West Side’s turn: Different bus issues, new school times next year
West Side’s turn: Different bus issues, new school times next year
Plus, how a new zoning rule could help Isaiah 117 House avoid a debate next time. Where things stand for Fairfield trustee after Friday search warrants. And services set for former state Rep. Siegrist
Today’s edition is sponsored by The Long Center for the Performing Arts, which is bringing America to Lafayette for the first concert in the new Loeb Stadium. For details, scroll through today’s Based in Lafayette reporting project.
Tippecanoe School Corp. won’t be the only Greater Lafayette district with new bell times next school year.
West Lafayette Superintendent Shawn Greiner notified parents Monday that the district would move to a three-tier system of start and end times at its three main buildings, starting in August.
While TSC’s change came as the district tried to adjust to a bus driver shortage that made students as much as an hour late this school year, West Side’s switch came with federal guidelines that had CityBus rethinking the legality of service to West Lafayette Jr.-Sr. High School.
Here’s a look at next year’s opening and ending bell:
West Lafayette Jr.-Sr. High School: 8:10 a.m.-3:02 p.m. (current: 8:20 a.m.-3:09 p.m.)
West Lafayette Intermediate School: 7:45 a.m.-2:15 p.m. (current: 8 a.m.-2:30 p.m.)
West Lafayette Elementary School: 9 a.m.-3:35 p.m. (current: 8:45 a.m.-3:15 p.m.)
CityBus had been running some West Lafayette school routes to the high school since the mid-‘80s, Randy Anderson, interim general manager, said. Anderson said changes in Federal Transit Administration rules put CityBus’ service in question.
Anderson said one FTA regulation had to do with setting routes that didn’t seem designed to accommodate students and school personnel, only coincidentally serving the general public, as well. Anderson said the CityBus “school tripper” service ran specific routes in the morning and again in the afternoon to get students to and from West Lafayette Jr.-Sr. High School, before returning to the garage.
The school district reported that average daily ridership on the CityBus routes was 460 students. West Side also has its own traditional, yellow school buses that run to other facilities, including a combined 17 routes to West Lafayette Elementary and West Lafayette Intermediate schools, according to the district’s figures.
Anderson said the CityBus trips were open to all but that non-student riders were rare. That was different than, say, CityBus’ contracted routes around Purdue’s campus or the bus pass system for students getting to Lafayette Jefferson High School. Anderson said those routes are compliant because they serve a broader population for the full day.
Anderson said that with a scheduled FTA review in the works, CityBus didn’t want to have a ruling come late in the summer, or even during the school year, that the school service wasn’t in compliance. That, he said, would have left the school district in a bind. So CityBus gave the school corporation a heads up about the situation in January to give time to come up with other options.
Anderson said CityBus considered additional routes to cover high school needs, but those would have run almost double the current $151,938 contract.
The West Lafayette school board in April considered three options laid out by Doug Caldwell, the district’s transportation director. One included buying nine buses, at approximately $1 million to run the high school routes, with no changes to school start and end times. A second option would be to hire an outside contractor to manage all transportation services – which Caldwell said couldn’t start until January 2023 and that would force the district to build a bus maintenance facility. (West Side works with TSC on maintenance now.)
The third option was the three-tier bell schedule. Caldwell told the school board that option would put all students needing a ride on a traditional yellow bus and give drivers extended shifts – something he calculated would help retain staff. Caldwell said some of the cons included increased fuel costs for the district, the need to consolidate bus stops and force everyone to deal with new start and end times.
In the letter sent to parents Monday, Greiner said the district opted for that third choice, introducing the new bell schedule for next year.
“Realizing these changes will affect all staff and families, we thank you all for your support as we address the challenge together to ensure a safe and consistent approach to transporting our students to and from school each day,” Greiner said.
Here’s a look at anticipated bus pickup and drop-off times for the fall 2022 semester:
A ZONING RULE CHANGE SPURRED BY ISAIAH 117 HOUSE
Things could be easier next time around for Isaiah 117 House.
City councils in Lafayette and West Lafayette, the Tippecanoe County commissioners and smaller towns in the county will get a proposed change in zoning laws that would allow a new category, called “Haven Home,” to qualify to locate in residential zones.
The Area Plan Commission recommended the change to the county’s Unified Zoning Ordinance during its May 18 meeting, sending it on for the multiple stops required for final approval.
The Haven Home designation might have helped Isaiah 117 House – a faith-based nonprofit designed to give neglected and abused kids a home-like experience as they wait for placement in a foster home – avoid getting pulled into months of controversy earlier this year.
At that time, Innovation Church had offered land on the congregation’s property along Concord Road to build a house meant to offer temporary space for hours – rather than days or weeks – at a time. The problem: The Isaiah 117 House concept didn’t fit neatly into zoning code. County planners suggested that Innovation Church, built on land zoned as a planned development dominated by residential uses, go for a neighborhood business zoning that would make it easier for the church to split off a parcel to donate to the Tennessee-based Isaiah 117 House.
The proposition set off a wave of skepticism among neighbors near the church, all of which spilled out during contentious public hearings. Neighbors protested the idea of the church getting acres of commercial ground just to accommodate Isaiah 117 House.
The rezoning request was never approved. And Emily Sampson, Tippecanoe County program coordinator for Isaiah 117 House, started working with other potential sites.
During the debate, Tippecanoe County Commissioner Tom Murtaugh asked planners to come up with a designation that contemplated the work of Isaiah 117 House. The APC’s ordinance committee came up with the following description for a Haven Home: “A social service facility assisting children awaiting foster care or similar placement. A child’s stay at such facility shall not exceed 72 hours.”
According to the proposed designation, a Haven Home would be allowed by special exception in all residential zones – meaning that neighbors would still get notified and have a chance to speak up about one going in next door, but it wouldn’t require a full-blown rezoning request for commercial uses.
Reached this week, Sampson said she hadn’t been aware of the pending change.
“I don't know much about zoning,” Sampson said, “but it sounds like the commissioners are trying to make it easier for services to build residential homes, instead of trying to jump through the hoops of commercial building.”
Sampson said Isaiah 117 House had options if the Innovation Church donation didn’t work out. She said the organization was looking at two of those now. She said both sites were in residential areas. She said the organization had contractors, subcontractors and suppliers ready to donate their services to help.
“All Isaiah 117 Houses are residential homes, and most of them are in neighborhoods,” Sampson said. “We don't seek to try to provide a home-like environment; we seek to provide a home. … I'm not sure how long it will take, but I hope we can break ground this summer.”
A decision on the zoning code should come in the first two weeks of June, as each governmental body meets.
INDICTMENTS COME FOR 2021 KILLING
A grand jury delivered indictment for two men and a woman – Willie James, Bruce Alexander Jr. and Charlie Moore – accused of murder in the August 2021 death of 24-year-old Jermey Dumas, 24, in southern Lafayette, as well as other crimes. For coverage, here’s WLFI reporter Joe Paul’s report.
WHERE THINGS STOOD AFTER SEARCH WARRANTS TARGET FAIRFIELD TOWNSHIP
Things were fairly quiet Monday outside the Fairfield Township offices, the township’s barn across 12th Street from Greenbush Cemetery and at Trustee Taletha Coles’ north end Lafayette home, after Indiana State Police spent most of Friday using search warrants on the properties. Sgt. Jeremy Piers, public information officer for ISP’s Lafayette post, said Monday there were no updates on the ongoing investigation and no arrests. Last seen, state police investigators were hauling banker’s boxes out the back door of the township offices on Wabash Avenue and collecting exercise equipment, power tools and a pickup truck tailgate, among other things, from Coles’ house. Police were mum about what they were trying to find, though Coles said she believed it had to do with accusations by township board members and former employees about the trustee’s spending. Coles called it “backstabbing” and “bullshit” in an interview here. In case you missed it, here you go …
SERVICES FOR SALLY SIEGRIST
Word came early this week about a celebration of life for Sally Siegrist, former Tippecanoe County Council member and former state representative for House District 26. It is set for 2-4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 10, at the Lafayette County Club, according to an obituary released Monday. Siegrist died May 1 in West Lafayette. She was 70. For her full obituary, here’s a link.
Thanks to The Long Center for the Performing Arts for its support and sponsorship of today’s edition of Based in Lafayette. For details about upcoming shows, including America at Loeb Stadium on June 30, click the link below.
Tips or story ideas? I’m at davebangert1@gmail.com. Also on Twitter and Instagram.
Interesting story. Here's a version of that WL schedule that's easier to read: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1UqHhJzNhrul5vjvDED7D6MLSMOnda5LM0KzhuiSVOCc/edit#gid=0