Leah McGrath became a deputy mayor for the City of Fishers in July of 2015, but will be leaving her city position in January of 2020.  She has been announced as the Vice President of Public Affairs for Knowledge Services, a firm describing itself as a technology and professional services organization with customers in the public and private sectors.

Knowleddge Services plans to relocate its headquarters to Fishers by the end of 2021.  It is currently located in the Castleton area.

In a social media posting, Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness describes McGrath as “an extraordinarily talented person who brought a real passion for engaging our residents. Her collective work helped organize and amplify many diverse voices in our city. Residents in the disability community, arts and culture advocates, and Spark Fishers volunteers to name a few. Beside her work on engagement, Leah worked hard behind the scenes to modernize a number of our internal processes for the betterment of our organization and our residents.”

The job McGrath will be filling is a newly-formed position within the company.

“Knowledge Services is an impressive technology company headquartered in Indiana, who is leading the way in cyber security and transformative solutions for government services around the country,” said McGrath. “They are an organization driven by a genuine passion to serve those who serve others. It is a mission that drives continuous innovation and better outcomes for the employees and citizens served, and it is a passion I share. I am excited to be joining the team at Knowledge Services.”

By Jane Lannan & Larry Lannan

Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Superintendent Allen Bourff promised a meeting to discuss the proposal to “flip” school start times, so elementary students would report for school earlier, and secondary students would start the school day later.  As it now stands in HSE Schools, secondary students report earlier than those at the elementary level.

Dr. Bourff held that meeting Tuesday night, asking the public to comment on this proposal, emphasizing that no decision on this idea has been made. If a change is made, the school board would need to make a decision no later than February of 2020, in order to implement any changes for the 2020-2021 school year.

More than 80 people nearly filled the HSE High School College & Career Academy cafeteria to listen to Dr. Bourff’s presentation on the pluses and minuses of flipping school start times.  It was then the public’s turn to comment, and 24 people spoke with a 2-minute time limit for each speaker.

A clear majority of those choosing to speak were against flipping the schedules and a number of reasons were cited.

Some parents want school officials to study and take into consideration the economic impact this change would have on families where both parents work and the younger children in elementary school would need extra time in day care, increasing the expense.

Some high school students would be getting up to prepare for their high school day after parents have left for work, and some are concerned their high schoolers may not get to school on time without at least one parent home to awaken them.

Other parents are concerned about the new schedule impacting family meal times, as well as impacting extra curricular activities before and after school.

One impact of the new schedule raises issues with high school students with part-time, after school jobs. They would be reporting to work later under this schedule, taking away money earning opportunities.

Dr. Bourff cited a focus group survey of 80 high school students showing a high percentage in favor of starting the school day later.  Many parents expressed the view that the sample size was too small to be representative of the student bodies of both high schools.

There were speakers supporting the proposal to flip elementary and secondary start times, citing the positive mental health impact on students when they have more time in the morning hours for sleep.  One speaker cited data showing that the later start time for high school students may reduce traffic accidents.

The main take-away from this community meeting centered on the thoughtful comments expressed by all speakers and the respect shown for the wide range of views.

Dr. Bourff told the crowd that the HSE school Web site (www.hseschools.org) will have all the slides presented at the community session, and will accept comments from the public as well as answer questions.  Go to “Happenings,” or just use this link.

There is much medical data to support a later start time for high school students, but Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Superintendent Allen Bourff told school board members there are other considerations to be weighed as the school district mulls changing start times for students.

During a Tuesday morning work session, Bourff explained how medical studies on sleep patterns of high school students have shown more sleep in the early morning hours is most beneficial to high school age students.  Schools have been setting up high school schedules based on adult sleep patterns, not schedules better suited for students of high school age, according to Dr. Bourff.

A survey of high school students in the district shows 46% currently sleep 6-7 hours per night, and 28% sleep 5-6 hours.  46% say they nap after school, with 68% responding say they are sleepy during their first two school periods.

When high schoolers were asked whether they would support a high school schedule of 8:55am-3:55pm if grades  K-4 had a 7:50am-2:20pm school day, 60% responded yes, but the results were a bit different in the two high school buildings – at Fishers, 66% said yes, at HSE 53% responded yes to the same question.

There would be several challenges if the secondary and elementary schedules were flipped, with scheduling extra curricular activities being one of them.  Another issue would be how this would impact students with part-time jobs after school, since they would be leaving school later than under the current schedule.  Other high school students may have family responsibilities to care for younger siblings.

Another aspect of this would be the bus transportation system, and the school board spent a long time during the work session looking at the various options in bus schedules under a flipped start time system.

Most of the school corporations near HSE either have already implemented later high school start times or plan to implement such a system next school year.

Dr. Bourff will be conducting a community meeting at HSE High School November 19 at 6pm to present information to the public about this issue and listen to comments.

During the same work session, the board was presented with a program called “Portrait of a Graduate,” aimed at evaluating students on more than standardized test scores.

The program is in the process of being established, and Dr. Bourff told board members he sees this as a partnership between the Hamilton Southeastern Education Association (HSEA) and the school district, with a committee made up of HSEA appointees and some administrators to put this program together.

Administrators say it should be near completion sometime in the spring of 2020 if all goes as scheduled.  Bourff says he will ask the school board to vote on a resolution supporting Portrait of a Graduate and board members appeared to be generally supportive of such a resolution.

It was the late Tip O’Neil, long-time Speaker of the House, that said all politics are local.  The most local political organization that exists is at the precinct level.

Democrats and Republicans have Precinct officials.  Those precinct committeemen and committeewomen  are elected to those positions.

A local conservative PAC is crying foul because their loyalty to the Republican Party is being questioned.

The Fiscal Conservatives of Hamilton County is a Political Action Committee (PAC) aimed at electing candidates the PAC defines as conservative.  Many of the people serving on the board of this PAC are also Republican precinct-level officials.

The PAC issued a news release Monday saying that four of the PAC board members received a notification from State Senator Victoria Sparks, Secretary of the 5th District Republican Central Committee, which asserts the four are being charged with “not being in good standing” with the Republican Party. 

The four Republican precinct-level officials receiving this notice are Gregg Feigh of Carmel, Lee Clark of Noblesville, David Giffel of Fishers and the PAC President Bill Smythe of Fishers.

This is just the start of the process of determining whether the four PAC board members will be removed from their precinct positions for being part of a PAC that endorsed Independent and Democratic candidates on the recently-held local elections.  Will the local Republican Party back down and allow the four to keep their precinct jobs?  Time will tell.

Tuesday, November 19th, is known for being the “Red for Ed” day at the Indiana Statehouse where thousands of teachers from throughout the state plan to converge on the State Capitol complex, pushing for specific education goals before the General Assembly begins its session in early January..

However, an event of local educational significance will be happening that evening, Tuesday, November 19th, 6pm, at the HSE High School College and Career Academy (Door #18).  Superintendent Allen Bourff and other school officials plan to brief the community on what data is available on how to handle school start times.

Currently, in the HSE School District, the secondary students report the earliest, then the elementary students report for class.  Dr. Bourff has said there are proposals to change the current system and have the elementary students report early and the secondary schools open for students later in the morning.

Bourff plans to outline how neighboring school districts have implemented such a system and how it is or is not working for them.  The superintendent also plans to layout the pluses and minuses in implementing the “flipped” schedule, as early as 2020-2021 school year.

Then the public will have a chance to comment on the proposal.

Dr. Bourff has been clear that no decision has been made to change the time students report for class locally.  He has already met with groups of secondary students to hear their reaction to this proposal.  School officials say the Tuesday night event is aimed at listening to the community.

I have seen a lot of discussion about the decision by Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Schools not to hold classes for students on Tuesday, November 19th.  That is “Red for Ed” day at the Indiana Statehouse and teachers from around the state will be gathering at the State Capitol Building in an event organized by the Indiana State Teachers Association (ISTA).

I was out of town and missed attending the last regular school board meeting, but I did watch the video recording and have reviewed Superintendent Allen Bourff’s letter to HSE parents and staff.  Here are a few important facts we all should keep in mind.

November 19th will be a teacher work day.  The teachers are required to report to work unless they choose to take a personal day (a day off work to which they are entitled).

Roughly 300 teachers had requested a personal day on November 19th as of a few days ago, meaning it would be a struggle to staff all the classrooms on that day.  Dr. Bourff listed that as one reason the HSE Schools are converting November 19th to a teacher work day and students will not be reporting.

So, if a teacher wishes to attend the “Red for Ed” day at the Indiana Statehouse, that teacher will be using one of her/his personal days to do so.  Otherwise, teachers in the HSE District will be reporting to work, even though the students will not be there.

Why the “Red for Ed” rally? And why do this now?

There are some facts that are disturbing for the state of Indiana.  Education departments at universities around the state have seen a steep decline in students choosing to pursue the teaching profession.  Many teachers are either choosing to pursue their educational career in another state or are leaving the teaching profession for a job that pays more and is not nearly as stressful.

Unless something is done quickly, our state could be on the back burner in public education.  That would be a development that harms all of us.

Compensation is obviously a big part of the exodus from teaching in our state.  But there are many other issues tied to this problem.  Dr. Bourff listed a few in his letter.

First, the state has established what many education experts believe is a flawed system to evaluate schools and teachers because the state mandated program on how students are assessed is badly flawed.

Second, state lawmakers have been funneling funds away from K-12 public schools to fund vouchers supporting charter schools.

Thirdly, teachers have been struggling with state required licensing that continues to add requirements for those teaching, without any provisions to fund or provide time to deal with this.

January 6 had been set aside as a teacher work day, one day before students were to report back after the winter break.  Dr. Bourff will be recommending that the school board vote to authorize changing January 6 to a day students report, essentially swapping out the days, so no instructional time will be lost for students.

We are fortunate that the teaching staff at HSE Schools is well compensated.  The district is not at the top of the school corporations among Indy’s suburban districts in total compensation, but are about in the middle of that pack.

However, our teaching staff continues to struggle with the other issues cited by Dr. Bourff’s letter.  Our teachers continue to deal with a flawed state-mandated evaluation system, licensing issues and the flow of money from public education to vouchers and charter schools.

Ask anyone involved in economic development and you will find that a strong public school system is key to attracting and nurturing local business development.  Our local teaching staff is the key to continuing the outstanding reputation earned by HSE Schools.

This is an important issue to everyone in our local community, whether you have children in local schools or not.  Red for Ed day is a way to express the immediate challenges Indiana faces in supporting public education.

Many teachers are choosing to use a personal day to attend the rally, when they could use that day for something else.  It is up to you as to whether you choose to support it.

Hamilton County Reporter

Fishers remained perfect on the season after winning two games at the Lake Central Classic on Saturday.

The Class 4A No. 8 Tigers first beat the host Indians 41-35. Fishers led 9-6
after the first quarter, but Lake Central came back to tie the game at 18-18 by halftime.

The Tigers had another solid defensive performance in the third period to take a 27-24
lead, then pulled away in the fourth.

Katie Burton led the scoring with 11 points, while Kaitlynn Feagan drained three 3-pointers on her way to 10 points.

Tamia Perryman had a solid game with nine rebounds, seven points and four steals. Lydia Stullken pulled eight rebounds.

In its second game, Fishers cruised past Valparaiso 57-40. The Tigers led 19-14 after the first period, then dominated the second quarter to take a 42-24 halftime lead.

Burton scored 14 points, with Feagan and Hailey Smith both adding 11 points.

Stullken collected six rebounds and blocked three shots. Audra Emmerson made four steals.

Fishers is 6-0 and begins Hoosier Crossroads Conference play Friday at
Westfield.

Hamilton County Reporter

Hamilton Southeastern scored two easy wins at the Lake Central Classic on Saturday.

In their first game, the Class 4A No. 7 Royals overwhelmed Valparaiso 73-22.  Southeastern led 37-15 at halftime, then outscored the Vikings 26-2 in the third quarter. The Royals never allowed Valpo more than eight points in a period.

Jackie Maulucci had an outstanding game, scoring a career-high 27 points, including six 3-pointers. Sydney Parrish added 24 points and became the Royals’ all-time leading girls scorer during the game. Parrish also had seven rebounds, while Maulucci dished out five assists and Makayla Hinshaw handed out four assists.

Southeastern beat the host Lake Central 58-23 in its second game. The Royals got off to a strong start, leading 16-2 after the first quarter and 28-9 at halftime.

Parrish led the way with 23 points, and also handed out five assists. Lydia Self collected seven rebounds, while Maulucci dished out six assists, in addition to scoring nine points.
Southeastern is 3-1 and hosts Franklin Central on Friday to begin Hoosier Crossroads Conference play

The evening of November 5th made some history in Fishers.   It was the first time a Democrat had been elected to local office in anyone’s memory.  Actually, two Democrats won in this local election cycle… Sam DeLong and Jocelyn Vare.   I have extended an invitation for Ms. DeLong to join me in a post-election podcast.

In the meantime, Jocelyn Vare was ready to talk about life after her election campaign as she prepares to assume her city council seat in January.  I spoke to her about just that.

Hamilton County Reporter/WISH-TV