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Boards aren’t monoliths

board meeting

Across my 23 years as an elected school board member, noting bemused me more than the people who’d say, “Well, the school board thinks …” Because, you see, school boards don’t think. Their members do. And while the popular perception is that board members think and act in lockstep, nothing could be further from the … Read more

The General Assembly giveth …

property tax

(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

The parent panic

parent panic

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

But they’re eliminating roundabouts elsewhere!

roundabouts are safer

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

Religion in neutral (part 2 of 2)

religion and schools

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

School referendums and your home

school referendum funds classrooms

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

Religion in neutral (part 1 of 2)

religion and schools

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

My proudest accomplishment

proudest accomplishment

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

Points about appointments

appointment being made

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