Communities are meant to be supportive of each other and the Fishers community proved how supportive they are of the HSE school district.
On May 7, voting was held at various locations around the city for the referendum that would allow both FHS and HSE to build senior academies to accommodate more students. The referendum is for $95 million to be granted to the district for building the senior academies that will allow both schools to house 1,000 more students each which would increase both FHS and HSE’s school capacities to about 3,700. According to WTHR Channel 13 News, the referendum passed with 68 percent of the vote.
The fact that the community supported our school district so highly, even though the referendum will lead to a tax increase, is something to be proud of. There was opposition against the vote shown by the signs around the area reading, “Help kids and taxpayers. Vote no on May 7th.”
The opposition’s biggest concern was the property taxes that would increase, but according to the Indianapolis Star only about 35 percent of the community would actually see an increase in their current taxes. But even with the opposition, the community excelled in supporting what needs to be done for the HSE district schools.
If the voters had said no, the district would have lost hours, days and months of planning the senior academy and pushing for others to support them. The HSE district also would have had to consider new options to prepare for the growing student population. HSE superintendent Brian Smith told WTHR that if the senior academy was not built then the school would be forced to begin using the portables once again. He said that there would be about 84 portables added to the two schools, total, just to fit the amount of students expected in the next few years.
Thanks to the votes, the senior academy plans can officially begin to be put into a reality. The community’s support deserves to be noticed due to the fact that they came to vote in favor of the school’s referendum. Not only have they helped the schools prepare to house more students, but they have helped the majority of Fishers parents as well. The majority of families have their children attend public schools. With the senior academy, parents will not have to worry that their children will be stuck in a high school with too many students later on.
Even one vote can make a difference and the votes certainly will make a huge difference for the school in the future. The Fishers community has proven that they really do care about the students and our schools. We owe a thank you to them for allowing the HSE district to expand the high schools in order to house more students in the coming years. They have proven to be a supportive and cooperative community for our district and that is what really matters after the vote on May 7.
