It appears the relationship between the Hamilton Southeastern Education Association (HSEA) and the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School District is not improving, at least as the leadership of HSEA sees it.

In a gathering of teachers held prior to the Wednesday school board meeting, HSEA President Abby Taylor said the pending Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) filed against the HSE District is taking “an exponentially long time” to settle.  She also said the local teachers’ union will be filing another ULP and a lawsuit against the HSE School Corporation.

According to Taylor, the pending ULP relates to the union asking questions about a move by the HSE administration, taking teachers with special education certification from general education classrooms to the special ed program.  Asking questions about this led to HSE Schools HR Director Brian Butler “blasting’ Ms. Taylor, as she explains it.  Mr. Butler has since resigned.

HSEA, in its ULP filing, asked that school board members be trained in how to deal with the local teachers’ association, and the District to publish a letter to the public “accepting and owning responsibility” for its part in the situation.  Taylor says HSE has refused.  “We did nothing wrong,” Taylor told teachers.

HSEA is planning a lawsuit over adding time to the work day of elementary teachers without it being included in the contract between HSEA and the HSE Schools.  Taylor says this is required under Indiana law.

Taylor also says HSEA plans to file yet another ULP against the HSEA District, but provided no details on that planned action.

In May of 2013, voters in the Hamilton Southeastern School (HSE) District approved a referendum to finance building projects at both high schools.  They are now called College and Career Academies.

The municipal bonds issued to finance those buildings have a “call date” July 15 of this year.  Unlike most other debt, municipal bonds cannot be refinanced at any time, only on a specified  “call date” as part of the bond issuance.

HSE Chief Financial Officer Tim Brown presented what is technically described as a “refund,” or refinancing of those two bonds.  If interest rates remain at or near their current level, the board was told savings for the two bonds combined can be as much a $1.8 million.

The board voted unanimously to refinance the debt.

In another financial issue that received a unanimous approval vote from the board, Skillman Construction was awarded a $34 million contract for renovations at Fall Creek Intermediate.  The District was able to save about $1.5 million in handling the bids for this project.

Finally, the board voted to purchase playground equipment for Hoosier Road and Lantern Road Elementary Schools.  The Lantern Road playground will be moved away from the roundabout at 106th Street and Lantern Road for safety reasons.

Two Hamilton Southeastern District schools were crowned state champions at this year’s Indiana Academic Science Bowl.  The school board honored the state champs at Wednesday’s meeting.

Yellow Class Results:

– Southeastern Elementary: STATE CHAMPIONS

– Brooks School: State Runner-Up

– Geist Elementary: Top 10

– Deer Creek: Top 10

Blue Class Results:

– Hamilton Southeastern Int./Jr. High: STATE CHAMPIONS

– Fall Creek Intermediate: Third Place

– Riverside Intermediate: Top 10

– Sand Creek Intermediate: Top 10

Also, at the Wednesday session the board put its stamp of approval on the hiring of a new Assistant Principal at Fall Creek Intermediate, Tim Hull.

The community had been waiting for the decision by Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) administrators and board members – would the contracts of administrators at the building level be extended?  The board approved a list of contract renewals at the Wednesday night  meeting.

However, an item on the personnel report also created public comment – the listing that Hamilton Southeastern High School Principal Reggie Simmons would be resigning, effective June 30 of this year.  Mr. Simmons was hired by the school board for the HSE High School principal position on June 14, 2023.

Janet Chandler, former President of the HSE Education Association (HSEA), and a long-time teacher at HSE High School, expressed the concerns among school staff about the uncertainty arising from the long and unprecedented delay in renewing administrator contracts, asking what message the board was sending to those administrators.  “Do you want them to leave?” Chandler asked the board.

Tyler Zerbe from HSEA also addressed the board, welcoming the administrator contract extensions, hoping it will continue what he described as a “thriving relationship” between staff and administration at the building level.  He also urged the board to settle the long-standing Unfair Labor Practice filed by HSEA.

Stephanie White told the board their changes in administrators has impacted the reputation of the HSE School District.  “Outside of the lines of this district, educators, administrators, and school staff already had the impression that HSE is not a safe place for people of color,” White told the board. “I am thankful that our student body has continued to evolve even with these rumors floating around. However, the mass exodus of administrators, with only 2 being white, in the last 2 years due to the behavior and decisions of this board, and now this administration, is unacceptable and reprehensible. ”

Howard Stevenson, former HSE Board member and currently President of the Fishers Plan Commission, posted on his Facebook account a message of thanks for the service of Reggie Simmons.  However, he also touched on the issue of race.  “…as a 25 year resident of Fishers, I’d be remiss if I failed to mention that we’ve had our last 3 Black principals leave our district in the last year,” Stevenson wrote.   “This is not good. I hope the school board members ask the right questions to ascertain why this is the case.”

Superintendent Patrick Mapes told the board a number of administrator contracts have been renewed through June 30, 2027, although some have one year left on their contracts and their renewals will be considered later.

Below is a listing of the administrator contracts renewed by board vote Wednesday:

Continue reading HSE Schools and Administrators →

The Fishers Event Center is projected to book more events in the first year than originally expected.  That’s the word from General Manager Mitch List in a Monday appearance before the Town Hall Building corporation.

The original hope was that the facility would fill up 125 dates the first year of operation.  The Event Center has 120 dates booked now with an expectation that there will be more than 140 once the year is over.

The Indy Fuel are drawing good crowds and the touring shows have all been at our near sellouts, according to List.

There were some initial glitches with bills sent by the parking vendor, but that has been cleared-up and overcharges have been corrected.  List says people are becoming more familiar with how to pay for the parking under the system with no collection booths.

An indoor venue normally sees busy months January through April, then things pick up in October through the end of the calendar year, List told city officials.

Food and beverage sales have been good in the first months of operation.

April 4 will start a new football tradition in the City of Fishers.  The Fishers Freight, the newest franchise in the Indoor Football League, will have its home opener at the Fishers Event Center.  The Freight will open the season the week before on the road in Northern Arizona.

Tickets are now available for opening night.  Be a part of Fishers sports history and be there for the first Fishers Freight home contest as they take on the Tulsa Oilers.

You can buy tickets online at this link.

With apologies to the great English author Charles Dickens, Monday was a day with a tale of two cities – one city with a single-family home rental cap and one without it.

The day started with a  noon Webinar hosted by Chief of Staff for Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness, Jordin Alexander.  Mayor Fadness provided introductory remarks and turned the event over to his Chief of Staff.  She ran down the points that had been covered in previous presentations before the City Council and on one of my podcasts.

Basically, the city has concerns that some neighborhoods have 30% to 40% of the single-family residences rentals, some as high as 50%.  The proposed ordinance would cap rentals at 10% in each neighborhood, with certain exceptions, including what the measure describes as “legacy’ rentals, in place as of December 31, 2025.  There are other exceptions listed in the ordinance.

You can view the entire city Webinar presentation at this link.

At 6pm Monday, former Fishers City Councilor Jocelyn Vare hosted what she described as a Town Hall discussion at the Hamilton East Library in downtown Fishers.  She quickly reviewed the provisions in the proposed ordinance, then turned it over to a panel discussion.  The panel consisted of 3 people with experience in private sector real estate and one tied to a nonprofit.  Meigan Wise, Janet Pritchett and Steve Ladig all have connections with the private sector…Andrea Davis is Executive Director of the housing nonprofit HAND.

The panel took questions as the event moved along, and a very different set of messages began to emerge.  Reducing the stock of single-family rental would likely raise the monthly costs for renters and reduce the opportunities for renters to live in Fishers.  Data was presented that indicates there has been little interest in institutional owners, such as Wall Street investors and hedge funds, to buy and rent property in Fishers in recent years.

Numbers were also shown that home property values in neighborhoods without rental caps has risen higher, compared to subdivisions with rental caps.  The assertion is that owners have less control over their property in a capped area, leading to values rising at a reduced rate.

Davis pointed out that people need different housing at different stages of life.  Fishers doesn’t just need more housing, Davis argues, but needs a variety of housing types.

Questions were raised about how the caps would impact the availability of senior citizen housing and diversity in Fishers.

The City of Fishers has established a Web page devoted to the rental cap proposed ordinance at this link.

Jocelyn Vare has created a Web site with links to the many resources available online about the proposed rental caps at this link.

The City Council is scheduled to conduct a public hearing and have a second reading vote on this ordinance April 21st.  Assuming the ordinance passes second reading, the final third reading vote would be held in May.

So, Fishers is faced with the tale of two cities.  One city enacts a 10% rental cap per subdivision. with a number of exceptions.  The other city would stay out of the rental cap situation, leaving it to individual Homeowners Associations (HOAs) to sort it out.

It will be up to Mayor Scott Fadness and the 9 members of the Fishers City Council to decide what ordinance, if any, to enact for Fishers.  If you have any thoughts on which of the 2 cities you would like to see, contact the mayor and members of the City Council

The Indy Fuel have been playing a lot of close games of late, winning Saturday against the Wichita Thunder, but Sunday it was the Thunder coming out on top 5-4.  A power play goal by Wichita’s Kobe Walker with 4:19 remaining in the third period cemented the victory for the Thunder.

Kyle Maksimovich, Jesse Tucker, Kevin Lynch and Nathan Burke all lit the lamp for the home team, but it wasn’t enough to counter the Thunder’s 5 goals, included a short-handed one by Dominic Dockery in Period 2.

A glove dropping fist-fight between the Fuel’s Chris Cameron and Wichita’s Dillon Boucher resulted in each earning a 5 minute fighting penalty.

This is a setback in the Fuel’s quest for a playoff spot.  Indy’s next game is at the Fishers Event Center, 7pm, against Kalamazoo.

Another night, another close game for the Indy Fuel.  This time, the Fuel get the win 4-3 over the Wichita Thunder Saturday night at the Fishers Event Center.

Things got a bit crazy in the third period, when a fight broke out between the Thunder’s Nolan Kneen and the Fuel’s Brett Bulmer.  Penalties were handed out and led to more penalties.  The crowd chanted its displeasure with the officiating at that point.

The Thunder’s Dillon Boucher tallied the first goal in Period 1 less than three minutes into the game.  Brett Bulmer found the back of the net about 2 minutes later, tying the contest.  Later in the first period, the Fuel’s Jesse Tucker picked up his first professional goal, bringing the score to 2-1 Fuel.

A little more than 2 minutes into the second period, Kyle Maksimovich picked up a goal and extended the Indy lead to 3-1.  With 3 and a half minutes remaining in Period 2, Peter Bates picked up a Thunder goal, bringing the score to 3-2 as the second period ended.

A penalty awarded the Thunder a penalty shot 4 minutes into period 3 that was not successful.  A number of penalties were going against the Fuel at this point and the crowd chanted their displeasure with the officiating.

A Fuel goal 12 minutes into Period 3 brought the score to 4-2 Fuel, but the Thunder closed the gap with just over 3 minutes to go with a T.J. Lloyd goal.  The Thunder pulled their goaltender with just over a minute remaining in the game, but the Fuel defense hung on for a thrilling 4-3 final score.

This win keeps the Fuel in the running for the final playoff spot in the Central Division.

A sellout crowd of 6,590 walked away happy with the win on Indy 500 night, that featured a pregame autograph session with IndyCar driver Ed Carpenter.

These same two teams will meet again at the Fishers Event Center for a 4pm Faceoff.

It appears Fishers is about to have a spirited debate over a proposed city ordinance limiting the amount of rental housing available in each Fishers neighborhood at 10% per subdivision.  The city has a Webinar set for noon Monday.  A group of citizens, led by former Fishers City Councilor Jocelyn Vare, plan an in-person event Monday, 6pm, at the Hamilton East Library in downtown Fishers, at the Center Meeting room.

The city’s Webinar requires registration, which can be done at this link.

The ordinance being proposed has cleared first reading, where only one council vote is required.  It appears the City Council will bring this matter up for a second and possibly third reading at the April 21st Council session.

Mayor Scott Fadness and his Chief of Staff, Jordin Alexander, laid out their case for the ordinance in a podcast discussion with me that can be heard at this link.  The mayor argues this ordinance will open up more housing for family ownership in Fishers, and, based on his feedback, is generally supported by the public and Fishers Homeowners Associations (HOAs).  City officials plan to meet with the local HOA Alliance Wednesday.

Since this ordinance began to generate publicity in Indy-area media, plenty of other opinions have surfaced.  James Briggs, Opinion Editor and columnist for the Indianapolis Star, recently posted a commentary critical of the ordinance, saying it will prevent families  access to housing in Fishers, because of their inability to obtain mortgages due to tight lending policies.  Briggs also argues this is an example of suburban NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) thinking.

MIBOR (Metropolitan Indianapolis Board of Realtors) issued a statement Friday opposing the ordinance.

“The City of Fishers proposed mandatory rental unit registry and 10% rental cap per neighborhood imposes undue restrictions on property owners, limiting their ability to manage and utilize their investments freely,” says MIBOR.  “Such measures interfere with the free market, restrict housing options, and infringe upon fundamental private property rights.”

The position taken by MIBOR is important because this organization is very active in public policy decisions made in Indianapolis and surrounding counties.  MIBOR is also a major campaign contributor in local election campaigns.

The city’s Webinar at noon Monday will feature Chief of Staff Jordin Alexander and Director of the city’s Planning and Zoning Department Ross Hilleary.  Upon registration, questions can be submitted by the public.

Jocelyn Vare’s in-person event at 6pm Monday will present another perspective on the proposed ordinance.  Based on a fact sheet she released, data does not support the objectives the city is seeking with the ordinance.

The rental cap component of this ordinance is new to Indiana.  Attorneys advising the city say the ordinance does pass legal muster.  And, of course, we have seen local communities enact measures aimed at housing, only to have the Indiana General Assembly pass legislation reversing the local law.

There is much at play here.  Mayor Fadness and his staff are convinced this ordinance is good for Fishers and has wide public support.  Opponents feel differently.

This is one of those public policy questions that should create a healthy local debate.  Let’s see what happens between now and April 21st.