It is no secret that employers everywhere are scrambling to find employees, and school corporations are no different. Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Schools put on a job fair last Thursday, December 9th, at Fishers High School.
How was the turnout? – “good but small,” said HSE Spokesperson Emily Abbotts. Because the event was being held during the Christmas holiday season, the school district did not have high expectations for the fair.
Overall, Abbotts says the job fair “went pretty well.” There was hiring on the spot for Food Services, as well as applications taken for substitute teaching and Instructional Assistants. There were a few people on hand asking about bus driver positions.
“We’re definitely going to do another one in the spring,” Ms. Abbots said.
Josh Robinson, epidemiologist for the Fishers Health Department, posts video updates on COVID regularly. The video posted late Thursday did not have much good news.
Robinson is clear that there is an increase in local COVID cases.
“There is an extremely high level of COVID-19 transmission within the community, the county and the state,” Robinson said. “The new cases are actually increasing quite quickly and dramatically.”
He describes the 7-day average of new cases “as high as we’ve seen since early January this year.“
The numbers Robinson provides tell the story.
–The unique positivity rate for Hamilton County stands at 20.6%, up from the previous number of 13.2%. This is the highest number our county has seen since January 22nd of this year.
–The Fishers COVID testing site is showing an increase in the positivity rate at 14.55%.
–The case incidence rate, a rolling 14-day average, is at its highest level since January 26 …from 44.76 to 59.75.
–Healthcare system capacity numbers are “getting worse.” Intensive Care Unit (ICU) bed availability is at 16% in our local area, the lowest availability rate seen in a while, according to Robinson.
“We’re definitely seeing a very high level of transmission,” according to Robinson. “There is an increase in ER visits and an increase in hospitalizations and a commensurate increase in ICU bed admissions.”
There is some good news. COVID testing availability in Fishers is doing well, with same day or next day tests available with results available within 3 days. Contact tracing is being done within 24 hours.
Fishers has very good vaccination rate numbers. The vaccination rate for Fishers residents of all ages (vaccinations remain unavailable to those under 5 years) stands as follows – first dose 68%…full vaccination 64%. For adults 18 & older, the first dose rate is 88%, full dose is 84%. For 5-17 year olds, the rate is 32% for first dose, 29% full vaccination.
“If you are fully vaccinated, given the high level of transmission in our community, large indoor activities should be avoided,” Robinson said. “Those are things with gatherings of 50 or more people where it is very difficult to tell the vaccination status of others socializing indoors or in your household.”
The Health Department says be careful at indoor events, even if vaccinated, and mask wearing is recommended.
“Indoor activities present an extremely high risk to unvaccinated individuals,” per the epidemiologist. “That’s whether it’s a social event like a large gathering or even going out and doing day to day activities. Unvaccinated individuals are an extremely high risk for contracting COVID.”
A second 13-year-old has been charged in connection with allegations of threats made about a bomb at Riverside Junior High School. Authorities have determined that no credible threat existed.
HSE Schools and police learned of the verbal threat early on Thursday, December 9th. The investigation led to the juvenile suspect. The identity of the person making the threat was quickly determined.
The male juvenile faces a felony charge of false informing. He has been released to the custody of his parents.
Police say this case is separate from a previous threat allegation aimed at Riverside Junior High School.
At Wednesday night’s Hamilton Southeastern School Board meeting, Superintendent Yvonne Stokes made a point to say the school corporation, and the police officers assigned to the schools, take every threat seriously.
Thursday afternoon, Fishers police announced charges against a girl, 13, for allegedly making threats against Riverside Junior High School. Authorities have determined the threat is not credible.
The girl was released to the custody of her parents.
New School Board district lines beginning in the 2022 election
After a spirited discussion, amid accusations of gerrymandering that were strongly denied, the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board voted to change the school board member districts based on 2020 census data.
There are HSE School Board elections every two years. in 2020, there was an at-large election, where one member is elected in each of the three townships encompassing the school district (Delaware, Fall Creek & Wayne). A candidate must live in the township, but all voters in the district vote on all three seats.
In 2022, there will be four board seats up for election. Candidates run within their district and only voters in that district elect that board member.
There were three maps before the board. Members Suzanne Thomas an Brad Boyer favored one map, the rest of the board supported another. The vote to approve the new map (see graphic above) was 5-2, with Suzanne Thomas and Brad Boyer voting no.
Thomas than asked that her map be considered for a vote, and it lost 6-1, with only Ms. Thomas voting in favor.
Prior to the vote, the public spoke, with many claiming the map, that later was approved, was gerrymandered by a person that has ties to Democrats. Board member Julie Chambers responded that there was no evidence that the map favored or disfavored any current board member or was gerrymandered in any way.
The approved map has a less than 8% difference between the most and least populated districts. Board member Sarah Donsbach said the law requires no more than a 15% gap in district populations and that a 6% difference is a reasonable goal with redistricting electoral lines.
Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Schools intend to look into a mask optional policy in 2022, but there are some caveats to that intention.
“We have shared that it is our intention to try to look, after (holiday) break, at the possibility of going mask optional,” Superintendent Yvonne Stokes told HSE School Board members Wednesday night. “Now, with that, comes some qualifications of, what would need to be in place to be mask optional, and, what would need to be in place to decide a particular building would have to go back to having masks required.”
Decisions on mask policies for a particular school building would come down to two factors, according to Dr. Stokes – that school building’s COVID positivity rate and the number of students absent due to quarantine.
“One or the other could send a particular building back into (a mask) requirement,” Stokes told the board.
The mask optional policy is not likely to begin in 2022 for the first day of classes, the superintendent indicated, because of the normal “uptick” in positive COVID tests after a holiday.
Stokes plans to update the community on this before January 1 through her regular Friday video updates.
There were two public comments on this issue. The first was critical of mask and vaccine mandates. The second identified himself as a doctor and expressed opposition to the policies and findings of the local, state and national health officials.
Wednesday evening, Avon Schools pointed to an increase in positive COVID tests in announcing the reinstatement of a mask requirement, regardless of vaccine status. Also, Brebeuf Jesuit High School in Indianapolis will reinstate a mask requirement December 8 through at least December 17.
New elementary boundary map for 2022-2023 school year.
After months of meetings, public input and school board discussions, the Hamilton Southeastern School Board has reached a decision on new boundary lines to make way for the new Deer Creek Elementary School, set to open in the fall semester of 2022.
According to a release from the school district, the following neighborhoods will be reassigned elementary boundaries starting in school year 2022-23:
Reassigned to Deer Creek Elementary –
Autumn Breeze Apartments
Deer Path West
Meadows of Shelborne
Blue Ridge
Flagstone Woods
Summerland Park
Waterman Crossing
Reassigned to Harrison Parkway Elementary –
Deer Chase Apartments
Reassigned to Thorpe Creek Elementary –
Silverton
All current Durbin Elementary students will also be attending Deer Creek next fall.
“This process is never easy and often filled with mixed emotions. We were faced with the difficult challenge of moving students to a different school to open Deer Creek Elementary and lower enrollment at Southeastern Elementary,” said Superintendent Yvonne Stokes in an HSE Schools statement. “Because of that, we spent a considerable amount of time examining every possible scenario and listening to the input of our stakeholders.”
The biggest concern about the approved map is that Deer Creek is projected to be at 88% capacity, higher than the 80% capacity another scenario would have provided. However, a parent in the Silverton neighborhood spoke before the board asking for the map that was approved by a board vote of 6-1, with Brad Boyer voting no.
Southeastern Elementary school had a much higher than projected enrollment when it opened, requiring the use of portable classrooms that are still in use today.
Durbin will no longer be an elementary building, but will be utilized by the school corporation for other uses. Durbin could not be expanded due to the lack of water and sewer lines at the building’s location.
School administrators tried to keep this boundary change limited to the area near Deer Creek Elementary because it is also clear a general redistricting will be required looking at the entire school district. Also tied to all this is the coming decision on what to do with Fishers Elementary School, the oldest building in the HSE System.
School officials say more information will be released in the coming weeks for those students and families impacted by the changes. Hamilton Southeastern Schools say they plan to closely work with families to ensure a smooth transition. Details about open houses, school tours and other events will be forthcoming.
The Fishers Arts Council monthly art exhibit went on display December 1st with a collection of paintings, pottery, jewelry and crochet animals by a group of emerging artists. These are artists who are new to the art scene in Fishers, but given the opportunity for a gallery exhibit.
The exhibit is open weekdays, excluding holidays, from 8:30 am – 4:30 pm at Fishers City Hall. A reception will be held on Friday, December 10th, from 6-8 pm, free and open to the public. There will be approximately 60 works of 2D and 3D art on display during the exhibit.
In addition to visual arts, we will feature two local bands during our reception: from 6pm-7pm Typical Summer, and from 7pm-8pm Frederic & Ronza. Typical Summer is an Indianapolis-based duo featuring Cassandra Leigh on lead vocal/ukulele/keyboard and Toru Kikuchi on guitar/vocal. Frederic & Ronza, originally from Grand Rapids, Michigan, moved to Indianapolis in 2019. A soul duo that brings forward strong harmonies, they perform original works and covers.
If you are interested in more information about the Fishers Arts Council, join the organization at the reception. There are opportunities to serve as a Board member, patron, or volunteer.
In the 2020-2021 school year, Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Schools did not select one teacher of the year – the school district named all roughly 1,400 teachers as teachers of the year. That was due to the extreme stress teachers, and many others, endured curing the COVID-19 challenges.
For the 2021-2022 school year, the district is back to naming one Teacher of the Year, and it is Kristen Distler, a teacher/librarian at Fall Creek Junior High School.
Here is my podcast conversation with Kristen Distler.
Let’s face it, finding employees in the job market of today is not easy. School corporations are not immune from feeling the pinch.
Our local Hamilton Southeaster Schools are searching for a wide variety of workers.
The district is sponsoring a job fair Thursday, December 9, 4pm-7pm, at Fishers High School. No matter what your education level or past experience may be, there is a good chance there is a position in our local public school system that will interest you.
