Family Support Services

[Adopted 1996. Last amended 2005.]

1. LWV-BMC strives to enhance public awareness of problems involving families whose children are at risk for abuse or neglect, school failure, involvement with the courts, or substance abuse.
2. In areas including nutrition, community health, alternative education, family support, and juvenile justice, we support prevention and intervention programs that are client responsive and cost effec-tive.
3. We support community education and collaboration to establish programs and facilities that shelter juveniles in need of treatment and/or detention.
4. We support programs that provide for the least restrictive community-based shelter for children in need of out-of-home placement.
5. We endeavor to advocate programs for children at risk and to work specifically with the schools. We recommend involving and training parents, and adding social workers and counselors.

Local Government

[Adopted 1973. Last restudied 2020. Last amended 2013.]

1. LWV-BMC supports close cooperation among governmental units within Monroe County.
2. LWV-BMC supports state legislation that permits the restructuring of local government for increased efficiency and responsiveness to the needs of Monroe County citizens.

Local Housing Availability and Affordability

[Adopted 2025.]

1. Supports availability and quality of housing.
2. Supports increased housing options for the homeless, the disabled, seniors, first-time home buyers, residents who live in substandard housing, and households that earn their living in Bloomington-Monroe County.
3. Promotes increased and diverse housing options and types for shelter, rent and for purchase that are integrated within the community.
4. Supports diverse measures to accomplish the above goals such as public and private partnerships and grants, development agreements, rehabilitation, fee waivers, zoning measures, density bonuses, vouchers, and the formation of one or more affordable housing trust fund(s).
5. Supports Bloomington and Monroe County agencies and local organizations increasing urgent housing and shelter options, especially medical respite, emergency shelter and supportive housing.

Schools

[Adopted 1970. Last reviewed 2025. Last amended 2025.]

With regard to the Monroe County Community School Corporation and the Richland-Bean Blossom School Corporation, LWV-BMC supports the following:

1. Funding

a. Adequate funding of public schools from preschool through high school should be a priority of the state legislature. No state revenues should be used to support private schools of any kind. Nor should state funds be used to support charter schools because, although they are called public schools, they are not answerable to the public—their school boards are not publicly elected, and they don't have to follow all of the same laws that govern traditional public schools. Further, public schools should not have to share with charter schools or with private schools of any kind, any local property tax revenue raised by holding a referendum. We also do not support a school voucher system, because it undermines Indiana K-12 public schools and could ultimately lead to their privatization.

b. Total tax-supported education without fees for textbooks or programs should be available to every public-school student. 

c. Funding of uncollected lunch fees should be handled in a way that does not depend on charitable contributions and does not result in the shaming of students whose families have not paid their fees.

d. Government funding of public schools should never be dependent on political party affiliation or adherence to any religious principles.

2. Curricula

a. Curricula should be set by educators, not by legislators.

b. History curricula should include all genders, races, ethnicities, and religions. 

c. Art, music, and foreign language instruction should be considered parts of a standard curriculum. Health and fitness, as well as social-emotional learning should be supported on a continuing basis. In addition, programs for skilled trades education should be funded and supported.

3. Student support

a. Libraries and guidance and counseling programs should be adequately funded and supported at all levels.

b. Librarians and school guidance counsellors should be professionally trained and certified.

4. Continuing education

a. Programs for continuing adult education and training should be funded and supported.

5. Redistricting 

a. On a three-to-five-year schedule, school districts should be monitored for various demographic changes, including but not limited to numbers and socio-economic balance.

b. Overall redistricting should occur at least every 10 years following a census.

c. With consolidated school systems such as exist in Monroe County, busing of some number of students to and from school will always be necessary. Bus transportation routes should aim to minimize the time students spend traveling; walking/biking routes should be safe with traffic/street crossing and other safety concerns addressed.

6. School board candidates should not be required to state a party affiliation on an election ballot.

Planning of Land Use

[Adopted 1953–54. Last reviewed 2022. Last amended 2022.]

LWVBMC supports sound planning and zoning in Monroe County and encourages community action on be-half of sound planning. 

LWVBMC supports ordinances that 

1. Address environmental concerns:

• Maintain and conserve by public and/or private means those areas of Monroe County that are environmentally vulnerable—karst topography, wetlands, floodplains, reservoir watersheds, endangered flora and fauna, and others.
• Create or maintain a variety of types of green space in built environments and preserve natural landscape features; ensure that all new developments include adequate greenspace; investigate innovative ways of including greenspace. 

2. Address sustainability:

• Promote a compact and contiguous form in residential, commercial, and industrial development with growth directed toward areas where utilities and infrastructure exist or where they can be easily provided.
• In determining optimal sizes for city and town growth, consider that development should be constrained to areas that are not environmentally vulnerable; consider the water supply needed to sustain an expanding population.
• Increase the use of non-polluting modes of travel, improve pedestrian safety and convenience, and improve traffic flow and public transportation options throughout Monroe County.

3. Given the above considerations, promote land use forms that address the needs and concerns of the town’s, city’s, and county’s populations: 

• Preserve and maintain the form and architectural character of the city’s core neighborhoods and the county’s local communities while encouraging demographic diversity;
• Encourage diversity in new developments, such as a variety of construction styles and choices to allow for all incomes and special needs; emphasize livability and lifetime communities;
• Direct efforts to developments that promote sustainability such as live-work developments for high employment areas and urban village centers to provide amenities to neighborhoods. 
• Provide for affordable housing, recognizing that certain racial, ethnic, and socio-economic groups experience housing prejudice.

4. Maximize the benefits and achieve the goals of the city’s, the towns’ and the county’s comprehensive plans by bringing all stake holders—including Indiana University—to the table and working together productively. 

Utilities Service Board

[Adopted 1966. Last amended 2007.]

1. Continue to support an independent, policy-making utilities service board, with a professional direc-tor of utilities who should be administratively and technically trained in the area of utilities.
2. LWV-BMC supports a certification program for the Bloomington water and sewage utilities.

Waste Disposal

[Adopted 1982. Last reviewed 2022. Last amended 2022]

LWV-BMC supports disposal of municipal solid waste that minimizes dependence on landfills. To ensure protection of the environment, we specifically support

1. Source separation, reduction, reuse and recycling
2. Best practices for collection and sorting of solid waste and recyclables; siting; and design of transfer stations, sorting facilities, and recycling facilities
3. Incineration only if it protects against air and water pollution; fly and bottom ash must be tested, handled properly, and disposed of safely
4. Pollution controls for all aspects of solid waste management

LWV-BMC recommends that the title to waste and recyclables placed at curbside be assigned to the govern-mental unit charged with solid waste management.

LWV-BMC supports cooperation among all entities responsible for dealing with solid waste management, such as local government, the Solid Waste District, Indiana University, the Utilities Service Board, and neigh-boring jurisdictions.

LWV-BMC supports the safe and effective disposal of hazardous materials, including PCBs. We favor the use of the best available technology in order to destroy or contain the hazardous materials and at the same time protect human health and the environment. Proper protection of air and water, and the proper disposal of residues, must be assured.