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Eanes school board takes no formal action on requests for investigation
Friday, July 10, 2009
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Editor’s note: Reader comments were inadvertently deleted and reposted to this story.
By Dane Anderson, Staff Writer
Eanes school board members took no formal action on two requests for an investigation into an anonymous e-mail sent to some board members and area residents on June 25, 2008. The e-mail contained a link to a high school student’s social Internet site.
The e-mail contained comments directed to local resident Susan Bushart, who spoke out against district superintendent Nola Wellman during an open board meeting earlier that evening. Bushart had asked board members to investigate Wellman’s property tax appraisals and payments following major improvements to her home.
Photographs from a student’s Internet site was also included in the e-mail that followed that board meeting.
In April, Bushart sent a letter to board members asking them to investigate the e-mail, which she said could be linked to a school board member.
“I asked the board to investigate the matter because it happened within 45 minutes of when I spoke,” Bushart said. “There were a very limited number of people present at that time – two members of the public, a district employee, district administrative staff and board members. I felt the board had a moral obligation to investigate.”
Local resident and attorney Leonard Smith also asked board members to investigate the matter during a public board meeting on April 29. Smith’s wife, Janis, a former booster club president, was one of the original recipients of the e-mail.
“I don’t think there is an [Eanes Independent School District] parent or administrator who would watch idly as a child was bullied on an EISD playground,” Smith said. “How then can the EISD school board remain silent after a kid was anonymously smeared because of what his mother said at a school board meeting?”
Eanes school board president Jim Strickland said board members met in closed session to discuss the e-mail issue, and that following the closed session, no board member elected to propose that any formal action be taken. Strickland said he was unable to comment as to whether the matter would be addressed again in the future.
“No action taken kind of speaks for itself,” board member Clint Sayers noted when asked for detail on the board’s discussion of the issue.
Bushart feels the e-mail was an attack resulting from negative comments about the district administrator during the school board meeting. She said that board members have an ethical obligation to send a clear message that retaliation against people who speak out at board meetings will not be tolerated.
“It seems that every time someone brings something up against the school board or district, there is an act of retaliation against a parent or child,” she said. “The Eanes trustees are elected leaders in our community. As such, they have a responsibility to ensure taxpayers can exercise their right to speak in open session of their public board meetings without fear of retaliation. At the very least, they should pass a resolution condemning this harmful behavior.”
Local parent and resident Cheryl Fries, who often questions the district’s compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, agreed with Bushart that speaking out against district policies can trigger anonymous negative reactions. Fries said that, on two occasions after speaking in open session in opposition to district actions, she received anonymous letters through the U.S. postal system containing forks.
“It appears that someone is willing to go to great lengths to keep the community from speaking out,” she said. “The question is, ‘Why?’ ”
This is outrageous.
Our Westlake community should be, first and foremost, a safe and nurturing place to raise children. I do not know the details of the case above, but it is morally imperative that we do not allow any of our teenagers or children to be cyber-bullied. Texas lawmakers just passed a bill making certain types of “online harrassment” felonies (http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=107518). This is a potentially serious matter, especially considering the suicides of teenagers that have occurred in response to online attacks (such as the well-publicized cases of Megan Meier and Ryan Patrick Halligan). We, as a community, need to send a firm message that anonymous online slurs are NOT acceptable, especially when it comes to our children. Thank you.
More information on this issue here:
http://www.keepeanesinformed.com/not_the_first_time_or_even_the_second____.htm
There is one reason that is clear to any interested observer to explain why EISD chose not to investigate how and where this email originated: trequest came from Susan Bushart. Say no more–that explains it totally. The extent of EISD’s vendetta against the Busharts and the Pharr’s is almost laughingly predictable. If this had happened to someone else–say a board member of EEF or a parent of a star athelet–then it would have outraged the Board; but because it happened to Susan’s family, well, let’s just say that their outrage is selective. When EISD gets crossways with a parent, it too often responds by villifying the person. It happens all the time. They must think that no one will notice. And in fact, they are right. So at least they’re consistent. Once a parent objects loudly–to discrimination, to the continued choice to ignore ADA laws, to math programs, to class sizes, it doesn’t really matter, it’s anything that challenges the board perception that they’re pr!
esiding over the perfect school district–the preferred path of EISD is to make the person objecting the topic of discussion. Then they don’t have to address the problem. As Dave Barry would say, you can’t make this stuff up.
What Dr. Wellman does not understand or realize is that if there is nothing to hide and there was no wrongdoing then it should all be out in the open. The closed door policy makes it appear as if there is something to hide.
All they had to do was ask all Board members in the open board meeting a simple question- Did you or anyone in your home send this email?? A simple answer of NO would stop all discussion and speculation. If a board member answered yes- they would be able to explain if it was he or she or someone in their home and apologize.
The School Board and Dr. Wellman fail to realize that they teach by example. They are teaching our children that they answer to a different set of standards- is this right if we are to teach equality, fairness and mutual respect?
Outrageous, and even worse, completely predictable. Those in our community who learn about this latest incident and know the details are outraged and yet, FAR worse has happened in the past — and yes, with children as the targets.
Eanes public records show that Clint Sayers sent an email to EISD Trustees Paul Stone and Jim Strickland on April 30, 2009 and wrote,
“What plans do you have in responding? These accusations cast a shadow over our district and not responding makes things worse. Why not have this investigated by a third party?”
This article quoted Mr. Sayers as saying,
“No action taken kind of speaks for itself,” board member Clint Sayers noted when asked for detail on the board’s discussion of the issue.
The board’s apparent intentional indifference to this matter should speak volumes for this community.
Thank you Mr. Sayers for expressing your concern and having the integrity to suggest this matter be investigated.