This and that: A Wednesday take
West Lafayette schools make pre-K pilot permanent, and other notes from both sides of the river.
Thanks for ongoing support from Based in Lafayette sponsor Long Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Lafayette. For tickets and details on all the shows and events, go to longpac.org.
Some notes on this Wednesday morning …
WEST LAFAYETTE SCHOOLS MAKE PRE-K PROGRAM PERMANENT: The West Lafayette school board on Monday removed the “pilot” tag from a pre-school program launched two years ago at West Lafayette Elementary.
Anna Roth, assistant superintendent, told the school board this week that the pre-school pilot had met goals to qualify for funding from the state’s On My Way Pre-K and federal Child Care Development Funds vouchers, fill available slots and make the program financially self-sustaining for the direct costs for staffing and resources.
Roth said the West Lafayette pre-K would continue in the 2026-27 school year with the same parameters: one classroom at West Lafayette Elementary, a minimum of 16 and maximum of 18 children – including those younger than 5 by Aug. 1, and turning 4 by Dec. 31 – and a scheduled day from 8 a.m.-3 p.m. during the school year. Priority for placement in the preschool first goes to children of West Lafayette school staff, followed by children who live in the West Side district. She said tuition costs – listed at $1,000 a month during the pilot – would remain the same.
West Lafayette first floated the idea of the pilot program in 2024, just as the district joined the city and Tippecanoe School Corp. on a study of early education needs. That study – which focused on areas primarily served by West Lafayette, Klondike, Burnett Creek and Battle Ground elementaries – used parent surveys to show there was a shortage of between 75 and 125 early childhood education slots in that area in and north and west of West Lafayette. Even then, city officials said they believed that estimate was low and were ready to invest in a center built by the city and run by a third party as a way to address a shortage of child care slots.
The city’s redevelopment commission hired an architect in December 2025 to work on potential programming and design details of an early childhood education center that could accommodate between 75 and 125 slots on land along Kalberer Road donated by Purdue Research Foundation. Construction wouldn’t start until 2027 at the earliest, city officials said.
In other action, West Lafayette school fees: The West Lafayette school board set fees for materials deemed “non-curricular supplemental” items for classes in 2025-27, even as board members stressed about passing those costs onto families. According to a memo to the school board: “This change will allow us to recoup revenue for expenditures that are not covered by the current $158 per student the state is currently passing through to districts through monthly tuition support for curricular materials.”
“I plan to vote in favor of this, given where budget concerns may be due to all the changes made by the state, however, I fully disagree with the idea of charging course fees for public schools,” board member David Purpura said. Monday. “I don’t think it should ever cross a student’s mind that, well, maybe I shouldn’t take this class because there’s a fee attached.”
Purpura suggested that the district consider factoring those costs into West Side’s look at its eighth-year property tax referendum, which the school board is considering taking back to voters at a new rate in the November 2026 election.
The lists of fees range from $1.25 for take home folders at elementary school; $17 for fourth-grade science for rocket projects at the intermediate school; $20 in ceramics classes for clay and glaze; $15 in aerospace engineering for foam sheets, basswood and other materials; $20 for groceries in culinary courses; and $20 in Advanced Placement chemistry courses for googles and other lab supplies. (The fees are waived for students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.)
Here are links to the full lists for West Lafayette Elementary, West Lafayette Intermediate School and the West Lafayette Jr./Sr. High School.
Also, ICYMI …
WORK SLATED FOR CREASY LANE: The spring and summer road construction season in Lafayette is expected to see fresh pavement for Creasy Lane, one of the city’s busiest thoroughfares. Expect more details in the coming months, but Jeromy Grenard, the city’s engineer, said this week that the work will include milling existing pavement and repaving the length of Creasy Lane, along with some curb work in some points. The project will not require closures, but it will mean flagging operations as sections of the road are being worked on, he said.
WHO DOESN’T LOVE RED PANDA? Mike Carmin had a great look at how Purdue landed Ron Niu – better known as Red Panda, whose bowl-balancing/unicycle bit is a top halftime act across the NBA, college basketball and more – at Mackey Arena for Wednesday night’s game against Iowa: “Oh, you got the G.O.A.T.” The game starts at 6:30 p.m. on Big Ten Network, for those without tickets for what will be Mackey Arena’s 100th consecutive sellout for men’s basketball. Here’s the story in Carmin’s Greater Lafayette Sports Report:
STATE OF THE STATE ADDRESS: Gov. Mike Braun is scheduled to deliver his annual State of the State address at 7:30 p.m. tonight/Wednesday, Jan. 14, before a joint session of the Indiana General Assembly. The State of the State will be livestreamed here: www.youtube.com/@GovBraun.
For those looking to compare notes, this is text of Braun’s State of the State from January 2025. And Indianapolis Star reporter Kayla Dwyer had context on Braun’s first year in office here: “Gov. Braun’s State of the State is tonight. What defined his first year in office.”
FROM THE STATEHOUSE: Here’s coverage of a few things rattling around the early days of this Indiana General Assembly session:
Township government structure is back in the General Assembly’s sights with House Bill 1315. Indiana Capital Chronicle reporter Tom Davies had this: “Hundreds of Indiana township governments could be forced into consolidation under a renewed attempt in the Legislature for streamlining the 1,000-plus such bodies across the state. A House committee on Tuesday advanced a proposal that would require many townships to merge with other townships, with others being taken over by city or county governments. … The proposal would require consolidations by township units that don’t operate fire departments, have fewer than 6,700 residents and don’t meet a minimum level of emergency financial assistance distribution. A township with at least 80% of its territory and half of its population living within city limits would have its functions assumed by the city unless the township operates a fire department.” For more: “Legislators return to longtime debate over Indiana townships.”
Also from Tom Davies at the Indiana Capital Chronicle: “Indiana legislators aren’t going along with all the federal tax cuts that President Donald Trump pushed through Congress last summer. A hefty tax break for businesses included in what Republicans dubbed the “One Big Beautiful Bill” won’t be applied to state taxes under legislation advancing in the state Senate.” For more details: “Indiana set to opt out of some of Trump’s federal tax cuts.”
Indiana Capital Chronicle’s Casey Smith had this: “‘Let-kids-be-kids’ bill clears Indiana House committee with bipartisan support. The proposal seeks to limit child welfare investigations triggered by “ordinary” parenting decisions.”
WINTER COAT GIVEAWAY: Free winter coats for kids will be available from 3-5 p.m. Friday, Jan. 16, at the Greater Lafayette Family Shelter, at 2010 Elmwood Ave. in Lafayette. The Free Coat Give-a-Way, sponsored by Zeigler Subaru, will have 130 coats available. To register for the event, go to https://www.lafayettefamilyshelter.org/subaru-loves-to-help.
Thanks, again, for support from the Long Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Lafayette. For tickets and details on all the shows and events, go to longpac.org.
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Tips, story ideas? I’m at davebangert1@gmail.com.