The Hamilton Southeastern School Board, the body governing our local schools in the city of Fishers and some of the surrounding areas, makes very important decisions on a regular basis.  The most recent one was to place a ballot initiative in the May 3rd primary election asking for a property tax increase to fund money in a number of areas, such as teacher recruitment & retention, and reduce class size.

But the board has also had many conversations with school administrators about Instructional Assistants (IAs).  These school employees help teachers forced to take on large size classes and in other classroom situations.  IAs are mostly used to help out teachers in special education classrooms.

It is becoming more and more difficult to attract and retain good Instructional Assistants. A complicating factor is the Affordable Care Act and providing a health insurance offering that meets the minimum requirements of the law.

According to administrators, nearby school districts have simply reduced the hours of their IAs to less than 30 hours a week, exempting them from the requirement to offer a health plan.  Assistant Superintendent Jan Combs came to HSE from Lawrence Township and she told the HSE Board cutting back hours made it very, very difficult to recruit and retain IAs in Lawrence.

The HSE Schools are now faced with a situation of cutting back hours or reducing the number of IAs, with neither of those options being popular with board members.  One option is to temporarily cut back IA hours, offer health insurance to those eligible under the law, and begin restoring the hours based on how many IAs choose to use the school’s health care plan.  Many IAs may already be covered by a spouse or are still covered by a parent’s plan if the IA has not yet reached 26 years of age.

In a recent work session, board members talked at length about the IA issue and its impact on the budget.  Every board member offering an opinion made it clear that IAs should be made a priority, their hours should not be cut and the administration should look at budget options to make this work.

As a result, HSE School Superintendent Allen Bourff  told board members he would have an administration recommendation on IAs for their consideration, with their comments addressed.

The HSE School Board has plenty of issues to decide all the time, but the issue of taking care of the district’s Instructional Assistants is clearly a priority for this board.  That makes HSE different from most school boards.