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.
There is a saying in the movie business….it’s hard to improve on perfect. I am not saying the 1961 version of West Side Story was a perfect film, but my view is this – it was mighty close.
So, why would a famed film director risk his reputation by remaking a classic musical? I have no idea, but Steven Spielberg did just that.
Is the new West Side Story a good film, a great film or does it not measure up to the original?
Many of you may have read my commentary posted here December 3rd on CNN & Chris Cuomo. What a difference a few days can make.
Chris Cuomo was summarily fired Saturday after a report was released by the New York State Attorney General. What CNN disclosed for the first time Saturday was the hiring a an outside law firm to investigate the matter.
Saturday, that outside report, plus an allegation of sexual harassment some years ago, led CNN to let their night-time opinion anchor go.
Tom Jones, writer for the Poynter Institute, a respected organization on the media, posted a recent comment that both Andrew and Chris Cuomo lost their jobs due to one common issue.
“Arrogance, the entitled belief that the rules don’t necessarily apply to them, the misguided assumption that just because they do good in some parts of their jobs means they can be excused for ill-behavior in other parts,” wrote Mr. Jones.
I agree with the analysis of Tom Jones, but that does not change my view of how CNN handled Chris Cuomo in the past. I sincerely hope CNN will do an internal post-mortem and dig deep into why the company itself is partially to blame for all this.
On December 1st, I conducted a roughly 45-minute podcast recording session with Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness (the podcast can be heard in its entirety at this link).
During the podcast, I asked the mayor how he would assess the job his Fishers Health Department is doing in the battle with COVID.
Before getting into his response, allow me to review a little history here.
When COVID was spreading in the early months of 2020, it was clear that, with no vaccine available at that time, testing was the key to dealing with the virus. Fishers decided the health of its citizens and its business community were tied to the availability of testing.
That led to Scott Fadness announcing the creation of a Fishers City Health Department that was literally created from scratch. The department was started with a contract for COVID testing through a private company. The tests were drive-thru and generally at no cost. You received your results in a day or two.
Scott Fadness took a lot of public criticism for this move. He was accused of a power grab by separating the City of Fishers from the Hamilton County Health Department. But that did not deter the mayor.
Fishers turned out to be well ahead of other localities in the State of Indiana. When vaccines became available, the city quickly renovated a vacant former Marsh grocery near 116th Street and Brooks School Road. That vaccine facility is still open for business today.
The mayor was more than happy to answer my podcast question on his health department. He cited 82,000 COVID tests administered, and pointed proudly to the 70,000 vaccinations done at the Fishers site. It is interesting that about 50% of the vaccine shots were provided for people that do not even live in Fishers.
“So people are coming here to get their vaccines from a health department that got started 18 months ago,” the mayor told me.
Here is the number that the mayor was quick to share. The city is approaching a 90% rate of COVID adult vaccinations, surpassing the city’s initial goal of vaccinating 85%. What impresses the mayor is that this was accomplished in a state with an adult vaccination rate either 45th or 46th among the 50 states
When asked how to handle those still not vaccinated in the city, Fadness said some are just procrastinating and can still walk-in to the Fishers vaccination center anytime it is open and get the shot. He also admitted there are some that simply will not be vaccinated.
On December 3rd, the mayor hosted a virtual town hall, featuring Monica Heltz, Chief Medical Director for the Fishers Health Department…Dr. Indy Lane, Fishers Health Department’s Chief Medical Director and Community Health OBGYN…and Riley Children’s Hospital Pediatrician Dr. Michele Saysana.
Here are a few highlights of what was said by the health experts during that Town Hall:
mRNA Vaccine Technology – This technology for developing vaccines is different, but not much different in how vaccines are developed generally. The mRNA system uses a little snippet or copy of code, the part that tells your body how to make protein and target the body’s defenses. It self-destructs and does not linger in your system.
In response to questions about how our DNA might be impacted by vaccines, the health professionals say the vaccine helps the body make proteins. mRNA makes a protein then goes away…it overlays your DNA, makes a copy, makes a protein, then goes away. It never, ever, ever is incorporated into your DNA. It cannot change your DNA.
mRNA has been around a long time, but in the United States, we have never needed it before, thankfully. Technology has allowed for the quick rollout of the mRNA vaccines, such as Pfizer and Moderna. mRNA is the process utilized to make the vaccine…no metal, no chips, nothing like that is inserted into your body using this vaccine.
Do these vaccines impact fertility? – The experts say no studies indicate COVID vaccines cause infertility. Some in the medical community refer to vaccines as little miracle drugs. Vaccines have been instrumental in preventing youngsters from getting Chicken Pox. Chicken Pox can be very dangerous in pregnancy, but vaccines have prevented this.
“I would tell all couples that are considering pregnancy, the best thing you can do, in addition to meeting with your physician to do that preconception counseling, is to be vaccinated for COVID,” said Dr. Indy Lane. “This is one less thing you have to worry about when the time comes and you are pregnant.”
Even if you are pregnant and do experience side effects from the vaccination, that will not impact the fetus.
As to male fertility, there is no medical evidence to indicate any vaccine impacts this, including the COVID vaccines.
As to how much medical data is available on the vaccines and booster shots, the elderly and medical professionals were first vaccinated about one year ago and the data supports the boosters. There is also plenty of data from the 30,000 participants in the initial testing started in the summer of 2020 to back the recommendation of booster shots.
Why is there a different vaccine dosage for chilren? – The different dosage amounts for children relate to how the studies were conducted. There had to be a cutoff somewhere, so that is why 5-11 year-olds have a different dosage than ages 12 and older. Dr. Saysana says those inoculated under the age of 12 should get the second shot 21 days after the first, the same waiting period as adults.
As to children and natural immunity, Dr. Saysana recommends children get the shot once back in school and out of quarantine. However, if the child had COVD MIS-C, or received monoclonal antibodies treatment, she recommends waiting 90 days and then receive the first shot. There is no evidence of adverse interaction between natural immunity and the vaccine, because the vaccination allows the body another reason to generate more antibodies.
Influenza shots – Monica Heltz recommends everyone get both the COVID and Flu shot. There is no adverse impact to receiving both shots the same day.
There was much more discussed in the Town Hall, which was video recorded and available at the link below.
Mayor Fadness summed-up the Fishers Health Department’s COVID performance this way.
“I hope over a period of time people will look back and realize what the folks at Fishers Health Department have accomplished in a very short period of time,” said the mayor. “The numbers are really pretty staggering.”
As a news junkie, I do watch cable news, probably more than is good for my mental health. But something has been happening at CNN that bothered me for a long time. That concern has blown up for CNN.
I sometimes watch the night-time shows on cable news, which are, in the United States, all opinion programs. They come mostly from the left or right, depending on which network you prefer to watch.
What has been concerning for me on CNN has nothing to do with the host’s ideology. I would regularly see a night-time host, Chris Cuomo, interviewing his brother, the Governor of New York at the time, Andrew Cuomo.
Sorry, but this is journalism 101 for me. Why would anyone, a journalist or opinion host, be allowed to interview a sibling? If my brother was an elected official in Fishers, I would either not record a podcast with him or would find some other way to cover him.
In my view, this was the fault of CNN management. That should never have been allowed on a major news network.
And, let’s be honest. CNN has become a huge news source world-wide. It’s difficult to find hard data, but most experts say 80%-90% of CNN’s total revenue comes from outside the United States. But CNN is an American company and is a major media player domestically.
I contend that CNN should have used ethical standards to keep Chris Cuomo from interviewing his governor brother.
So, what have we now? The New York Attorney General’s office has released details of how Chris Coumo crossed even more ethical lines in helping his brother Andrew manage a political crisis. As most of you know, Andrew Cuomo was forced to resign as governor due to allegations of sexual harassment.
Now, I realize I did record a podcast with my brother-in-law Fred Glass, but that was fully disclosed in the first minutes of that podcast and we centered the conversation on his book.
CNN has suspended Chris Cuomo “indefinitely” once the New York Attorney General disclosed the details of his involvement in assisting his brother Andrew weather a political storm.
It would appear Chris Coumo’s efforts to help his brother were not effective. But that brings me to the key issue, in my view.
If CNN wants to analyze what happened here, the news organization should first look in the mirror. Allowing arguably unethical standards to prevail set the stage for Chris Cuomo’s suspension.
Perhaps CNN should consider suspending everyone involved in allowing practices of ethical concern.
