(From early 2025.) Our friends in the Statehouse are in their budget session with a brand-new Governor who won an election in which the perceived excess of property taxes was a key issue. I say the perceived excess because despite what most Hoosiers believe, Indiana’s property taxes are far below what folks in most other … Read more
You never forget your first fender-bender. For a pair of teenage drivers, theirs happened in the high school parking lot before the bell. One became “a little shook up,” as people say. Just to be on the safe side, the police officer requested an ambulance for a checkout, and the school’s office immediately notified their … Read more
Every time a town’s social media includes a post about a planned roundabout, the comments section produces a collection of entirely predictable answers from critics. That includes my favorite: “Why are we building roundabouts when out East, they’re eliminating them?!” No, they’re not. It’s a common myth that’s rooted in the elimination of a different … Read more
As I hinted in my last column, the complexity of religion and school law is mind-boggling. For instance: a high school commencement ceremony is an official event of a governmental body. Is it legal if a student such as a valedictorian includes a prayer in their speech at that event? Easy answer: the student’s First … Read more
Every few years, property taxes shove their way to the front of Hoosiers’ buckets of concerns. The General Assembly generally responds with some kind of fix, and the yelling becomes quiet grumbling until the next surge. In 2008, responding to an outcry largely inspired by pricey high school football stadiums in Carmel and Franklin Township, … Read more
Despite what many people have come to believe, public schools are not hostile to religion (or more specifically, to the complainers’ personal faith). But schools do have to be neutral about belief. And the Supreme Court has repeatedly confirmed that schools must be neutral, no matter how much the communities housing those schools may disagree. … Read more
Throughout 23 years as a school board member, I was involved in bringing about a long list of things that improved and enhanced our district’s efforts to educate young people and support the overall economic health and common-sense development of our community. I’m proud of much of what we accomplished as a board and the … Read more
More than a few elected officials in Hendricks County have never appeared on a ballot, and that frustrates more than a few voters. “If we didn’t vote them in, they shouldn’t be able to tax us.” Sorry you feel that way, but the law is the law. In Indiana, the law says that when a … Read more
Think your local schools are staffed by too many administrators who make too much money despite the fact they don’t really contribute anything useful? I mean there’s an assistant superintendent of this, director of that — when you have principals, teachers, and custodians, what else do you need, right? It’s been a few years since … Read more
“We’ve brought a petition signed by over 100 residents, so you have to do what we want you to do.” It happens from time to time. A group of citizens upset about something goes around the area collecting signatures, then presents them to a government board with a demand that the board immediately take whatever … Read more