep the school on Lantern Road and expand the building through a major renovation.

The Nickel Plate Review Committee is charged with ensuring new construction and renovations meet the standards of the Nickel Plate Code, which encompasses land in and around the downtown area of Fishers.

A Facebook post by the Anderson Public Library says Hamilton East Library Director Edra Waterman is headed to Anderson, effective January 8th.  The post was made Wednesday evening.

Waterman submitted her resignation as Hamilton East Public Library (HEPL) Director, effective in December.

The Hamilton County Commissioners appointed novelist Susan Crandall to replace Ray Maddalone on the Hamilton East Library Board.  That is according to a story in the Indianapolis Star written by reporter John Tuohy, posted on the Star Web site Tuesday afternoon.

Reporter Tuohy describes Susan Crandall as “an award-winning author of women’s fiction, romance and suspense. Her husband, Bill Crandall, previously served on the library board before stepping down and being replaced by commissioners with Maddalone in July, 2023.”

To read the full story in the Indianapolis Star, use this link.  (Note:  You may be limited in your access to this story if you are not a Star subscriber)

Work sessions are designed to discuss subjects before the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board with no action on the agenda.  Tuesday morning featured such a board session, with substitute teachers and the mental health program up for discussion.

Central office administrator Ryan Taylor and Sub Coordinator Diane Howell reviewed the substitute teacher program.  Prior to the COVID pandemic, there were about 400 regular subs, now the number is 324.  There were 66 permanent substitute teachers in HSE Schools prior to the pandemic, there are now 46.

Those with a daily substitute teacher license are paid a $90 daily rate of pay.  Efforts are being made to retain and recruit more subs.  Taylor told the board HSE Schools is “always in a state of recruitment” for substitute teachers.

To qualify as a sub, one must have 30 hours of college credit and meet some other requirements.

For more details on all this, see the PowerPoint presentation at this link.

On the mental health front, Molly Kirwan, Mental Health and School Counseling Coordinator for HSE Schools, brought with her a counselor from Fishers High Schools to discuss the district’s mental health program and counseling.

Kirwan traced the mental health program as it grew with some funding from the 2016 referendum.  That provided staffing and a contract for services with Community Health Network.  Mental health services are provided in 3 tiers, with providers (depending on the tier) including schools counselors, social workers, psychologists & Community Health Network School-Based Therapists.

The hiring of 4 additional high school counselors has improved counselor ratio for 9th grade students from 425:1 down to 315:1. The recommended ratio is 250:1.

For the PowerPoint presentation on mental health, use this link.

Now that the Fishers city election is over, we are seeing lots of spin from many sides as to how one should interpret the results.  I would argue there is good and bad news for both political parties.  Allow me to explain.

Let’s start with the Republicans.  They obviously should be happy with the outcome.  The mayor was unopposed in the primary and general election.  The local GOP holds 8 of 9 city council seats.  Both Democrats currently serving on the council were defeated.

But Republicans did need to work hard and spend a lot of money to come up with those wins.  The at-large council race was close.  There were district results that were close, others were not.  Democrats have shown they can be competitive in local Fishers elections.

To the Democrats, they should be pleased with the progress made by their Fishers candidates.  I can recall more than one occasion during my 32 years living here when the general election was cancelled because no Democrats were running.  In other town elections, sometimes there was only one candidate running as a Democrat.

The biggest Democratic disappointment was losing two members of the council, Jocelyn Vare and Crystal Neumann.  Democrat Bill Stuart did defeat Republican David Giffel in a close district race.

The bottom line is this…Republicans are in solid control of Fishers city government as a result of the 2023 election.  However, they need to keep in mind that voters barely elected some of their council members.  That may impact how decisions are made by the council in the coming 4 years.

Congratulations to those winning this election.  But I also congratulate all candidates.  It takes a tremendous amount of work to run for office, even if you lose.

As Director of PK-12 Initiatives for HSE Schools, Steve Loser has been working with the Ford Next Generation Learning program and the Pursuit Institute.  He talks about that and more in this podcast.

I was out-of-pocket much of Friday, but discovered a story written by Rachel Fradette of the Indianapolis Star, saying Edra Waterman is leaving as Director of the Hamilton East Library.

As I have written before in this space, myself, my wife Jane and my daughters have been patrons of the library for many years.  Library users in Noblesville and Fishers owe a great deal to Edra Waterman.

According to Rachel Fradette’s story, Edra will be leaving in December.  There is no indication yet into what is next for her.

Edra Waterman has shown me nothing but professionalism and kindness in my interactions with her.  Edra, good luck in your next endeavor!

Here is the listing for road projects during the work week starting Monday, November 13.  Note that the closure of 106th & Hoosier Road will be extended but is expected to be open by the end of this year.

Here is the full listing, as provided by the City of Fishers:

Continue reading Fishers area road construction for the work week beginning Monday, Nov. 13 →

Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) High School girls volleyball coach Jason Young and team members were before the school board Wednesday night, but they had to limit their time.  The coach and team had a media outlet set to interview them shortly thereafter.

And why not?  This coach and team enjoyed their second straight 4A state championship and went 33-0 on the way to this year’s state title.  The state championship match this year was the team’s 67th straight win.

Congratulations to the HSE HS girls volleyball team!

It was a sea of red as teachers in the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School District filled the board room Wednesday night to support the new contract agreement with the HSE Schools.  The board also expressed enthusiasm for the pact, approving it 7-0.

There were 6 people speaking during public comment, all in support of the contract. Stephanie Hunt also urged the board to extend the contracts of 3 top administrators not yet extended, now that the funding referendum has been approved by the voters.

The contract, covering the certified staff for the current school year, provides the highest starting teacher salary in Hamilton County and also provides additional pay for retention.  There were some enhancements to the benefit package.

In other news from the Wednesday night board meeting:

–Contracts for Embodied Teams and Hirons Public Relations received board approval.

–The board heard a presentation from Erin Mohr on the student High Ability program.

–Board President Dawn Lange once again thanked all those helping with the campaign to approve the funding referendum.  She also said the deadline for applications to be the new superintendent are due by December 1st.  The board will begin looking at the applicants in December, with further steps taken on the search during 2024.