There has been much speculation that the mid-term elections this November will see a much larger turnout compared to four years ago.  A Twitter message from the Hamilton County Election Office Thursday morning shows that may be true.

In the Tweet, election officials say that four years ago, in the first day to file absentee ballots, 61 voters filed absentee ballots the first day…..this year 584 absentee ballots were filed in Noblesville.

For more details on filing an absentee ballot, use this link

When a group of volunteers gathered last spring to plan a summer lunch program for students in need, they had no idea how many families would request assistance.  The number turned out to be much larger than anyone anticipated.

Lynda Carlino, retired Executive Director HSE S.P.O.R.T.S., was part of that volunteer group and told the HSE School Board that roughly 6,000 meals were week this past summer were passed out to local families in need.  More than 300 volunteers helped make that happen.

Also, the board Wednesday night recognized the HSE High School Key Club as Fishers YMCA Center Advisory Board Youth Volunteer(s) of the Year for 2018.    Members of the Key Club have been volunteering with the Fishers Y for many years. They volunteer for several of the special events, such as the Halloween Extravaganza, Wishbone 5K, Dad/Daughter Dance, Give Hope Ride and more.

The Hamilton Southeastern School Board took the first step in allowing video of board  meetings to be available to the public, but one board member dissented on the length of time meeting videos will be available online.

On a 6-1 vote, the board Wednesday night approved, on first reading, a proposal to live stream video of board meetings and allow public access to those video recordings for 45 days only.

Board member Michelle Fullhart objected to the 45 day limit, citing nearby school districts that have video recordings of their meetings going as far back as 2013. Board member Mike Bottorff replied that this was vetted by the contractor charged with handling the recordings and the school district’s legal counsel.

Fullhart was the lone no vote on first reading.  The item must be approved again to become board policy.

Superintendent Allen Bourff said board meetings will move back to the expanded and renovated Administration Building on Cumberland Road next month, but the video recording will not yet be in place for that first session in November.  Board meetings have been held at Riverside on Eller Road during the construction period.

The Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board held a public hearing on its 2019 $242.8 million budget in September, and no one chose to speak.  Wednesday night, board members unanimously approved the 2019 budget blueprint.

HSE Chief Financial Officer Mike Reuter told the board rules are changing on how school boards choose to spend their money.  For example, what was once called the General Fund is now known at the Education Fund.

School boards across the state will have much more flexibility on how they spend money within those funds, according to Reuter.  Boards may move money between these various funds more easily under revised state statutes.

All the numbers are not yet in from the county, but Reuter says his projections show the HSE school tax rate will likely go down by about one cent per $100 of assessed value in 2019.

The State of Indiana released ISTEP data to local school corporations recently, and Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Schools Assistant Superintendent Jan Combs reviewed highlights of those numbers with the school board Wednesday night.

When breaking down the math, Combs said there are six examples where HSE Schools as a whole saw an increase in test performance, but the entire state’s scores went down.  Examples were English Language Arts among fourth-graders, grade four math, English Language Arts in grade six, Math in grade six and English Language Arts in grade seven as well as Math in grade seven.

There was one example were state scores increased and HSE as a school district went down, and that was in Math for eighth-graders.

Combs cited one area of concern in the ISTEP results for tenth grade students in both Math and English Language Arts – state scores were down, HSE district scores also were down, but the HSE students dropped more than the state.  Administrators are looking at what changes, if any, need to be be made in analyzing these test scores.

Dr. Combs did a deep dive into test performance gaps by analyzing data into racial groups, including white, black, asian, hispanic and multi-racial.  The data shows there continues to be academic gaps among some of the groups, but some are shrinking.  She emphasized that there are still gaps, and there is still work to do in order to further reduce these gaps.

School Superintendent Allen Board performed a demonstration for board members on how new data mining programs can be used to find specific numbers.

Combs reminded board members this will be the final time schools will receive ISTEP test scores.  The next set of results will come from the new ILEARN test.

You can review the ISTEP data shared with the board at this link.

The Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board Wednesday night formally approved a 5-year contract with Conner Prairie, allowing a teacher-in-residence to conduct special lessons for fourth-grade students in all 12 HSE District elementary schools.

The contract was many months in the making, with several proposals sent back and forth between the school board and the Conner Prairie board.

Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness was on hand for the contract vote, calling himself a more of a cheerleader on the sidelines on this project, urging both sides to get this agreement.

“Integrating our community into the classroom, and our classroom into the community, is something that is a differentiator among school districts,” Fadness told school board members.  The mayor said this contract is one more step in working with teachers and HSE administrators, and he says many more actions along these lines are coming.

HSE teacher Amy Murch will be the first teacher in residence at Conner Prairie

“I’ll mention Amy Murch because she has literally been working side-by-side with our educators and with your (HSE) staff and developed a dynamic curriculum” said Conner Prairie CEO Norman Burns.  “We think this will be one of a kind, a national model, not only for museums but also for school systems.”

HSE officials say lessons will focus on scientific concepts of simple machines and the influence it had on transportation and life in during 1830s in Indiana. Students will be able to investigate different transportation systems and identify concepts of force that affect their motion. They will also be constructing boats to float in the White River and designing interview questions for the interpreters in Prairie Town about what simple machines they use in their daily life.

Mayor Fadness told the board this is one step toward creating his vision of a City Wide Campus.

“The next thing is to broaden the scale of this to allow the entire business community to be a part moving forward,” Fadness said.

The Fishers City Hall Council Chambers were well over half full with voters Tuesday night for a forum featuring local candidates for seats in the Indiana General Assembly.  The League of Women voters sponsored the event.

Three different races were featured.  Republican Brian Bosma, Speaker of the House and incumbent in House District 88, faces Democratic challenger Poonam Gill.  In House District 37, incumbent Republican Todd Huston faces Democrat Aimee Rivera Cole.  In the Senate, Republican incumbent Jim Merritt is facing Democrat Derek Camp.  All six candidates were on hand for this forum.

Questions came from League of Women Voters moderator Janet Chandler and from written questions sumbitted from the audience.

The sharpest exchange between the candidates came when a question was asked about funding Planned Parenthood….the responses dealt with not just women’s health but also abortions.  Generally, the Democrats wanted women’s health programs to include abortion as a choice for women, and the Republicans all sided with the anti-abortion arguments on this question, although some expressed support of women’s health programs outside of abortion.

Many other issues were discussed, including school safety, support for public schools, state support of preschool, infrastructure, LGBT rights, Hate Crime laws and climate change.

Fishers and Hamilton County, based on election results going back many decades, are predominantly Republican areas.  However, a clear majority of those in the audience were Democrats.  The Hamilton County Democratic Party has said it plans to be much more active in local politics in the future.  This forum indicates they are following that strategy.

Janet Chandler asks a question of the candidates

By

Fred Swift

Hamilton County Reporter

In the wake of the controversial Supreme Court confirmation hearings, voting in this year’s Nov. 6 general election is now expected to be heavier than in most off-year elections. This may encourage early voting which is now allowed in Indiana.

Early voting starts today at the County Government and Judicial Center in downtown Noblesville. Then, starting on Oct. 24, there will be early voting offered at remote locations in Carmel, Westfield and Fishers.

At the county elections office any registered voter may cast his or her ballot during regular business hours, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Monday through Friday, until Nov. 5 when early voting ends at noon. In addition, early voting will be offered between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Saturdays, Oct. 27 and Nov. 3 at the elections office on the main floor of the Judicial Center.

Voting will be offered at the Carmel Public Library, the Westfield City Hall and Fishers City Hall between 2 and 7 p.m. on Oct. 24 and 25 and from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Oct. 26 and 27, except at Fishers where there will be voting on Saturday only.

These locations will all be open again from 2 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 1, and again from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Nov. 2, except Fishers which will be open for voting only on Saturday, Nov. 3.

Michelle Fullhart is seeking a second term on the Hamilton Southeastern School Board in this year’s election round.  I spoke with Michelle Fullhart about her District 3 campaign

The City of Fishers moved to bring more neighborhoods in line with an effort to standardize the speed limit in residential neighborhoods at 25 miles-per-hour.

Director of Engineering for the City of Fishers, Jeff Hill, told the Fishers Board of Public Works and Safety Monday that today’s action would bring speed limits in the northwest section of the city at 25 miles-per-hour in residential areas.  Hill said this is being done one section of the city at a time to spread-out of the costs of new speed limit signs.

The board approved the changes to the city’s traffic schedule.  A full listing of the speed limit changes can be found at this link.

In other Board of Works actions, approval was given to dedicate a right of way on St. George Boulevard in the Burberry neighborhood, just off Hague Road, to eventually allow access to a trail along Hague Road.  Also, the board approved a contract with MJ Insurance brokers to provide property and casualty insurance coverage for the city.