Intro

Erika Malone 0:00

This week on Beyond the Headlines, Barkersville officials consider raising the town park's impact fee. $12.1 million has been awarded for projects on Smith Valley Road. Governor Mike Braun visits Whiteland High School to sign a bell-to-bell cell phone ban, and Franklin Middle School students get a reality check. From the Daily Journal, this is Beyond the Headlines, a local news podcast focused on story shaping Johnson County. Hello everyone and welcome back. It's Eric Malone here with Noah Crenshaw. How are you doing, Noah? We didn't see you last week. Well, I saw you, but you were not on the mic.

Noah Crenshaw 0:36

Uh yes, I had a week off from being on the mic.

Erika Malone 0:40

Yes, and I'm sure you enjoyed it, but I'm glad to have you back. I feel like it for at least for me, it's been a busy and a chill week so so far. So we uh we don't have any election news to report. So uh not necessarily not necessarily, but so with all the l election stuff kinda over with, uh this podcast will be um a lot shorter because I think the last one was a little long. Yes. So yeah, well, how about we just uh go ahead and get into it then?

Noah Crenshaw 1:13

Yes, and uh we're first up.

Bargersville considers new parks impact fee

Noah Crenshaw 1:15

We have a story from you, right?

Erika Malone 1:16

Yes, so we have uh Bargersville's park impact fee. So this was a decision that they that the parks department kind of talked about. Um they there was a presentation at their uh lap meeting, I believe last Friday, which I'll just go a little bit through what they're kind of anticipating. So Bargersville expects 11.1% population growth by 2034, which is a lot. With that, they're anticipating about 5,928 new housing permits as well. And with the current park system, they only have uh 59.22 acres. So the question is, can the current parks handle this future demand that's coming in?

Noah Crenshaw 2:01

Yeah, that is a good question. Uh another good question is, you know, what exactly is this fee increase gonna be?

Erika Malone 2:09

Yes. And I'm gonna talk a little bit about that and then kind of explain what a park impact fee is for those maybe that don't know. But this new recommended park impact fee is $2,730 per single family home. Um, and this would generate about $16.18 million over 10 years, which is a lot. Their current balance right now is about $600,000, and there's a huge gap between the current funding and future needs.

Noah Crenshaw 2:38

Yeah, and so these fees, you know, they're not charged just to everyone blanketly per se.

Erika Malone 2:44

Yes. But yeah, let's talk about a little bit about what a park impact fee is. So they are charged when a building permit is it is issued, and they're paid up front by developers, but are often passed to home buyers and renters indirectly through maybe a housing price or in the rent as well. So most residents don't really realize they're paying it. Previously, uh, these funds were limited to land acquisition and trails, but this new proposal will allow spending for playgrounds and hard service areas, multi-use fields, indoor facilities, park amenities and operations, and this will give the town more flexibility to meet demand. So, with in this proposal, this includes about a 5% annual increase, where the current ordinance ordinance is 3% or higher if needed. So, a question that was kind of um brought up to the park board if the town should lock in a higher automatic increase. And these different housing types and fees, I'll just uh list a little bit about them. So if a single family home would pay 100% of that park impact fee, duplexes 95%, and mobile homes about 65%. And the goal for this is to avoid discouraging uh multifamily or affordable housing.

Noah Crenshaw 3:59

Okay. And so what's next?

Erika Malone 4:01

Yeah, uh, so officials don't know what types of housing will dominate. Again, this is kind of based off of what market trends will determine, like the total fee collection. You can't really predict you know what kind of housing you will see uh in the future. So this kind of raises the question if this projection is realistic. Again, this is all still up for consideration. So the plan commission will have to vote on it. Um, they're gonna vote on it May 18th, and town council will review the ordinance May 26th with a final adoption to be expected June 9th.

SPEAKER_03 4:34

Okay.

Erika Malone 4:34

Yeah. So uh big think. I mean, so hopefully, yeah, if it gets adopted, then we might uh the parks we might see the parks department get some more money for some extra some extra things in the future. Yeah. Well, how about let's take a short break and uh we'll be right back with some more stories for you. Want your business to reach our listeners in Johnson County and beyond? Reach out to the Daily Journal by calling 317-736-2730 to ask about our advertising opportunities.

Noah Crenshaw 5:06

And we're back

$12.1M awarded for projects on Smith Valley Road

Noah Crenshaw 5:07

now, everyone. Uh next we're gonna talk about a uh project that will transform uh Smith Valley Road or a couple of projects as part of some long-term planning in both Johnson County and Greenwood.

Erika Malone 5:20

And you you uh worked on you did this story actually. So yeah, tell us a little bit about what's going on.

Noah Crenshaw 5:26

So there's been some federal grand dollars aborted. Not just for this project, but for some projects across Central India, but these are the two local ones through the Indianapolis Metropolitan Planning Organization, which is like the state's designated like federal for this area. You know, there's like every the state's divided into regions. Um each region has a plan organization, the federal government sends like transportation dollars through it, stuff like gotcha. So through this re and like their priorities identified. And so for this region, it's central Indiana, a 76.2 million was awarded overall for 18 projects from nine different agencies, governments, all that jazz. Uh it includes roadways, bridges, intersections, and transit options with the goal of improving mobility safety and uh being ready for growth.

Erika Malone 6:16

Which 76.2 million uh seems like a lot of money, but I feel like for roads, bridges, and all that stuff, uh it gets used up pretty quickly.

Noah Crenshaw 6:24

It does, which is crazy to think about because like I would probably say like 20 years ago that would have funded probably double this amount, or if not more, but but just because of how cost everything rise, you know, just yeah.

Erika Malone 6:39

Well, uh tell us a little bit about what Greenwood and Johnson County received.

Noah Crenshaw 6:43

Yeah, so um 12.1 million, well more than 12.1 million is going for two projects on Smith Valley Road. Um Greenwood is getting 8.4 million to widen a section on top of some money they've gotten in the past. Johnson County is getting 3.7 million for a roundabout that's part of their Smith Valley Road widening project, because not all Smith Valley Road is in the city limits.

Erika Malone 7:07

Right.

Noah Crenshaw 7:08

Um and so the ultimate goal, regardless of the government, is to because there's interstate, there's I-69 has an exit on Smith Valley, and then it connects to 135 US 31, and after becoming Emerson Avenue and connecting to like Main Street and Greenwood, I-65. So there's a need for that corridor to be ready for like all of the traffic, and it's already very congested, at least 135. I would say well, actually all throughout the Galp County, but particularly in like the Greenwood City limits.

Erika Malone 7:44

Well, and living in the Greenwood City limits, I've witnessed that traffic. Um, and yes, I I would say would agree with you in saying that it is congested. So this is something that is needed.

Noah Crenshaw 7:54

Yes. So the long-term vision is essentially lane winding, because in a lot of areas it's only two lanes on Smith Valley. So the idea is four lanes from essentially interstate to interstate. For the city of Greenwood, they have a winding project that's essentially uh from 135-ish to where it becomes Emerson, because where it kind of becomes Emerson, it starts becoming four lanes because it kind of shifts into it as you go um direction east to north, kind of. Yeah. And it becomes a north-south. So this particular section, which section they call it section two, which is the 8.4 million, is to widen the section from Meridian Street to Valley Oaks Road. Uh this will have divided lanes, turn lines, intersections, decorative lighting, drainage improvements, and multi-use pathway. And so the total cost of the project's 10.6 million with an 80% federal and 20% local match, which is pretty good for the Greenwood residents in terms of that match because the federal government is basically paying for most of the projects.

Erika Malone 9:00

Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

Noah Crenshaw 9:02

Um and design for this section is hoped to start the summer with construction to start in uh early 2029. The first phase, which is for another section of the road, is uh hope to have construction in 2020, but all these dates are tentative. There might be a public meeting with more information here in the next three weeks.

SPEAKER_03 9:23

Right.

Noah Crenshaw 9:24

The changes won't be immediate. And that's the thing about Wendy's funding are awarded. You think it might happen right now, but a lot of times it's a couple of years.

Erika Malone 9:31

Like yeah, because like design process and getting going through all right away the red tape, and yeah. So yeah. Well, you mentioned uh a roundabout as well. So tell us a what about uh the roundabout of Johnson County?

Noah Crenshaw 9:44

Yeah, so the MP IMPO announced, and this is all announced in the last month, that the Johnson County was getting $3.7 million for roundabout at Smith Valley, Morgantown. We'll have two lanes in each direction, Vestian Crossings, a day compliant ramps, and median safety islands. And this is part of the larger $55 million corridor overhaul that they're planning for the Johnson County portion.

SPEAKER_03 10:08

Uh-huh.

Noah Crenshaw 10:08

So think about how much that might be for the Greenwood portion, but that's the county sports. $135.69.

Erika Malone 10:13

Yeah.

Noah Crenshaw 10:14

The roundabout is also one of six that are planned.

Erika Malone 10:17

Oh wow, six.

Noah Crenshaw 10:18

A lot of these intersections are stop signs or stoplights. This one, if I remember right, is a stoplight.

Erika Malone 10:23

Okay.

Noah Crenshaw 10:24

Um, they're cavarian roundabouts that can prove traffic flow.

Erika Malone 10:27

Are the roundabouts all within 50 feet of each other?

Noah Crenshaw 10:30

Uh, I don't know if they're within 50 feet, but I imagine uh pens there's like six of them, so I imagine they're close by.

unknown 10:38

Yeah.

Noah Crenshaw 10:38

Um, I don't know the exact distance. I'm sorry, everyone.

Erika Malone 10:41

We're catching up with Carmel.

Noah Crenshaw 10:43

Uh I don't know.

Erika Malone 10:44

We have a long way to go, mate.

Noah Crenshaw 10:46

But um, I I would say Carmel has like I think near 200. If now.

Erika Malone 10:51

Yeah, then we're not we're not catching up then, but we're it's a start.

Noah Crenshaw 10:56

I don't know if we want to catch up, but anyway.

unknown 10:59

Yeah.

Erika Malone 11:00

Well, anyway, uh tell us what are some driving factors of this uh these road projects.

Noah Crenshaw 11:06

Well, kind of like what I hinted at earlier, you know, they're all designed to reduce congestion and handle population growth and increase traffic and improve safety. And kind of like what I said, Smithelli Road is a is becoming is already in some ways become a major east-west corridor now with the other by 69 on being open. And, you know, officials are kind of warned that, you know, this disruption in the current state of things for construction, it's just kind of inevitable. Uh, you know, for Greenwood, Mark Myers asked the mayor, he asked the residents to be patient, saying you gotta think about the big picture for easier travel, safer intersections, and better connectivity to I-65. Multiple segments are tied to different funding cycles, but all this is hoped to start be done in the next like decade. There's also some other work that is likely happening. Um, I know the state has some plans for the intersection at uh 135, but I'm not c sure of the details yet 100%.

Erika Malone 12:07

So I'm more still looking into that, yeah.

Noah Crenshaw 12:08

Yeah, so expect updates.

Erika Malone 12:10

Okay. Awesome. Yeah. Well,

Braun signs 'bell to bell' student cell phone ban in Whiteland

Erika Malone 12:13

I will get into uh our next story, which uh is uh kind of controversial a little bit. Mike Braun signed uh just like roundabouts. Yes, just like roundabouts. Mike Braun signed at the cell phone uh bell-to-bell uh ban for schools in Whiteland. Um it was a ceremonial signing for Senate enrolled act uh 78, which uh now requires uh Indiana schools to limit personal devices for the entire school day, which in a sense is bell to bell. So from morning dismissal or from sorry, from uh the morning bell to dismissal.

Noah Crenshaw 12:52

And to be clear, these are for students, not the fact that these are just for students, not for like adults visiting, yeah, for parents getting their kids or something.

Erika Malone 13:01

So this applies to cell phones, smart watches, uh gaming devices, anything like that that could be that uh could access the internet pretty much. Expanding on this kind of expands on existing rules to create a statewide baseline. So this is not a total ban. There are some exceptions um allowed for certain emergencies. Um students with IEPs or 504 plans, and also students with medical needs, you know, let maybe need to keep if they have diabetes that they need to keep track of their, you know, their blood sugar, things like that, they're allowed those devices, their devices to have those needs. So this actually uh gives schools some flexibility in how they implement their policies.

Noah Crenshaw 13:42

So like you said before, it was kind of a little controversial to make this change. Can you talk a little bit about why lawmakers were pushing for this?

Erika Malone 13:51

Yeah. So during uh the ceremonial ceremonial signing at Whitelin, um, it wasn't at Whitelin High School, it's actually at their admin building, which is right next down to it, right next to it. Um, but lawmakers said the goal is to reduce classroom distraction. Um they had there have been some concerns, uh, including declining attention spans uh and the mental health impacts that cell phones and social media can bring. Yeah. So this will actually uh help so st uh teachers can focus on teaching instead of being like the stalwarts and enforcing those, you know, students using their cell phones. Um, and this could help students build better habits as well. So this takes pressure off the teachers and place actually places the responsibility on administration. So uh I actually talked with uh principal Duke Lines and said some of uh their policies include uh phones off and there's being going to be stored in back their students' backpacks. That's kind of what they'll they'll start with. And if a student were to bring their phone out to use it during the day and gets caught with it, it'll be confiscated and put in a in a safe, secured storage container until the end of the day when the student can take possession of it again. So this will and this it's not just Wyland that have that has already been implementing policies, uh schools across Johnson County are already updating their policies to include and include some designated storage areas. I know Franklin just updated their uh wireless communication policy as well.

Noah Crenshaw 15:28

So, you know, what were parents, you know, what do parents think about this?

Erika Malone 15:34

Yeah, so from from what I've from what I've heard and seen, because I'm on I'm on social media, I've seen the comments, especially in the chatter pages. Parents want access to their kids, especially if an emergency were to happen, they want to make sure their kids are okay. Schools want to centralize communication during emergencies, and lawmakers argue schools, not students, should control communication in emergencies. But that's not all. There's some other ideas that uh were kind of float uh floating around. There was actually a bus driver that asked uh Governor Mike Braun about phone restrictions on school buses.

Noah Crenshaw 16:09

Um He's also a clerk plus not school board member, right?

Erika Malone 16:12

Yes. Um, yes. So he asked about uh if there were uh there if this law could be expanded to have phone restrictions on school buses as well. And uh, you know, there were some other questions that reporters asked about reevaluating school-issued tech like Chromebooks, and also would there be a possible return for more traditional learning tools like hard copy textbooks like you know we had growing up?

Noah Crenshaw 16:37

Yeah, it's it's interesting to kind of see the shift. Because, you know, kind of like when we were in school, it was still like there were computers, but like you didn't have or not like there were computer labs. Yeah, there were you still had textbooks. And then like near the end, at least for me, like the last three years, you know, we got I think I was in eighth grade when we first got Chromebooks, or it was an eighth or ninth grade, one of the two.

SPEAKER_01 17:02

Oh, okay.

Noah Crenshaw 17:03

Um yeah. One of the two, and then you know, they kind of slowly we saw it like using Google Classroom, starting to see more of it digital and now we're like ten years and now we're like ten years later and it's it's grown.

Erika Malone 17:20

Yeah.

Noah Crenshaw 17:20

Well, not only has it grown, but it's starting to be like backtracking. I don't want to say backtracking, but kind of yeah, people are starting. So it's now going the opposite direction. People are now starting to wonder if that's good for them. Maybe we went too far. Yeah. Like I think I remember something from your story about how like someone talked about the gamification of learning. And I think that's a valid point because I do see how, at least from my experience, there were some things that text online textbooks that are designed to be like game-like.

Erika Malone 17:53

Mm-hmm.

Noah Crenshaw 17:54

Um, even like in college.

Erika Malone 17:56

Yeah. To help with attention spans and stuff.

Noah Crenshaw 17:59

So yeah, so I so I do see some of these arguments. I just think it's interesting to see how it's kind of flipped.

Erika Malone 18:05

Yeah.

Noah Crenshaw 18:06

Such a in only like less than 10 years.

Erika Malone 18:08

I I think it's so interesting to see the surge, especially in technology, and then a sudden, like, you know, all the these conversations of like, oh, maybe like you said, we went too far, maybe we should backtrack because like in elementary school we had computer labs. And then I remember at least in middle school, we didn't have a computer lab, but we had Chromebooks, but they were in the teacher's classroom, like in a storage container. Like we weren't allowed to take them home.

Noah Crenshaw 18:33

Oh, well, we could take them home.

Erika Malone 18:34

Oh, we were not allowed to take home. And then in high school, we had these huge, which like if you look at a laptop now, it's super small, right? Oh, yeah. I feel like now, like at least I remember my freshman year, we had these huge, like dinosaur laptops pretty much that we were allowed to take home. And then, you know, they they got smaller and smaller, and then Google Classroom came along.

Noah Crenshaw 18:57

And I find it so interesting how the experience also differs from each school.

Erika Malone 19:01

Yeah. Well, you come from a a rural high school and you know, you get Yeah, I wasn't drinking clons, so yeah, the environment's different.

Noah Crenshaw 19:09

Um but another thing that's kind of makes me wonder is there is the factor of AI because you know like I know I don't know necessarily the data or the anecdotes on the high school level, but I know on the college level, I've seen posts and I've heard about like teachers, or if I should say professors and this is college level being concerned about the use of like AI for coursework. And so I do wonder, you know, as that starts to continue to trickle down, and now we're seeing this shift, like how will that affect things?

Erika Malone 19:39

Right. Well, there's an interesting juxtaposition here that I I would like to mention, and that's the um the US Department of Education has uh in the past uh shared support for using AI as a learning tool in schools. I don't as far as Indiana goes, it I'm not sure what lawmakers are thinking of that. There have been some right. So there are some schools that have implemented certain AI tools, you know, for certain things. Uh, you know, I again I'm not an expert on what those are yet. Uh still looking into it.

SPEAKER_03 20:16

Uh-huh.

Erika Malone 20:16

But yeah, it's an interesting juxtaposition where at least some Indian lawmakers are wanting to back, you know, go back to hard copy textbooks, but the US DOE is wanting to keep stuff some stuff digital.

Noah Crenshaw 20:32

Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, I am curious how if they do end up like the one idea of like returning to more traditional learning tools, yeah, you know, at work.

Erika Malone 20:42

Or is there a balance, you know?

Noah Crenshaw 20:43

I think these are all questions that they're probably grappling with. Uh, a lot of parents of schools are grappling with in addition to law mafers.

Erika Malone 20:49

So I it'll be interesting to see how it all plays out again and legislative sessions, you know.

Noah Crenshaw 20:55

I I'll sure I'll come up.

Erika Malone 20:57

You know, education policies change like each year. So we'll see where it goes. But how about we take a short break uh and then we'll be back with our round table. Like listening to this podcast, you can help support it. Subscribe to the daily journal and at subscribe.dailyjournal.net to support your local newspaper and this podcast. Your support helps make everything we do possible.

Roundtable: Bargersville seeks Tree City status

Noah Crenshaw 21:25

And we're back here now uh with our round table. And uh we're gonna let Erica take it away with Bargersville getting another mention in the podcast today. Look at them go.

Erika Malone 21:36

I know, right? Yeah, they're they're doing all sorts of cool stuff. So Bargersville, they're actually uh getting closer to becoming a Tree City USA community, which if you don't know what that is, I can share a little bit about that. They actually create a five member tree board. Yes, there's tree board. This ordinance was officially approved April 14th during a meeting, and this will help them. Uh this board will be. in charge of reviewing a variety of things involving uh you know in environ you know environmental safety you know as far as removing uh removing trees or planning permits they weigh in on development plans uh and they promote education and awareness uh regarding trees and the environment and how it can help stormwater management air quality energy savings and high property values so yeah they just uh they're working towards that they're working towards an ordinance and we'll see where it goes but i know franklin is a tree city yeah and this is solved like through like a nonprofit vision it's like the I believe it's like the Arbor Foundation Arbor Day Foundation Arbor Day Foundation something like that I think that's the name yeah and it's been they're actually about I think they're celebrating their 50th anniversary this year because they started in like 1976.

Noah Crenshaw 22:51

Yeah I remember you talking about how you looked up to see who was the oldest city in Indiana to be labeled a tree city. Yeah like Bloomington or something.

Erika Malone 22:58

It was Bloomington they actually uh don't quote me it was it was between like 40 and 46 years something like that.

Noah Crenshaw 23:06

So close to where yeah and it's also interesting that if Vargas does become a tree city it'll be interesting just because Vargas technically a town I know so but the designation's tree city so you can't call them tree town you have to call him tree city so I know yeah so I think it's just a little interesting like sidebar like oh well that'll be interesting.

Erika Malone 23:24

Leanne actually brought that up when she was editing the story was she was like wait can Vargasville be a tree city if they're a town and I'm like well it's part of the program so like they're technically a tree city but yeah it has nothing to do with I mean tree town sounds cute though.

Noah Crenshaw 23:39

I d I think it's the alliteration that's why it sounds interesting.

Erika Malone 23:42

I know right yeah Bargersville tree town anyway but if you're uh if any residents are interested in getting involved uh there are applications to uh for the board um that you can apply to and that opens June 1st so uh yeah next month okay and have a few weeks to decide if you want to be part of this uh new tree board yes all right uh and then you have something for us uh that's somewhat election related so boring you have to bring elections in it

Roundtable: School board filing opens next week

Erika Malone 24:10

um yes but it is really it's a topic to talk about which is schools yes so we had like a one ish two ish week break I should say yeah from election if the primary ended but now another filing period is open and that's for school board and it's interesting because nor because they actually changed the law and it used to be a lot later like you would apply or not you would file in like August but now they've kind of moved up to May because that was something people complained about they wanted more time to campaign because if they're filing deadlines in August you can only campaign for like three months four months from August to November whereas if it's in May you get kind of get the same benefit like the candidates chosen in a primary oh yeah yeah like so it kind of makes it fair in a way it makes it more fair.

Noah Crenshaw 24:54

Yeah but yeah school board filing begins next Tuesday May 19th and the deadline is uh at noon June 18th there are 16 total seats across the county's six public school districts that are oh are up for election this year and appear on general election ballots on November 3rd and school board seats just in general just generally they all have four year terms and they involve major responsibilities like approving the budgets for the school district hiring by waiting the superintendent employees and setting policy directions for the school district and you know stuff like that. Yeah interesting and um so let's let me just give you a quick breakdown of what seats are up and who currently has them it's not an indication of whether or not they are aren't running I do not know if who is running at this time because the filing hasn't happened yet. We'll have more information so you know like who is the person who might be running or who might be replacing them depending on the situation. Depending on like I said depending on the situation. So for Centergrove schools there are three at-large seats those are currently held by Scott Alexander and Jack Russell who were elected in 2022 and then uh Jane Dennigan Smith she actually was appointed in 2024 after Gary Robinson a teach a former teacher who was elected to school board in 2022 uh passed away in 2024 um and then Edinburgh also has three at-large seats they are held by David Bauman Ryan Blaker and Daniel Teeter and they were all last elected in 2022 now we're gonna go to Clark Pleasant they have three seats up as well so for this and it's kind of township based in a way so there's three total seats a Clark Township gets two seats and Pleasant Township gets one seat. Clark Township seats are held by Kent Beeson and Linda Pulsal uh the Pleasant Township seat is held by Kimberly Crawford uh Pulsal was first elected in 2022 uh Crawford was appointed in 2021 elected 2022 and Kent Beeson was also most recently elected in 2022 gotcha and then we go down to Franklin the Newton Township seat there's just one is held by David Dion that one's up again uh he was appointed uh last year after the elected member Jake Sappenfield had to resign uh the Union Township seat is up as well that was it's currently held by Becky Nelson and she was last re-elected in 2022 in Greenwood we have the District 2 seat that's one person uh that's up it's currently held by Jack Napier he's been on the board for a while he was re-elected again in 2022 uh there are two at-large seats up as well there's Chad Schaefer he was elected in 2022 and Lori Feller she was appointed last year after Mike Metzger the elected member who was elected in 2022 uh resigned and left and last week we have uh Ninevah Hensley Jackson United or more commonly Indian Creek that's what everyone calls them there this one has some caveats so bear with me uh so first we have the Hensley Township seat that's in Johnson County Kelly Neal is the current holder of that seat she was appointed in 2024 after Judy Mezenick's death and then this district's actually in two counties less in Morden County so Jackson Township's in Morgan County uh that office holder is currently Amy Woodrum and she was elected in 2022 and this one some of these other districts have seats are township specific but this one has even more specific as in only residents of the specific township may vote for that township seats for Indian Creek. Oh interesting so like if you only Jackson Township residents can vote for a Jackson Township seat and only Hensley Township residents can vote for the Hensley Township seat. And that's just because of how the bylaws and how it was enacted in the law of that board.

SPEAKER_01 28:52

Interesting probably don't see that too much.

Noah Crenshaw 28:54

No there's not a lot of districts that cross counties like that in the state but um it's been like that for years. Well um because there was a time where like every township had a school and that was the school district. Yeah and they consolidated consolidated yeah I guess it made more sense I guess I don't cherish the reason it happened years ago.

Erika Malone 29:15

I imagine before we were born.

Noah Crenshaw 29:17

Yeah anyways uh so to file for school board you have to file what's state form called a CAN 34 K A C A N candidate 34 this is the number it's a nomination petition usually requires at least 10 signatures from eligible voters within that school district you also have to file a CAN 12 which is a statement of your economic interests stuff like that like finances all that okay but new this year there is some changes because the state law passed last year this is the first election that's going to come up which is that you can now declare a party for school board. Interesting and there was a lot of controversy about that but we'll get to that here in a second. So for declaring a political party affiliation the options are pretty open it's just a blank you write the word I looked at the form. But you could do major parties like Republican or Democrat you could do independent or just write nonpartisan independent and nonpartisan are separate things. Yeah um just because independent's more considered political party than and now even though it's technically not yeah it's complicated with independence.

Erika Malone 30:25

And are you now like required to like it's optional. Okay gotcha.

Noah Crenshaw 30:30

We'll get to more about that here in a second. But there is a requirement if you do declare party which is that to officially affiliate with the major parties you have to have voted in the two most recent primaries for that party or have attained written certification from the county party chair that you are the party say you are like if you are Democrat or Republican. And then you have to file the certification with the candidates paperwork. So like that's kind of something that comes up with the primaries too like if you want to run in the primary for one of the parties you have to either vote in those last two elections or file get the certification.

Erika Malone 31:06

Right.

Noah Crenshaw 31:06

But so this is the first time it's really come up for school boards though. And your affiliation just like if it was a primary can be challenged if the conditions aren't met um but school board races don't have primaries. So it's kind of it's adding some primary like rules to a a a type of office primaries.

Erika Malone 31:25

Interesting.

Noah Crenshaw 31:26

So you could have multiple candidates from the same party appear on the November ballot. It just is it's kind of like a primary and a general and a one I guess that's like but also because of that and also in line with lack press policy when like it was nonpartisan you can't do straight ticket voting for school boards so you have to manually select the answers anyway. Yeah. So that part isn't changing it's just you might you might see you're gonna see like an R or D after people's names works some things might seem different but it's gonna be like substantially similar since you're gonna see political affiliations in terms of like how it might look on your ballot.

SPEAKER_01 32:02

Yeah.

Noah Crenshaw 32:02

But just know that you can select multiple from that party.

Erika Malone 32:06

Yeah. Well it'll be interesting to see if um school board candidates affiliate with a party or declare it on so we'll see how that how that looks on the ballot.

Noah Crenshaw 32:16

Yeah and I want to talk a little bit about the state law because this came up last year of Seven Rolling Act 287 and you asked me a little bit ago like is it required? I was like no but there was a version as they tried to do this that would have made it required.

SPEAKER_01 32:31

Interesting.

Noah Crenshaw 32:32

And then as it went through the whole process it became may instead of a shall because that's the legalese. So uh supporters have argued the bill will give voters more information about the people they're electing just because there's an idea like obviously if you affiliate with the party like what you might support your positions on like a wide breadth of issues.

Erika Malone 32:53

Yeah.

Noah Crenshaw 32:53

Um and some of these people you may already I think you know but you may you don't know because it's supposed to be not person.

SPEAKER_01 32:59

At least it was supposed to be that's how it's been in the past. Yeah.

Noah Crenshaw 33:04

And now it's now you will learn more about the idea the idea from the proponents is like you'll get more information right about the people and to better make your decision.

Erika Malone 33:15

Well yeah and regarding an education you know there's uh like you said a wide breadth of of views regarding education so again this will be interesting to see but uh critics have warned that doing so having this but basically calling it partisan school board elections because we're one of the few states that now has that um could inject partisanship into school governance um which people have opinions about that regardless.

Noah Crenshaw 33:45

Right this bill it was controversial the votes even more so it passed the House 54 to 40 it passed the Senate 26 to 24.

SPEAKER_01 33:57

By just two.

Noah Crenshaw 33:58

Yeah Micah Beck with the lieutenant governor almost had to do a tiebreaking vote when this was passed but someone came in because the constitutional majority to pass is 26. Oh okay yeah so so it just passed yeah it shows how divided it was yeah um and for the state house uh for the house representatives all our local people voted in favor and Michelle Davis who was she was actually one of the sponsors when it came over from the Senate so she was like and she's tried to support this kind of legislation before I remember a few years ago. Right. I mean she's meant she mentioned in her election interviews as well how she supported this for the Senate it was a little more split uh Rod Bray, Cindy Karaskarniera Freeman her local senators they all voted in favor but Greg Walker voted against. And with that um that is what we have for school boards right now. We'll keep you updated as more as the filing start they had about a month or so.

Erika Malone 35:00

I'm excited to to cover uh you know the I don't know if I'll be doing uh covering much campaigning and things like that or you know the I assume I'll probably be covering the school board election stuff. So yeah yeah as the education porter so it'll be interesting to see how that goes so well

Roundtable: FCMS reality store

Erika Malone 35:20

uh moving on from elections I uh want to talk about uh something that I covered that some franklin students they uh they had got an interesting experience they had uh I would consider a real a reality check actually yes yeah so franklin uh middle school students got a realistic preview of adult responsibilities through what they've called for years the welcome to reality event this has been an annual financial literacy sim uh simulation for eighth graders and I think it's been going on over 10 years actually yeah so this is designed to give students a realistic preview of adult responsibilities especially in budgeting and decision making um and this was originally created with support from the Crane Credit Union but then school counselors as it as the school has grown they decided to kind of um take it under their wing so uh students are assigned the role of a 29 year old adult with a career salad salary and monthly expenses and the interesting thing about this is students choose a career based on their current GPA which determines their simulated income so uh counselors they teach lessons beforehand on budgeting taxes, loans, childcare and financial planning. So an interesting thing is if a student has a higher GPA they actually have more options for a career hence bigger salaries. If a student has a lower GPA then they might not have as many options.

Noah Crenshaw 36:52

That's interesting.

Erika Malone 36:54

So uh the goal here is to show how education and academic performance uh can influence future financial stability so when I went and covered this students were uh kind of rotating through multiple uh what they called reality stations each representing a major life expense so housing transportation utilities groceries childcare insurance pets and some other things you know like unexpected life events there was an investment table which I thought was interesting there's also a part-time job table which a lot of students were were at so the students had to track their spending using a check registry and must stay within their monthly budget. Many students discovered that they ran out of money quickly and sometimes after only a few stations. Like I said there was a part-time job uh station which allowed students to have an extra income if they fell into debt and then the random event generator uh table introduced unexpected life scenarios such as maybe a sick relative or a car breaking down or even some positive aspects like winning the lottery as well. Again I talked to many students I I remember I talked to one uh student and I think I asked her it was like what uh what's kind of surprised you so uh so far and she was like well I wasn't expecting like taking the bus to be that expensive she was or like uh a monthly payment for a car she was like I'm gonna go bankrupt I'm like car payments are expensive nowadays so and actually the cool thing about this is community volunteers actually help run the stations they guide students and simulate real world transactions so many of the students they they were uh surprised of how expensive basic necessities are some students discovered that they couldn't afford pets you know but at the pet uh station but they didn't get some emotional support from a therapy dog that was there. So that was cool. Oh yeah that's cool. And so I think the key lessons that the students kind of took away from this was that adult life involves constant financial trade-offs. Even high salaries can be strained by housing and you know other costs like transportation and groceries. And I would say as adults ourselves we've uh we're kind of we we realize this as well uh so and unexpected events can quickly disrupt a budget as well. True education and GPA can significantly influence career options and income as well. And many students said the event helped them feel more prepared for um college jobs, future independence and as they transition into high school as well.

Noah Crenshaw 39:35

You know that that's great. Yeah you know they're not the only franklin hasn't been the only school Greenwood has also done this and I believe Centergrove has as well. So it's nice that you you know these kids are getting a chance to see what it's like early so they can be they have four years or well paying on if to get a job in school and all that at the be at the maximum they they get four years or they get a couple months a couple years you know to prepare.

Erika Malone 40:01

Yeah I remember my middle school had a reality event uh similar to this too and it was I don't know if it was based off of our GPA but a lot of students I I remember having to roll a dice for how many kids like year you would have and like there were some I that would have like six kids.

Noah Crenshaw 40:20

That's possible.

Erika Malone 40:21

Yeah so and then surviving off of a budget like that it was interesting to see out especially as an eighth grader of like wow like you know and then the costs back then I don't know if they attribute it to like actual costs like you know at the at the time but to see like the costs of things back then to now you know what kind of pressure that puts on a middle schooler of like wait this is how much groceries actually cost now like yeah yeah they do. So it was a it was a cool experience to see

Outro

Erika Malone 40:56

but with that I think uh I think we've covered everything so far. So uh thank you so much for tuning into this episode of Beyond the Headlines and let us know what you would like to hear by submitting your thoughts to news tips at dailyjournal.net again that is newstips at dailyjournal dot net and follow us wherever you get podcasts and we review anything you want to say Nola just uh we'll see you next time. Yep tune in