Teachers in the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) school district voted in favor of of ratifying a new agreement with the administration, with 96% of teachers voting casting their vote in favor of the pact.  All that is left now is for the HSE School Board to ratify the contract at a 5pm Tuesday session.

A public hearing held Thursday evening drew no comments.  HSE Schools Chief Financial Officer Tim Brown and Brieann Toste, a member of the Hamilton Southeastern Education Association (HSEA) bargaining team, went through details of the tentative pact before the school board, how it impacts pay and benefits, particularly incentives to choose the high-deductible insurance plan supplemented by a Health Savings Account (HSA).  The school district will make a contribution to employees choosing the HSA.

Brown told the board the district is increasing compensation for HSE’s teachers by $2.7 million in this contract for the 2024-2025 school year..

Scott Fadness has told me many times ribbon-cutting ceremonies are not his favorite…he is normally working on 2-3 more projects ahead by the time the ribbon is cut.  Friday morning was the exception.  Mayor Fadness was clearly smiling ear-to-ear as he cut the ribbon opening the new Fishers Event Center.

The mayor told the story of how there were 3 efforts going back to 2011 trying to put together a package that brought this to fruition in 2024.  The city was able to finance this project, along with a new City Hall and a community center now under construction, with no increase in the city’s share of the property tax rate.  The City Council did approve a food & beverage tax to finish the funding for the Event Center.

“To be able to share this with the Fishers Community and really all of central Indiana is a super-exciting day,” Fadness said.  “The building exceeded our expectation – on time, on budget and exceeding our vision for what it could be….so, today’s a great day.”

The Event Center itself is a roughly $200 million investment by the city, but Fadness foresees the private sector development linked to the Center exceeding a total of $1 billion for all the development, including the cost of the Event Center.

Event Center General Manager Mitch List says he is impressed by the sight lines in the seating design, saying there is not a bad seat in the house.

“I’ve been living and breathing this for the last year and a half, so really excited to see the reaction of the attendees as they walk through the door,” said List.

The Fishers Events Center has been in works for more than 10 years.  It is a beautiful facility.  It was worth the wait.

Fishers Event Center, as the venue prepares for its first event, a Turnpike Troubadours concert

Fishers is moving toward a city-wide trash collection service.  Mayor Scott Fadness named his Chief of Staff, Jordin Alexander, to be the point person for this project, which has been in progress most of 2024.

In the podcast at the link below, Jordin talks at length about the contract, which takes effect January 13.

I have been receiving numerous reports in recent days from my readers and social media posts about some fliers found on the ground in areas of Hamilton County, including Fishers. I have hesitated to write about this, not wanting to give these people publicity, but the more I thought about it, I must at least report that this is happening locally.

I will not post the full text of the flier, suffice to say it encourages people to report “illegal immigrants” to federal officials and identifies itself as a part of the Ku Klux Klan.  Again, we have only had a few isolated reports of these fliers, from people seeing them on the ground.

We have a First Amendment in America so there are protections for free speech, even the the speech is abhorrent to most of us.

In my view, the best thing to do is ignore this flier.  There is no indication, at this time, that there is any major movement locally supporting the Klan.  But let’s just be aware of what is happening in our own local community.

The Hamilton Southeastern Education Association (HSEA), the local teachers union, hailed the end of the Opportunity Education proposed charter high school.  The Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board was set to vote on this charter school December 11.

A public hearing held on the proposed charter drew 20 speakers, all in opposition.  It is not clear whether the proposed charter had enough votes on the school board to pass.

HSEA says it will continue its work ensuring “HSE’s own students and schools are the priority of the administration and school board.”  HSEA has opposed the charter school.

In a statement issued to the HSE community Wednesday afternoon, HSE Superintendent Patrick Mapes said Opportunity Education has decided to pull its charter school application with HSE.

Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School District families and staff received a message Wednesday afternoon from Superintendent Patrick Mapes, announcing that Opportunity Education (OE) has withdrawn its proposal to establish a charter high school in the district.  A community forum scheduled for November 21 has been cancelled.

In his message, Mapes quotes part of the withdrawal letter from OE:

“…we also understand that this may not be an optimal time for the community to undertake such an innovation effort, particularly one that challenges accepted assumptions about what schools can be, with a focus on putting student interests first. We deeply value the time and thoughtful consideration you have provided during the exploration of this opportunity, and we have been impressed by your district leadership’s vision and collaboration throughout this process.”

In his message, Mapes describes the OE withdrawal as a “missed opportunity,” but added this:

“…we remain committed to our top priority: engaging with our community and listening to its voice. Hamilton Southeastern Schools will continue to explore all possibilities to enhance educational opportunities for our students while emphasizing open and transparent communication with all stakeholders.”

You can read Mr. Mapes entire message below.

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Continue reading Opportunity Education withdraws the proposed HSE charter high school →

Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Schools Superintendent Patrick Mapes has told the school board he plans to provide an updated 10-year plan for facilities soon.  At the Facilities Committee meeting Wednesday morning, HSE Facilities Director Matt Rapp reviewed a $42 million plan for facilities throughout the district in 2025, per the current 10-year plan.

This is funded through bond issues.  The HSE Schools tax rate funding these bonds has remained steady over a number of years.

Some of the big ticket items on that list include:

–$4 million, $2 million for each high school, to be spent on turf next year on the Lacrosse/Soccer fields.  Rapp tells LarryInFishers much of that money goes to the underground infrastructure supporting the turf.

–$1.5 million at each high school for pool air handlers.  The pools were originally constructed for regular curriculum, but each system is strained when competitions are held.

–$1.5 million goes to the baseball asphalt drive at HSE High School.

–$1 million is set aside for roofing work on the north side of Fishers High School.

–District-wide, $1.25 million is planned for energy saving initiatives.

–School bus replacement and student technology replacement will cost $3 million each.

That is a partial list of the largest line-items the school board will be asked to enact for 2025.

In an update on specific building projects, Rapp told the committee everything is going “as planned and on time” with the Fishers Elementary School project.  Work planned for Fall Creek Intermediate, Durbin and Hamilton Southeastern Intermediate & Junior High are in the design phase.

Religious leaders in the Fishers community gathered Tuesday morning at City Hall to meet with Mayor Scott Fadness over breakfast.  It is something the mayor does about once a year.

When the mayor asked if the election was an issue in their respective congregations, a Catholic priest said in his church, there was less discussion of politics in this election cycle.  Another person saw fewer political signs in his own neighborhood.

Fadness said he thinks there is a certain amount of exhaustion among voters, arguing that a level of outrage can only last so long.

The mayor has been told many want the city to stop economic development, bringing people to Fishers outside Indiana and outside the nation.  Fadness says this will this not stop as the city develops, but it is creating challenges.

Mental health has been a top priority for Fadness ever since he took office in 2015.  His administration has been working to prevent social isolation.  He found youth sports as a way to bring families together.  The Community Center set to open next year may be another way to bring people together.  The Fishers Health Department is sponsoring a county-wide event aimed at those impacted by suicide.

Another issue raised at the meeting was how people are willing to speak their minds, but may not be good listeners when others are speaking.

Yet another issue raised was the latest trend of Wall Street buying single-family homes and converting them to rental properties, pricing many homeowners out of the market in a place like Fishers.  Fadness says he is putting together a legislative proposal to cap the number of rentals in a given area.

The mayor touted his program to keep older neighborhoods in good shape, through grants and replacing sidewalks,  He also has worked on making 96th Street a place businesses and residents want to be.

Whenever you visit a facility used as an indoor sports venue also hosting other events, the food offerings tend to largely be the same.  The Fishers Event Center invited the media and a few others to not only view the food offerings, but taste what the Center plans to offer.

i can say with no doubt that the samples provided Tuesday morning were a cut above any sports and events facility I have had in the past.  A tasty salad and a pizza both exceeded my expectations.  Some of my media friends sampled other offerings and the general consensus was positive.

“It’s going to be unique experience,” said Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness about the Event Center.

The Fishers Event Center will have the ribbon cutting ceremony Friday morning.  The first event is Friday night, featuring the country music act Turnpike Troubadours.