Keep Eanes Informed                                                                                               

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From: S Bushart
Sent: Friday, June 02, 2006 5:04 PM
To: sbushart@austin.rr.com
Subject: Eanes ISD Community Update #19

June 2, 2006

Dear Eanes Friends,

Today I've chosen to provide a follow-up to Eanes ISD Community Update #17 attached below. 

On April 9, 2006 I sent a letter to Superintendent Nola Wellman expressing my concerns about the public documents exempted from disclosure described below, and asked to meet with her informally to  seek clarification and resolution of this problem.  She didn't respond ........ so ,still seeking answers and hoping for corrective action I formalized my inquiry by filing a public complaint as directed in Eanes Board Policy GF LOCAL.  I clearly listed the documentation withheld by Eanes ISD. The documents withheld related to the transactions described below. All donations were dated within the timeframe of my request; July 1, 2004 - July 1, 2005.*

The complaint worked its way through Level I, Level II and on May 31, 2006 the Eanes Board of Trustees considered the complaint at Level III. Their decision was unanimous.......no evidence of wrong doing !!!

Money, products and  services were donated by the Chaps Club, checks were cashed by Eanes ISD and yet our district  administrators have asserted their lack of any record relating to these transactions is not problematic.

Questions for consideration:

- Should taxpayers be satisfied with this apparent lack of fiscal accounting?

- If you donated $53,000.00, wouldn't you want that donation recorded by the recipient and the money easily accounted for?

- Who in our school district is responsible for the integrity of our district's finances?

I encourage our district administrators and board of trustees, to seriously reconsider  all concerns presented relating to  fiscal accountability. Taxpayers vote, and the Eanes taxpayers spoke volumes when they voted "NO" on a recent bond proposal.

Wishing all the best for our students, our parents, our teachers and our taxpayers,

Susan Bushart

ATTACHMENT:
 

April 18, 2006

Dear Eanes Friends,

On July 15, 2005 I submitted an open records request to the Eanes Independent School District (attached)*. The district provided 40 pages of documents responsive to my request.

Recently I had the opportunity to access financial documents held and provided by the Westlake Chap Club. I viewed documents relating to financial contributions from the Westlake Chap Club to the Eanes Independent School District. These items were responsive to my July 15, 2005 request to Eanes ISD, but for whatever reason were not included in the 40 pages released by the district on August 1, 2005.

Documents that I reviewed  held by the Westlake Chap Club, Inc. on March 31, 2006 and April 3, 2006 that were responsive to this request and not provided by Eanes ISD are:

- letter to Nola Wellman dated 9/21/04 with check#1839 payable to EISD for the amount $14,000. This check was deposited in the WHS Activity Account and recommended for use by Mr. Poole for         football videos.

- documents held by EISD Athletic Director Derek Long reflecting requests to Westlake Chap Club Inc. for purchase of audio visual and/or computer equipment at the cost of $27,715.04. (Paid for with         check #2025 on 6/9/05)

- documents held by EISD Athletic Director Derek Long reflecting requests to Westlake Chap Club Inc. for purchase of laptop computer to administer and maintain athletic website, assist in athletic director     office for administrative uses for events, meets etc. (Paid for with check #1845 on 9/24/04)

- documents reflecting donation of $4,517.14 from Westlake Chap Club Inc. to EISD for Tech Theater (Paid for with check #1874 on 11/7/04)

- documents reflecting donation of $2,240.40 from Westlake Chap Club Inc. and received by EISD employee Lisa Schlimgen on 8/30/04 (Paid for with check #1810 dated 8/25/04)

- documents reflecting donation of $53,000.00 from Westlake Chap Club Inc. and received by EISD employee Lisa Schlimgen on 5/23//05 (Paid for with check #2011 dated 5/15/05) for

    coaches stipends

- documents reflecting donation of $18,850.00 from Westlake Chap Club Inc. and received by EISD employee Lisa Schlimgen on 5/23/05 (Paid for with check #2012 dated 5/15/05)

- documents reflecting donation of Sony video equipment from Westlake Chap Club Inc. to EISD costing $8,750.00 (Paid for with check #1999 dated 4/27/05)

- letter to Nola Wellman dated 9/24/04 with a donation from Westlake Chap Club Inc. of $1,652.00 recommending that the funds be used by the volleyball program

- documents reflecting donation of Binswanger Glass products and/or services from Westlake Chap Club Inc. valued at $3,924.13 (Paid for with check #2027 dated 6/9/05)

- letter to Nola Wellman dated 8/20/04 with Westlake Chap Club Inc. donation of $$1,075.00 and recommendation that the funds be used for the athletic program (Paid for with check #1087 dated             8/16/04) This check was received by EISD employee Lisa Schlimgen on 8/30/04.

- letter to Nola Wellman dated 8/26/04 with Westlake Chap Club Inc. donation of $2,240.50  recommending that the money be used by the Westlake High School football team.

- documents reflecting direct payment of $1,500.00 from Westlake Chap Club Inc. to EISD employee Lisa Schlimgen (Paid for with check #2008 dated 5/10/05)

- documents reflection direct payment of $1,500.00 from Westlake Chap Club Inc. to EISD employee Lisa Schlimgen (Paid for with check #1842 dated 9/24/04)

Questions for consideration:

    - Why didn't Eanes ISD provide all documents responsive to this request?

    - How can our community access accountability for the district' failure to comply with Texas Government Code Chapter 552 Texas Public Information Act?

    - Why is the Westlake Chap Club providing monetary compensation with checks written directly to Eanes ISD employees?  Is this appropriate or legal? I've posed these questions to Eanes ISD                     administration but they haven't responded. **

    - How does our district monitor the financial activities of the Westlake Chap Club as they directly relate to our public facilities and employees?

    - Who is legally responsible for the decisions made regarding requests, receipt, and/or expenditures of these funds...the athletic director's assistant,principal, superintendent, board of trustees..?

I continue to encourage both the Westlake Chap Club and the Eanes Independent School District to publicly post on their websites the details of all financial transactions providing easy access to this information for our taxpayers.

Wishing all the best for our students, our parents, our teachers and our taxpayers,

Susan Bushart

EANES ISD CONTACT INFORMATION:

Dale Whitaker, Director of Communications:   dwhitake@eanes.k12.tx.us    phone: (512) 732-9002

Nola Wellman, Superintendent:  nwellman@eanes.k12.tx.us   phone: (512) 732-9001     fax: (512) 732-9005

Board of Trustees:    trustees@eanes.k12.tx.us

*     (see attachment) TPIA Chap Club

**   ( see attachment) direct pay

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