More than 30 parents attended a recent Eanes school board meeting to voice approval for the inclusion of building a new elementary school west of Loop 360 on the River Hills tract as part of a 2010 district bond proposal.

Valley View parent Ian Ball, who said he spoke on behalf of a number of parents present, said the building of the school on the 85 acres owned by the district would be a visionary solution to a number of problems for district stakeholders.

“A new school as a part of where we live would allow for more and better after-school programs and an increase in parent involvement, both of which suffer dramatically from lack of proximity to the school,” Ball said. “There are broadly felt safety concerns by the Valley View constituency about young students being moved long distances on very busy roads on buses.”

Ball and other Valley View parents present at the meeting want the school board to include a new school in the western region of the district in any new bond proposal.

Valley View parent Kim Allen said the distance of the campus from the community it serves is a safety risk and puts pressure on kids and families and has a negative impact on the quality of learning for students at the elementary school.

“Children at VV often have an hour and a half commute to and from school,” she said. “Kindergartners are asked to be on the bus as early 6:45 in the morning.”

Brian Fahey, a Realtor with Coldwell Banker’s Westlake office petitioned the district to build a new elementary school on the River Hills tract. Fahey told board members the district needs make plans for a new elementary campus that can handle growth from new students.

“The district is growing, and it is growing west,” Fahey said. “Within the Valley View zone alone, there are 267 subdivided and vacant lots, 64 of which are currently on the market for sale. Development of these lots alone would overburden our current elementary facilities. This does not include several approved by yet to be constructed multifamily projects, plotted lots on River Hills Road or the hundreds, possibly thousands of acres, yet to be developed just a stone’s throw from our neighborhood. We are averaging 25 new single family homes a year and many more home that are being renovated and expanded to support growing families.”

District administrators gave highlights of its monthly financial report that showed the cash and investment balance of all governmental and proprietary funds at $49,321,978 on Nov. 30; expenditures of 11.8 percent of the General Fund total budget and 21.7 percent of the operating budget, tax collections for November totaling $5.2 million and total 2006 bond expenditures and encumbrances through November at $53.26 million.

The annual report for the district ending Aug. 31 reviewed by independent auditors Maxwell, Locke and Ritter showed the district’s total combined net assets as $89.5 million on Aug. 31, a decrease of $445,000 from the last year. The report showed the district’s expenses for the year to be $146.6 million, $400,000 more than it generated in taxes and other revenues. The total balance for the General Fund was shown at $34 million, a $1.4 million decrease from last year. Taxes still account for 77 percent of the district’s revenue, financial assistance from the state government only 10 percent.

In other board action:

• Board members gave the administration the nod of approval to appoint former Barton Creek Elementary school principal Ellen Arnold as interim principal for the school until a permanent replacement could be found after the recent resignation of John Andrews.

• The board approved a class size waiver for first grade classes at Barton Creek, where three of the four first-grade classes have 23 students, one more than the maximum the state allows. Wellman said teachers at the school felt it was in the best interests of the students to request the waiver rather than split the classes into a new class this late in the school year.

• Board members approved 14 revisions to the district’s governing policy that will impact a broad scope of district activities, including accounting procedures, employee benefits and grievances, academic achievement, graduation, attendance, student rights, student grievances and the use of facilities for non-school activities.

• District Superintendent Nola Wellman recognized student winners of the district’s fall greeting card contest. The elementary school winner for note card design was Magdalena Ugarte, a Cedar Creek Elementary School second grader. Middle School winner for birthday card design was Sam Coppel from Hill Country Middle School. Westlake High School student Alex Kelly won for holiday card design. Elementary school finalists were Owen Holland, Julia Brown, Brian Tames, James Revelle and Kamea Leach. Middle school finalists were Brenda Chang, Anna Hodges and Adam Mezurski, and high school finalists were Asif Moosani and Anna Vaughn. Finalists and winners received prizes from Chick-fil-A.

• District assistant coach Lynne Bryant introduced members of the 2009 Westlake Varsity Volleyball Team, state finalists for the third year in a row and announced that WHS player Sarah Shaw won recognition as Texas player of the year.

• Wellman also recognized WHS for winning the silver award in the U.S. News and World Reports listing of top high schools, WHS Robotics Team for top rankings at a recent Texas BEST Robotics competition and WHS students Grace Hanna and Matt Stillado for honors won for dual acting at a University of Texas Acting event.