Our Mission - Welcome.  Information is essential to public participation and open government.  This site created in 2003 is maintained by parent volunteers as a community service and is a repository of public information, education news and community resources.   Questions and comments are welcome. Contact:  Dianna Pharr dpharr@austin.rr.com

 A Song for Mother's Day ... turn up the volume!  ;)   William Tell Overture for Moms

      Keep Eanes Informed 

ex·em·pla·ry   (g-zmpl-r)  adj.

1. Worthy of imitation; commendable: exemplary behavior.

2. Serving as a model.

For five years, Keep Eanes Informed has advocated for open government, transparency and accountability.  For years, we attended (and often recorded) each and every Eanes ISD board meeting (even the 7:30 a.m. study sessions) collected handouts from the meetings, requested board minutes, and posted the information to this site for public review (archive here.)  We also posted notices for school board meetings because when this site began, those notices were not available on the district website.  We obtained and posted other essential public information (that Eanes ISD failed to post on its website) as well including:  district budget information,  bond information, salaries and contracts, construction audits, ADA reports showing noncompliance, board member motivations, transfer students, covered football fields, Eanes ISD facility use, conflict of interest forms for board members, information regarding the industry that has built up around the needs and rights of children, and most recently, check registers showing the expenditure of our school tax dollars.

We followed the money.  Never could get an explanation regarding the $68,000 of unpaid student activity funds and safety reports.  We watched the coaches on the fashion runway and hunted missing documentation and absent financial audits although board policy required production of booster club financial audit to the district by July 1 of each year.  I'm sure the policy existed for a good reason.  Still, the district ignored our concerns.  Later, emails told the story of a booster club that was missing "$2900 from the donations account" and confused about whether the money in multiple banking belonged to the booster club or the school district.  In fact, remember when Thomas Ratliff "sued" the district ?   He made that decision just a few months after I requested and received this information.

We asked hard questions:  Why are we paying for "Chicks Dig Chaps" t-shirts (for the football players) out of General Fund 199?   We all know that our teachers are required to be licensed so why is Eanes ISD Superintendent Nola Wellman not certified?   Remember when Eanes ISD told bond voters that the $500K Jumbotron would pay "pay for itself" and then "make money" that would go into our general fund to support teachers?  Instead, we learned through (a tip from an Eanes employees) and a series of public information requests the marketing of that scoreboard was transferred to the Chap Club for fundraising (all under the radar, of course, and with no contract in place.) 

We've been busy.  Last year, KeepEanesInformed posted all available information and supported a petition drive when Eanes ISD submitted a complaint against a prize-winning physics teacher who had served our children well for decades ... a complaint that could result in the loss of his teaching license.  We ask other important questions this year as well:  Why are we installing millions of dollars in artificial turf on our high school practice fields and high school stadium, too, when:  1) there are legitimate concerns about health risks associated with turf and 2) children in wheelchairs in our schools can't join their friends on the elementary playgrounds and sports fields because they are inaccessible.  Did our district buy turf instead of safety?  Are the total expenditures (and positions) for central administration on the rise in Eanes ISD?

We've heard from community members, Eanes ISD employees, and Eanes ISD students and parents as well.  We learned from our conversations that all children matter to our community, not just those who make the school district "look good" on the TAKS test or the football field.  We've heard time and again that our Eanes ISD teachers and parents are the most important resources for our children.  Our community believes that students, parents, and teachers should have a powerful voice in the operations and expenditures of our school district.  

We've made progress.  The 2006 bond initiative for a covered football field failed.  The superintendent is now certified.  After years of advocacy, Eanes ISD school board meeting notices and minutes are now posted on the district's website, and board meeting handouts are now posted on the Eanes ISD website.  (We advocated for the distribution of board handouts at or in advance of board meetings because it is impossible for the public to follow along in an open meeting without this information - archive here - and were routinely told "we're not ready for the public to see these...")   We've also worked (with the help of law enforcement) to insure that board meeting agendas are provided with the adequate specificity (as required by the Texas Open Meetings Act.)  The district now collects booster club financial audits as required by board policy.  Outdated Eanes ISD policies were updated and contractors (according to Eanes ISD) are now trained and must sign agreements to comply with the privacy rights of our children.  Eanes ISD knows that someone is watching.

We will continue to ask the questions, echo the concerns of parents, students and taxpayers:  Where does the bond money go?  What is the district's priority?  Why does the district say it can't afford teachers and librarians while it continues to hire more and more central administration staff and cover our district in artificial turf?  Why does the district try to revoke the teaching certificate of a nationally recognized science teacher?  Why are parents afraid to advocate for their children?  Why don't we have foreign language in our elementary school yet we are adding millions of dollars of film labs, video trucks, and video garages at the high school?  How many students will benefit from these millions?  Will the Chap Club (athletic funding) benefit?  In an Internet age, why does Eanes ISD refuse to post its check register?

In April 2008, KeepEanesInformed asked this question:   

In May 2008, the Eanes ISD board posts the following closed session agenda item:    

Tex. Gov. Code 551.074 Personnel Matters

Deliberate and Discuss Central Office Administrative Positions

Check back for updates on this question ...

The legal invoices below ($1200.00) characterize me as an "individual not affiliated with the district."  In truth, my affiliations with this district are numerous including parent, volunteer, and taxpayer. 

Further, Feldman & Rogers describes my site's email address as "deceptively similar to the district's email address."  Deceptively similar?  Are they joking?  So, to clear up any confusion:  Yes, the email address references the very same Eanes ISD that is the subject of this site, KeepEanesInformed. 

Meanwhile, I appreciate the communications I received from Eanes ISD community members, employees, students, and taxpayers.  All are well aware that the email address eanes_isd@hotmail.com (posted on this site since October 2003) belongs to KeepEanesInformed.  They understand my "affiliation" with the district and visit to access public information that is not posted on the official Eanes ISD site. 

And about this "Job Program for Private Attorneys" funded by our school tax dollars?   It's thriving all over Texas!  In October 2007, Feldman & Rogers was also hard at work threatening a citizen in Galveston who maintains a site about the operations of her community school district.  Click here to see the letter that finally preceded the withdrawal of that threatened lawsuit:  Attorney Responds to David Feldman's Demand Letter. They stay real busy helping school districts withhold public information from the public, too.  Maybe Eanes ISD should focus on the district's apparent inability to effectively manage bond projects instead.

And I'll let you know if I ever receive that $1200.00 letter.  In fact, I'll post it!  Visit this site's page on Private Law Firms to learn more about the "Job Program."  

 

For more information click here or go to"Private Law Firms" page link - see menu bar on left side of this webpage.

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It's OUR check register.

Why does Eanes ISD refuse to post it online?

 The district purchased Boardbook and therefore, could easily post the check register at no additional cost. Unfortunately, the Eanes ISD superintendent and board have ignored citizen requests to post this public information.  The district continues to resist open government by refusing to post the district's check register online.  What is Eanes ISD trying to hide?   

March 2008 - Eanes ISD estimates a charge of $63.00 to produce one month's check register.  Request here

The Eanes ISD check register reflects the expenditure of our education tax dollars and is online only on this site. HB2560, a bill that would have required governmental bodies to post check registers online, almost passed during the 80th Legislative Session. The Eanes ISD superintendent and board members have refused repeated public requests (verbal, written, and in board meetings) to post this "super-public" information online. When government agencies refuse to respond to the public, there is usually a reason. KeepEanesInformed will continue to obtain and post this public information reflecting the basic expenditure of our tax dollars.

Click here to review Eanes ISD Check Register - only available on this site.

Sample checks:

Note:  The following is only a sampling of the district's legal expenses Walsh, Anderson, Brown, Schultz and Aldridge law firm and does not reflect the legal representation costs associated with the 2007 Valley View Elementary sexual harassment lawsuit.  Further Walsh, Anderson, Schultz, Brown and Aldridge is just one of many law firms retained by Eanes ISD and funded with our school tax dollars.        See the "Private Law Firm" page of this site to learn more.

70670      WALSH AN000 WALSH, ANDERSON, BROWN, SCHULZ R 10/27/2006          $600.00

71899      WALSH AN000 WALSH, ANDERSON, BROWN, SCHULZ R 12/15/2006       $11,430.44

      72473      WALSH AN000 WALSH, ANDERSON, BROWN, SCHULZ R 01/19/2007       $38,153.22

73541      WALSH AN000 WALSH, ANDERSON, BROWN, SCHULZ R 02/22/2007        $4,615.71

96824 07/12/2007        37,331.22     WALSH, ANDERSON, BRO 199 E 41 6211 00 732 0 00 000 Legal Services through May 15, 2007

07/12/2007                   68,207.05     WALSH, ANDERSON, BRO 199 E 41 6211 00 732 0 00 000 Legal Services - May 1, 2007

97445 08/23/2007         1,857.71     WALSH, ANDERSON, BRO 199 E 41 6211 00 732 0 00 000 Legal Services Through July 2007

96806 07/12/2007 17,025.00 STERN, WILLIAM PHD 199 E 41 6211 00 732 0 00 000 as of 06-29-07 Legal Services  Spec. Ed. Due Process

For more information click here or go to"Private Law Firms" page link - see menu bar on left side of this webpage.

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HAVE YOU BEEN CONVERTED?

January 2008 - It's that time of year again.  Signs on school property, the constant flow of newsletters and glossy mail-outs. 

Eanes ISD leadership expects you to open your wallets and hand over ONE MILLION DOLLAR$.

   Eanes ISD is actively seeking to CONVERT YOU.  It's true. 

In an email to a district parent, Eanes ISD Board Member Paul Stone states:

<<< "In addition EEF (Eanes Educational Foundation) is doing a commendable job of converting the mindset of our parents from a "free" public school education to more of a private school mentality whereby parents expect to supplement the tax dollars with donations ... " >>>

At the same time ...

Eanes ISD refuses to post its check register or financial information online.   Eanes ISD continues to retain private attorneys with our tax dollars in an effort to withhold our public information. 

The Eanes "message" is that EEF donations fund teachers.  However, EEF donations actually allow Eanes ISD leadership to continue to fund their "wish list" instead of prioritizing our teachers. 

Before Eanes ISD attempts to "convert the mindset" of district parents, before Eanes ISD "passes the hat" claiming financial need, the district should tighten its belt, fund teachers instead of wish lists, post the check register, comply with state and federal laws, and stop using our tax dollars to retain aggressive private attorneys to battle our children's rights and withhold our public information. 

A continuing stream of money, provided through EEF, simply facilitates the district's priority on wish-lists and its intentional refusal to be transparent and accountable to taxpayers, teachers, parents and children.    

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New turf and lights for practice field: $1.2 million

Amount spent in recent bond to install the grass just destroyed: $400,000

Architect's estimate to bring Eanes Elementary ramps to code during last bond: $200,000

Architect's estimate to bring Eanes Elementary ramps to code today: $500,000

Amount allocated to bring Eanes Elementary ramps to code: $0

Amount allocated during March 2008 board meeting to WHS film lab: $700,000

Amount superintendent says she will spend on ADA: $1 million

Items she will address: unspecified

Current bond project coded to ADA: renovation of baseball dugouts

Child's right to access safe and appropriate education:  Priceless.

                                                                                                                                                        April 2008 - KEI

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The Eanes ISD Superintendent and Board are planning a new bond proposal.

Will they try again?

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Steamroller Blues 2008

March 19, 2008 - As I stood taking these pictures of the athletic practice field in front of the WHS ninth grade center this afternoon, the lyrics of an old James Taylor song kept running through my mind ...

Well, I'm a steamroller, baby, I'm bound to roll all over you ...

The painfully real visual of a steamroller ripping up a $400K sports field of fancy (and expensive) sod with embedded wiring ... to be replaced with fancy (and even more expensive) Astroturf ($1.5M - $2M) left me feeling as though yet another napalm bomb had exploded (in this taxpayer's wallet). It is hard to comprehend a public school board that is so willing to prioritize something so frivolous, while at the same time willing to remain intentionally indifferent to the discrimination against students resulting from the district's long standing ADA noncompliance. (Note: click here for "before" photos and a 2007 KeepEanesInformed report on this bond expenditure.)

The placing of the 'Think Safety' sign in front of this construction site certainly doesn't seem to illustrate our school board's sense of priorities for our district's children. I doubt another Astroturf practice field is a taxpayer priority. If safety is truly a concern, our bond money would be better spent on providing access to basic needs ... safe exit during fire drills, access to playgrounds and bathrooms.  'Think Safety' would be a decision to spend our bond money on ADA compliance;  a decision that safeguards children and reduces our district's risk of an costly lawsuit that could result in the loss of federal education funding. 'Think Safety' would be a decision to provide equal access to all facilities and a quality education for every child attending school in Eanes ISD.   - Susan Bushart

Here  goes: click here, turn up your volume and join me as we continue to sing the Eanes ISD 'blues'  ...

More photos coming soon: 

THIS PRACTICE FIELD IS THE FIRST OF TWO FIELDS SLATED FOR BOND-FUNDED ASTROTURF.

According to a March 2007 Superintendent's Recommendation to the Board:  "The preliminary estimated cost to add turf ($1,020,000) and lights ($100,000 to $250,000) to practice fields 1 and 2 is a range of $1,120,000 to $1,500,000. More information is needed regarding specifications for the lighting to determine a more accurate cost estimate.

This estimate doesn't include the cost of new turf in the high school stadium ... yes, again.

Totally renovated in 2002 with capacity almost doubled, new turf put down and Jumbotron installed.

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  Well Bust my Buttons!   Did Eanes ISD reject your child as a transfer student?

Pay no attention to the official Eanes ISD Board Policy on Transfer Students ... 

Introducing the Man Behind the Curtain Eanes ISD Back Door Program for Transfer Students.

Questions for consideration: ? Who is applying?  The student or the family? ?? Why is the board member involved?  ??? Are we following legal/local policy? 

    Click here to meet Eanes ISD Doorman / Board Member Robert Durkee

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Texas Comptroller Susan Combs, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts writes:

Transparency, a key government responsibility

 

You pay for your government, and you deserve to know how it spends your money.

That philosophy is gaining traction. State and federal governments are making transparency a priority, opting to make many records freely accessible, rather than keeping the public waiting for information requests.

From the beginning of my tenure at the Comptroller’s office, we prioritized transparency efforts. On day three, we published this agency’s expenditures online — down to the pencils — and posted other agencies’ expenditure data in short order.

Building upon those efforts, our office created “Where the Money Goes,” an online database for viewing state agency spending. Expenditures in the database are searchable by vendor name, expenditure category or agency name. With that kind of easy access to the information and numbers that make public institutions tick, taxpayers can learn about their government, question decisions, root out inefficiencies and hold officials accountable for the way tax dollars are spent.

By demystifying state spending and providing easy access to those numbers, we ensure greater accountability to the public. As the window on Texas state government, our office cannot have the blinds pulled down.  Full article here

 

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Transparency at Eanes ISD

Re: Jan. 19, 2008 editorial “Going online to see if government is in line.”

I agree that government, including public school districts, should post public information online.

The Eanes school district continues to resist open government by refusing to post the check register on the district Web site. I have repeatedly asked the superintendent and board to consider this user-friendly and transparent approach.

In fact, each time I request this public information, I specifically state that if the district will post it, I won’t request it.  Still, this basic Eanes public information is available online only on a citizen Web site, www.keepeanesinformed.com.

DIANNA PHARR

dpharr@austin.rr.com
Austin

http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/opinions/index.html

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"I believe if taxpayers are going to foot the bill, they are entitled to look at every item on the receipt." - Governor Rick Perry

  

"Unfortunately, one must be wealthy to access the receipts and school districts like Eanes ISD refuse to post basic information such as the check register online." - Dianna Pharr

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Bursting the AP bubble

Advanced Placement courses, once a model for learning, are mere memory tests now.

By Tom Stanley-Becker
May 8, 2008

I'M AN AP DROPOUT. When classmates in my Advanced Placement U.S. history course take the AP exam Friday, I won't be with them. When they pick up their pencils and start filling in those little bubbles, I'll be reading the words of George Kennan, Lillian Hellman, Harry Truman and Paul Robeson -- .

for a paper I'm writing on the Cold War.

The problem with the AP program is that we don't have time to really learn U.S. history because we're preparing for the exam. We race through the textbook, cramming in the facts, a day on the Great Awakening, a week on the Civil War and Reconstruction, a week on World War II, a week on the era from FDR to JFK, a day on the civil rights movement -- with nothing on transcendentalism, or the Harlem Renaissance, or Albert Einstein. There is no time to write a paper. Bound by the exam, my history teacher wistfully says we have to be ready in early May.  Full article here.

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America's Best High Schools

From Massachusetts to California, a look at the schools that excel in teaching students

• Top 100—Gold Medal Schools

• The Ranking Formula

• What Matters Most in Measuring

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Rights complaint against Katy ISD could spill over to other districts

May 8, 2008 - Houston Chronicle
Practice fields imperfect for disabled

A complaint alleging discrimination against disabled people could lead Katy school district officials to improve access to football practice fields at a high school campus to comply with federal law.

The Office of Civil Rights, a branch of the U.S. Department of Education, ensures that programs or activities that receive federal money comply with the Rehabilitation Act. Violations could result in withholding of funds or court action.

Jim Bradshaw, of the department's press office in Washington, said Tuesday there is no timeframe for resolving the complaint but reviews are typically completed in six months.   Full Story Here

To learn more about ADA issues in EANES ISD, please click here.  Check back for updates.

Public Education Comes Online to Texas Homeschoolers

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Allegations of tampering at Carroll ISD school forwarded to DA

Tuesday, May 6, 2008 The Dallas Morning News
 

The Texas Education Agency is forwarding allegations of records tampering by a former Southlake elementary school principal to the Tarrant County district attorney's office.   The agency is asking local officials to determine whether criminal charges should be pursued.

TEA's general counsel David Anderson sent a letter to Tarrant County District Attorney Tim Curry on April 21, referring the "allegations of tampering with documents at a local elementary school" to Mr. Curry's office for review and investigation. The letter was released Monday.

The letter said that if the allegations are proved, they could constitute tampering with a governmental record, which is a felony. The letter also mentions possible violation of Texas Government Code for destruction, removal or alteration of public information, which is a misdemeanor.

"We would appreciate knowing whether any criminal charges result from these allegations as a certified educator is involved," Mr. Anderson wrote.

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Akins HS coach arrested, accused of improper relationship

The student told police that Arias first asked her out about the first weekend in March, according to the affidavit. The two went to the movies and met several times at Arias' apartment. They had sexual intercourse several times, the girl told police.

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Update: FORMER EANES ISD COACH SURRENDERS LICENSE.

Eanes Westlake Boys Coach Resigns, No Paper Trail of Complaints

The Austin American-Statesman reported on December 15, 2006, that Westlake High School boys soccer coach Jacob Hawthorne had been placed on administrative leave. Several days later, the Statesman reported that Hawthorne had resigned. STXSoccer has learned that the resignation was submitted on December 19, 2006. No other information was provided in the Statesman reports.

Pursuant to the Open Records Act, stxsoccer.com requested a variety of records relating to Hawthorne's resignation. The records requested included:

1) Letters or emails from parents complaining about Mr. Hawthorne;
2) Letters, emails or reports from anyone in the Athletic Department, complaining about the coach;
3) A completed report or investigation;
4) Any settlement agreement;
5) Any written report to the Texas Education Agency
6) E-mails between the coach and any player on the soccer team

Editors Note: Two emails regarding lack of supervision of the soccer locker room were received this afternoon from Eanes ISD. No records relating to the reasons for his resignation have been provided.  Bernadette Gonzalez, the coordinator of records management stated that she was still seeking to confirm the existence of Athletic Department memos or records, but no updates have been received since January 12, 2006. 

The only record produced by the School District was the letter of resignation. A copy can be reviewed here.  Any person wishing to provide additional information, may contact us at news@stxsoccer.com   Read more here.

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WE TRUST OUR KIDS TO THEM EVERY DAY. BUT A CHRONICLE INVESTIGATION REVEALS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SECONDARY SCHOOL COACHES AND STUDENTS IS RIFE WITH ABUSE.

Note:  Open this link and search for "Eanes ISD."

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Texas Taxpayers and the TEA:  The Fleecing of Special Education

If you are a taxpayer, read this.

So whenever a school bond issue comes up, and you as a taxpayer are asked to give more money, ask the school board how much was spent in one year on attorney fee’s to defend against parents who have children with disabilities.   Ask what the cost was of what the “frivolous” request was from the parent; and for the love of Texas, ask what they instead chose to spend in attorney fees to deny that request.  - Michelle Guppy

 

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CMLP Launches New Legal Guide Section on Access to Government Information

April 2008 - Every state has some version of a "Freedom of Information" (FOI) law — sometimes called a "sunshine law" — that governs the public’s right to access state government records. These FOI laws help the public keep track of its government’s actions, from the expenditures of school boards to the governor's decision to pardon prison inmates. For example, in 2003, a parent of a student in Texas, Dianna Pharr, spurred by the financial crisis in her local school district, began filing requests under the Texas Public Information Act to investigate the district's spending and operations. She and other parent volunteers established an online repository for the documents and made them available on a local community website, Keep Eanes Informed. Pharr's efforts received coverage in the local press, and have enabled her community to make informed decisions when dealing with school board proposals.

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FBI USES FOIA TO GAIN INFORMATION ON SCHOOL DISTRICTS

April 2008 - The city of El Paso, the Ysleta Independent School District and the Socorro Independent School District are among local government agencies presented with Freedom of Information requests by the FBI. The FBI asked the government agencies for information to produce a list of their "10 largest monetary purchasing contracts," records obtained by the El Paso Times under the Texas Public Information Act indicate.  Kinard declined to say if the information was gathered specifically as intelligence for its public corruption case that has engulfed the county's three largest school districts, the city, the county and El Paso Community College.  But he said, "that does not necessarily mean that it can't be used for the public corruption case." Since the public corruption investigation began in 2005, seven people have now pleaded guilty in closed-door hearings in U.S. District Court to federal charges.

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EANES ISD ADA ISSUES BY CAMPUS

WHS        WRMS        HCMS        BPE        BCE        CCE        FTE        EE        VVE

Note:  ADA Task Force priority categories are not included on these reports.

"SHW" refers to 2003 study.

"2007 Consultant" is the Registered Accessibility Specialist licensed by Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation to identify Texas Architectural Standards (the equivalent of ADA) compliance.

"Task Force Observations" means district personnel/parent identified issues and/or notes.

To learn more about this issue, please click here.  Check back for updates.

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Personal Emergency Evacuation Planning Tool

 for School Students with Disabilities

If your child attends Barton Creek Elementary School, Forest Trail Elementary School, Valley View Elementary School, Hill Country Middle School, West Ridge Middle School, or Westlake High School, you need to read this. These schools have been identified by state-licensed inspectors as having code compliance violations related to emergency evacuation for people with disabilities.  
 

Because of this serious safety issue, ADA Task Force Parents found and gave this National Fire Protection Association "Personal Emergency Evacuation Planning Tool for Students With Disabilities" http://www.nfpa.org/assets/files//PDF/Fact%20sheets/EvacStudentDisabilities.pdf to