Monica Evans made it clear early in her Thursday presentation to the Hamilton Southeastern School Board work session that she does believe in discipline.  She retired as a Detroit Police Officer in 2014.  She was a teacher for 12 years before joining law enforcement.  All her sons now are working in law enforcement.

She is an instructor for an organization named The International Institute for Restorative Practices and is part of that group’s Graduate School. 

Ms. Evans says she is absolutely in favor in discipline, but believes it must be done “in a restorative way.”  She emphasizes that there “is a difference between authoritative and authority.”  In other words, discipline “must not be meaningless, everything has to be learned.”  Accountability must be a part of this.

We all have biases, she told the board.  The restorative part is putting that reality on the table for everyone to see and know at the outset.  Conversation and communication is all about what restorative practices.

A big part of restorative practices centers on knowing at the outset what the expectations are, and the consequences of not meeting those expectations.  That sets boundaries at the beginning.

Restorative discipline is focused not on rote punishment, punitive in nature, but finding a way to restore harm that some behaviors may cause.  It is a part of restorative practices.

She talked at some length about the differences in the concepts of equity, equality and justice.  Empathy has a lot to do with restorative practices, Ms. Evans says, and is not the same thing as sympathy.

She told the story of how a Detroit school spent 5 years implementing a restorative discipline program and the result was keeping gang members in school.  Instead of punitive discipline, those gang members were forced to clean up every neighborhood where they had been involved in gang activity, working with their community and learning a skill set at the same time.

There was a lively discussion between members of the school board and Monica Evans.  It will now be up to HSE school officials whether to move forward with restorative discipline.

Hamilton County Republican precinct officials have elected a new county chair.  Mario Massillamany won the election to serve the remainder of the term.

Laura Campbell announced her resignation from the chair position after serving 6 years as chair.

The party announced the election results in a Facebook post Saturday.

As one writing a local news blog by myself, there are stories I just don’t have time to get to immediately.  This story is important, even if I am just a bit behind on it.

After weeks of bad news on COVID in Fishers, our local health department is finally saying the situation is improving.

This week, Fishers has seen a break in the level of new cases with the Omicron variant. Compared to the previous 7-day period, the Fishers Health Department reports a 26% decrease in new cases in Fishers and a 12% decrease across Hamilton County. Statewide, cases have increased 6%, but this local data indicates our area might potentially start to see this decrease reflected in hospital and Intensive Care Unit (ICU) relief.

The Fishers Health Department reminds us that vaccines help provide you with a level of protection, especially from severe outcomes like hospitalizations and death. 

Walk in or schedule ahead and get your free COVID-19 vaccine at the Fishers Health Department Vaccine Site, at your local pharmacy, or various pop-up clinics throughout the city.  Fishers Health Department Epidemiologist Josh Robinson posted a video Wednesday with more details, which you can access in the link below.

Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Schools Superintendent Yvonne Stokes announced Friday that the school district will change guidance on contact tracing, which she says will result in allowing “more students to remain in school.”

When masks are required, students exposed to a COVID positive individual during the school day will no longer have to quarantine. This would also include lunch, when masks are not always worn.

Under the new guidance from the Indiana Department of Health, contact tracing will no longer be necessary as long as masks continue to be required in schools. Families will still be notified if there is a positive case in the classroom-setting via Skylert.

According to Dr. Stokes, these changes are only in effect during the school day. Contact tracing and quarantine will still be required for students outside of the school day (for example – athletics, band, choir, bus rides to and from events, etc.). Isolation procedures for an individual that is COVID positive remains the same.

These changes will go into effect on Monday, January 31.

Students who are currently quarantined for being a close contact during the school day may return to school effective immediately, as long as they remain symptom-free.

“The number of COVID positive cases in our schools are down this week,” Dr. Stokes said. “We hope this is a trend that will continue.”

View Dr. Stokes’ entire video message at the link below.

The Fishers City Council faces a number of issues this year.  Council President Todd Zimmerman talks about that and more in this podcast.

Fishers Police saw a trend of vehicles being left unattended and subject to theft as 2022 began.  The department began an intensive investigation that led to the arrests of 2 Brownsburg residents.

Officers recovered three stolen vehicles and a large amount of stolen property related to twelve separate victims.

Under arrest are Levi Weaver, 35, and Jade Cotterman, 33, both from Brownsburg.  Levi Weaver faces charges of auto theft with a prior conviction, theft with a prior conviction, fraud and possession of methamphetamine. Jade Cotterman is charged with theft with a prior conviction, fraud and possession of methamphetamine. 

Fishers Police remind residents to remove all items of value and never leave their vehicle unlocked and unattended.

Here is the link to the video version of my podcast conversation with WTHR’s Bob Segall…

Bob Segall has been an investigative reporter for WTHR Television news since 2006.  He was involved for more than 5 years in reporting a story about HSE Schools and disclosure of information.  Here is my discussion with him.

Several Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Schools earned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) ENERGY STAR certification for superior energy performance.  HSE Energy Management Director Bob Rice explained the honor at Wednesday night’s school board meeting.

The list of school recognized is:

Hamilton Southeastern Intermediate Junior High

Harrison Parkway Elementary

New Britton Elementary

Sand Creek Elementary

Sand Creek Intermediate

and

Thorpe Creek Elementary.

Schools awarded the ENERGY STAR® certification perform in the top 25 percent of buildings nationwide, based on weather-normalized source energy and indoor air quality standards as certified by a professional engineer.

HSE Schools partnered with an outside contractor, Performance Services, and reduced HSE’s utility consumption by 16.7 % and achieved over $2 million in annual savings.  In 2019, the school district’s annual energy cost was down 15% compared to 2010 despite significant increases in utility rates and expansions to the total building area.

Lantern Road Elementary School is about to received a $14 million makeover.  The Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board was briefed Wednesday night on the timeline, which includes hiring an architect and a construction manager.  Then, in September of this year, administrators will have a recommendation on a construction bid that will allow the project to move forward.

There were a number of other issues before the board at the most recent meeting:

–The board will vote in early February on an award for a 2-year 16.5 acres farmland lease that will produce rental income for the school district.

–The board voted to join many other school corporations in a lawsuit against Juul to “recover costs and expenses that HSE and other school districts have incurred to mitigate the detrimental impacts of vaping by students.”  Attorney fees will be paid only if there is a judgment or settlement in the case.

–The board voted to move forward with a $1.5 million renovation of Durbin Elementary, allowing the FOCUS program to move into that building from its current home at Fall Creek Junior High.  FOCUS provides the same academic program as other students at HSE Schools, but also works to deal with obstacles those students must face.

–Approval was provided to replace the Riverside tennis courts.

–The board voted to move ahead with temporary loans needed to keep the school district funded as it awaits money distributions from the state.

–Chief Financial Officer Katie Dowling provided a year-end financial report to the board with no major financial challenges on the horizon.