Debbie Driskell has been the Delaware Township Trustee for a long time.  The west side of Fishers is part of Delaware township.  She has also been involved in township trustee issues at the state level for a long time.  She currently serves as the Executive Director of of the Indiana Township Association.

IndyStar reporter Ko Lyn Cheang wrote a story posted on the Star Web site October 29 about a letter Ms. Driskell sent to Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb which was never answered.  She offered the trustees’ help in distributing federal rent assistance.

“We are in an emergency situation and at this time, the Townships are seeing a substantial increase in financial assistance requests,” Driskell wrote in the April 1, 2020, letter, according to the Star report. “Trustees are the only ones that are equipped and trained to fairly and quickly assist our constituents in a time of need.”

The story goes into more depth on the issue.  You can read the story at this link. (Note:  If you are not an IndyStar subscriber, you may be limited on the stories you can access)

Youth Mentoring Initiative (YMI) is joining forces with Crew Car Wash for a fund raising event Friday, October 29, through Sunday, October 31.  You can get the $20 Ultimate Car Wash, just by making a donation to YMI.

“We are looking forward to partnering with YMI here in Fishers,” said Sally Grant, executive vice president of Crew Carwash. “We are so proud to continue to grow in central Indiana and are honored to play a role in making an impact on the youth and families in Hamilton County Schools.”

The fund raising event is tied to Crew’s  official grand opening of the facility at 11650 Exit 5 Pkwy, next to Topgolf.

“We are thrilled that Crew Carwash has selected YMI for their charity-of-choice for their first Fishers location,” said YMI executive director Brittany Rayburn. “The donations stemming from this event will directly support connecting students to a caring mentor. We’re grateful for this opportunity while celebrating this milestone with the Crew team.”

Donations at the fundraiser October 29-31 can be made by credit card or cash.  100% of the proceeds to to YMI.

A precinct is the most local form of politics.  Precincts are used for voting.  Generally, both major parties have precinct committeemen and committeewomen.

With the census data finally in hand, it is time to redraw precinct lines in Hamilton County.

“We typically do all of this in June or July,” says Hamilton County Clerk Kathy Williams in a county news release. “But with the delay in the census, approval of new house, senate and congressional districts was delayed. Our office has been working tirelessly to get these turned around in a timely fashion.”

The Hamilton County Commissioners made precinct changes official on October 25th.

According to Williams, nearly every precinct in Hamilton County will change. That includes size, location, annexation or name.  Hamilton County voters will get a notification of their precinct changes during the month of December.

Indiana is required by state and federal law to redraw Indiana’s Statehouse and congressional maps following the nationwide census every 10 years. The Indiana General Assembly approved the new congressional and state legislative district lines on October 1st. Governor Eric Holcomb signed them into law three days later.

State law dictates that each precinct must have at least 600 eligible voters and no more than 2,000. A precinct is not allowed to cross a congressional or state legislative district line.

State Senate and House of Representatives district lines must be in place for candidates to meet residence requirements by November 8, 2021. Article 4 Section 7 of the Indiana Constitution requires candidates to be inhabitants of the district for one year before the November 2022 General Election.

Hamilton County Commissioners are required by state law to review and redraw, if necessary, commissioner and county council districts. If needed, changes must be filed with the county clerk no later than Friday, December 31, 2021. City and town councils are required by state law to review and redraw, if necessary, their election districts no later than November 8, 2022. And school boards have until December 31, 2021 to review their school board districts that vote by district.

After many starts and stop along the process, Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Schools have been provided a grant of $326,930 toward buying an electric-powered school bus.  The item has been preliminarily on the school board agenda several times but not ready at past meeting time.

Wednesday night, HSE Transportation Director Zach McKinney said this new electric bus will replace a diesel powered unit, which is at the end of its useful life.  The electric bus is to be delivered no later than December of 2022, but McKinney says the bus could be here earlier, possibly in time for the start of school in August, 2022.

Bus drivers will apply to drive the new bus and one will be selected to drive the  electric vehicle.  McKinney added that the electric bus has a much quieter engine, meaning bus drivers will be able to hear what goes inside the bus among the students much better compared to the diesel-powered buses.

The board approved the transaction unanimously.

In other school board news from Wednesday night:

–Final unanimous approval was given the the 2022 school district budget.

–Superintendent Yvonne Stokes told the board and the community the school district will sometime be revisiting the mask mandate, but her goal is “students in school.”  So far, Stokes says, “We are still in school.  That’s important.  We have not had to close the doors.”

–The board recognized the work of the Fishers High School Dance Marathon, which has raised $600,000 for Riley Children’s Hospital since 2008.

Teachers in the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School District will see a 3.25% pay increase when the new contract takes effect July 1 of next year, providing the pact is ratified.  The agreement makes some changes in benefit costs and minor adjustments to extracurricular pay.

Both sides decided this contract should be for one-year, instead of the traditional 2-year length concurrent with the Indiana General Assembly’s budget cycle.  The one-year deal allows for any changes between now and next year due to the pandemic.

The Indiana Education Employment Relations Board (IEERB) just approved the deal.  The contract could not be be subject to a ratification vote until IEERB gave the okay.  That vote should happen in a few days.

HSE Schools Chief Financial Officer Katy Dowling and HSE Education Association (HSEA) President Abby Taylor presented the contract agreement to the school board Wednesday night.  If the union membership ratifies the accord, the school board will hold its ratification vote November 10.

Here is the video version of my podcast with IndyStar education reporters MJ Slaby & Erika Herron

Local school boards and education in general have become bigger news topics in recent months, and two reporters from the Indianapolis Star have been following those developments.

MJ Slaby & Arika Herron join me in a podcast discussion of recent developments on the local education scene.

When Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) school officials saw Deer Creek Elementary in Wayne Township coming online in August of 2022, it was clear that school boundaries would need adjustment.  Since the plan was to impact the fewest number of students possible, no one wanted to call it redistricting.

The term being used for this process is “Redefining Boundaries.”  Tuesday night, top school officials spoke before about 40 individuals at HSE High Schools about the three scenarios produced by an internal school group.

Only one of the 3 scenarios (C) accomplishes the stated goal of relieving Southeastern Elementary of its overcrowding problem.  Scenarios A or B take students from other elementary buildings.

Administrators say they want Deer Creek to be at 80% capacity when opening in 2022 (580 students).  The Deer Creek building can take 725 in the classrooms.  The extra Deer Creek capacity is to allow for projected future growth in the area.

Deer Creek is set to replace Durbin Elementary, but when all Durbin students (345) move to Deer Creek, that only partially fills Deer Creek.

Limiting the boundary adjustments to a few schools leaves open the option of a full HSE Schools redistricting in the coming years.  According to demographic experts the school corporation has consulted, the pandemic has skewed the available data normally used for a full redistricting project.

The school board will conduct work sessions, have a public meeting on the options available, with an expected recommendation from Superintendent Yvonne Stokes ready for the school board December 8 this year.  School officials used a phone app and written documents for those attending the Tuesday meeting to make comments and administrators were available to answer questions from the public.

You can see the presentation school officials made at the Tuesday session at this link.

City officials put the shovels in the groundResidents in the fast-growing area of northeast Fishers have been pushing city officials hard for a new fire station in their part of the city.  A ground breaking ceremony held Tuesday starts construction of the new station at 136th Street and Prairie Baptist Road, as an answer to those Fishers citizens.

The new 13,600 square foot structure is a virtual carbon copy of the recently rebuilt station on Allisonville Road on the south end of Fishers, near the airport, according to fire officials.  It is expected this facility will reduce emergency response times in that area of the city.

One neighborhood that lobbied heavily for the new fire station is Britton Falls, and many residents of that development were on hand for the ground breaking.

The new station constriction will take 12-15 months to complete.

At the outset, allow me to be perfectly clear – it is my view that Halloween is the strangest holiday on the American calendar.  It is a time to dress up in ridiculous costumes and allow youngsters to go on a sugar high.  Many adults get another kind of high.

If you are a parent, it is almost certain that for many years, you took your kids Trick or Treating in the neighborhood.  I recall a group of families we knew getting together.  The dads took the group of young ones around the neighborhood and came back to one house for a post Trick or Treating gathering.  Those are good memories for me.

Fishers Parks & Recreation Department has a tradition of hosting an annual party called Boo Bash.  You don’t have to wear a costume, but it is highly recommended.  It is a celebration of Halloween for the local community.

The 2021 Boo Bash gathers at the Nickel Plate Amphitheater Saturday, October 30, 10am-1pm.

For more on the Boo Bash, use this link.

Also, on Sunday, October 31, 2021, the Fishers Halloween Trick or Treat hours will be 6:00pm to 8:00pm.