On January 24th, I recorded a podcast with Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board President Matt Burke and asked about the 5-day suspension handed to Fishers Football Coach Rick Wimmer.  WTHR Investigative Reporter Bob Segall had aired a story about the school board approving the suspension using an employee number, not a name.

Burke told me the policy of using employee numbers for such actions follows a policy HSE Superintendent Allen Bourff had used in his previous stint at the Richmond, Indiana schools.  This was the first time a staff member had been suspended since the policy was adopted when Bourff was hired to run the HSE Schools about two years ago, according to Burke.

The school corporation pointed to a general policy in the employee handbook to describe why Wimmer was disciplined, G02.06, which you can read at this link .  A statement by the school system provided to WTHR said Wimmer’s suspension was “due to not implementing instructions for classroom management strategies.”

In my podcast interview, Burke said, “It’s a personnel matter, those are private issues. Recognize the public will never know all the details and they don’t need to know all the details, as to the things that happened.”  Burke added that the school corporation followed its written policies in that process.

Although all the details may never be known, The State of Indiana’s Public Access Counselor Luke Britt says HSE Schools must reveal actual facts about what caused the Wimmer suspension to be handed down.  In an Advisory Opinion (which can be read in its entirety at this link), Britt wrestles with the push and pull of balancing employee privacy with the public’s right to know under Indiana law.

Britt’s opinion appears to argue that HSE Schools must present at least one fact related to the board’s decision to suspend Rick Wimmer.  A general reference to a policy statement is not sufficient, in Britt’s view.

It should be noted that the Public Counselor’s Office is not issuing a legal order here.  It is advisory only.  As of this writing, HSE has not responded to the opinion as requested by WTHR.

It is clear that the investigative reporting team at WTHR is pursuing this issue aggressively. I will be watching this situation as it moves forward.

You can read the latest Bob Segall story on this from the WTHR Web site at this link.

It is difficult to hear stories of parents with disabled children trying to tell those kids they cannot use playground equipment.  The Fishers Parks and Recreation Department is trying to do something about that.

During this Disability Awareness Month,  Fishers Park and Recreation Director Tony Elliot, along with City Council Member Cecilia Coble, welcomed a new piece of playground equipment at Holland Park.  The glider allows children with disabilities, including those in wheelchairs, to better enjoy Holland Park.

Elliot told the crowd at the opening ceremony that there was no money in the city budget to buy this equipment.  That was when IU Health and The Fishers Station Kiwanis Club stepped forward to help fund the glider.

This is the final project for the Fishers Station Kiwanis.  The club has since disbanded.  All the group’s remaining funds were donated to the glider project.

Here is my podcast discussion with Fishers City Council Vice President Todd Zimmerman

Five years ago, Eta Pi ( Fishers ) chapter of Epsilon Sigma Alpha joined forces with Claude & Annie’s restaurant in Fishers to stage an annual golf outing to benefit St. Jude’s Hospital.  With the closing of Claude & Annie’s, there was speculation as to what would become of the golf tourney.

The Lowell Beaver American Legion Post 470 (Fishers) has stepped forward to replace Claude & Annie’s.  Former owner of the eatery, Bill Smythe, and WTHR Meteorologist Kelly Greene will serve as honorary chairpersons of this year’s event.  Wendy Hahn will be the chairperson for this year’s outing.

The inaugural Lowell Beaver American Legion Post 470 and Eti Pi charity golf outing is scheduled for Thursday, September 21st at River Glen Golf Club at 11 am. Registration and sponsorship information will be released in the near future.

The numbers are in for the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Schools Foundation biggest fundraiser of the year, and they are impressive.  The February Game Day event brought in a gross amount of $129,312, a 30% increase over 2016.

Foundation Executive Director Freedom Kolb says she was impressed by the fact that Game Day was a sellout once again, and that all district schools participated.

The money raised will go to fund projects of teachers and students in the HSE School Corporation.

It’s not often the Hamilton Southeastern School Board is treated by both a dramatic and musical performance, but Lex Lumpkin, a 5th-grade student at HSE Intermediate School, did just that at the Wednesday night meeting.  The board recognized the student, now starring as Stuart Little in the Indiana Repertory Theater production.

Lex has already had one audition for a part in a major motion picture.  He is being home schooled by his grandmother during the duration of his part in Stuart Little.

The Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board moved forward with hiring the CSO architectural firm to design the new, so far unnamed,  elementary school to be constructed next to HSE Intermediate/Junior High School on Cyntheanne Road.  CSO will be paid just under $1 million.  The board will also be contracting with a firm named BrainSpaces at an additional cost of $105,000 to provide professional services tied to making the building better suited for the HSE 21 program of immersive learning.

In addition to those expenses, the elementary school building construction is estimated to cost $18.4 million.  The new elementary is projected to be ready for students by the start of the 2019-2020 school year.

The board vote to approve CSO and Brainspaces was five in favor, one opposed and one abstention.  Amanda Shera voted no and Sylvia Shepler abstained.

In another building-related matter, the board voted unanimously to hire Meyer-Najem as construction manager for the planned renovation projects at Cumberland Road Elementary School and the HSE Schools Administration Building.

In other school board items from the Wednesday night session:

–The board okayed 4 additional full-time-equivalent teaching positions, expanding the availability of world language classes at the 8th grade level.  These additional teachers will be funded through money obtained from the recently approved operating referendum approved by local voters.

–Jeff Harrison told the board the Learning Management System (LMS) Blackboard, that has been utilized for years by the school corporation, will be replaced by another vendor. Harrison says an internal committee will provide the board a recommendation on a new provider at the next board meeting.

–Board members received an update on food services from Director of Food Services Andria Ray.  Her staff is already setting up the menu plans for the next school year.  She says there will be a lower sodium target, which will be hard to meet, but she is optimistic the goal will be met.

–A revised procurement policy received 2nd reading approval.  Final approval comes with the 3rd and final reading vote, expected at the next board session.

It is always an exciting time for any family when a youngster is set to start kindergarten.  It is now getting to be that time for registering your kindergarten student entering the 2017-2018 school year.

Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Schools will hold open houses at the elementary schools on April 18th, 4pm-7pm.

Parents of new kindergarten students may register online at this link.

The open house events at the HSE elementary buildings will be April 18th, but you can register your child for the Class of 2030 now online.

The winner of the Best Foreign Film Oscar this year was from Iran – here is my review of that film -“The Salesman”

I was out of town when the announcement was made proposing a biking and walking trail along the Nickel Plate Rail Line running through Fishers and Noblesville.  I was able to post some updates on my www.LarryInFishers.com news blog while away.  If the reaction I have seen so far is any indication, we are in for a spirited debate about this idea.

Based on the February 28th announcement held in Fishers, Mayor Scott Fadness and Noblesville Mayor John Ditslear are both supporting the trail proposal.  At the county level, Commissioners Mark Heirbrandt and Christine Altman both appeared at the Fishers announcement in support of the plan.

In my view, there are a number of reasons Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness is in favor of the trail proposal.  He has been a big advocate of these trails throughout Fishers and believes this is a way to continue building a feeling of community in the city.

But there is another reason.  Mayor Fadness was once a big supporter of connecting Fishers with a regional mass transit system.  That rail line was a key in establishing such a connection.  But the mayor has changed his tune on this issue in recent months.  In a podcast with me January 10th, Fadness said new technology will make mass transit as we know it obsolete in the not-too-distant future.  Self driving vehicles will disrupt all transportation modes as we know them now, the mayor says, much like what brick-and-mortar retailing is going through now.

Based on that, don’t look for Fishers to be supportive of spending more money to upgrade the Nickel Plate Rail Line.  I have seen varying estimates on how much would be needed to fix the safety problems on the rail line, but all are in the millions of dollars.  Estimates show the trail would cost $9.3 million.

So, plenty of important government leaders are getting behind the plan to convert the Nickel Plate Rail Line into something like the Monon Trail running through parts of Indianapolis and Carmel.  But there are people with other ideas.

The Indiana Transportation Museum in Noblesville has operated the Indiana State Fair trains for many years until 2016 – that’s when the track was declared unsafe.

The museum is an independent nonprofit organization and wants to repair the Nickel Plate Line to allow the Fair Train, along with other excursions sponsored by the museum, to resume.  The museum is proposing a joint-use plan, allowing both the train tracks to be utilized and have a trail along the same line at the same time.

There is also a group of people organizing to oppose the Nickel Plate Trail and push for rehabilitating the rail line.  They have established a Change.org petition and have a Twitter hashtag #SavetheNickelPlate

The City of Fishers is holding what it describes as a “community listening session” at 6pm, Tuesday, March 21st, at the City Hall Auditorium.  A second such session will take place in Noblesville on Thursday, March 23rd.

I expect to see a serious debate on this issue in the months ahead.  The lines are clearly drawn.  Do you want a new walking and bike trail along the Nickel Plate Corridor, or should the rail line be repaired and allow the trains to once again utilize the tracks?  If you have strong feelings, attend the listening sessions and let your elected officials know how you feel.