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7 More than 50 area parents, district administrators and board members attended a meeting at Eanes Elementary School on Jan. 28, where members of a parent group shared their vision as to how the nearly 50-year-old campus could be renovated to alleviate district safety and functionality concerns and retain the outdoor character parents say they want for their children.
The group provided a 46-page presentation created by its members, which include architects, and an environmental engineer, accessibility expert, property developer, realtor and attorney.
“There is no doubt that the campus must be updated to meet the evolving needs of teachers, children, administrators and parents,” member Julia Webber said. “Without these needed improvements, the Eanes Elementary experience will diminish, threatening the campus’ long tradition of excellence.”
As the school is updated, parents want to make sure it retains its historic, park-like campus. Committee members said they are confident to preserve the school’s existing character while updating it for 21st-century learning.
“We know we need new buildings; it is very clear that we need new square footage,” said parent, architect and committee member Juan Miro. “We want to make sure the character of the new buildings matches the existing campus.”
Miro said the students at the elementary school value its history and unusual nature.
“When you think of a school that is unique, think of a school with a cemetery in the middle and a church that’s been converted into an art building,” he said.
The parents made their wishes clear – they want renovation, not demolition of the historical school grounds. Renovation, they say, is the environmentally responsible approach to updating the campus.
“We are not trying to design the school; we are just trying to establish the right parameters,” Webber said.
The parent coalition would like the district to replace portable buildings with new facilities; upgrade mechanical, electrical, plumbing and lighting in existing structures; upgrade communications infrastructure; upgrade campus access and security; and ensure Americans with Disabilities Act accessibility.
The current gymnasium and cafeteria building is at capacity, and the district should take the opportunity to replace the structure with a new more flexible building that can be used for a variety of events.
The coalition has drawn up maps for how the campus can be retrofitted and expanded based on the idea of zoned program areas for academics, administration, other anchor activities.
“We want to establish an academic core in the center of campus that includes historical buildings,” Miro said. “New areas on the outer edges of campus would house administrative functions, the gym, cafeteria, library and computer lab.”
Members of the Eanes coalition want feedback on their ideas from parents and other members of the community.
“We want to get a plan, a message out that all of the school community can support,” parent group member Colleen Jones said. “We need to work as a team with other schools. We are a district with six elementary schools. We need to keep communication going with the district and all the other schools.”
Parents of Eanes: keep it up. Make noise. Be heard. It’s proven to be harder to silence you than it has been to silence the parents of children with special needs regarding the 19+ facility. This program–so critical to young adults with disabilities–has been housed in a dilapidated trailer on the Cedar Creek campus for over 10 years. EISD held a by-invitation-only meeting on the future of this facility and even sent letters to the parents of children who will one day attend the program to tell us we were specifically NOT invited to attend. Can you imagine sending letters to the parents who live in the Eanes Elementary school district to tell them that there will be a meeting about the future of the campus, but they can’t come? Good luck with that, EISD. No, this can–and does–only occur with respect to parents of children with special needs.
Parents of typical children, please drive by the 19+ facility on Walsh Tarleton and ask yourself: Would you want your child to go to that facility every day for 3 years? Then write the school board and tell them to make the 19+ program a high priority. Until you, the parents of typical children say “enough–fix this deplorable situation” nothing will change for the many young adults for whom this program is their last chance to be groomed as productive, contributing citizens.
Wow! How can EISD exclude any taxpayer from attending these meetings. Bottom line, we all support these schools (buildings and programs) with our tax dollars. Exclusion of any kind is a questionable practice; and perhaps a slippery slope from a legal standpoint as well.
Taxpayer: I have the letter. If I could upload a pdf of it to the Picayune I would. Here is the relevant paragraph “The district has scheduled a meeting with the parents of students who are currently served through 19+ or who will have a young adult receiving these services in the next two years to discuss the future direction of this program of services. We have invited thirty four parents to this meeting. Due to the size of the group, this meeting is limited to invited participants only.” One of the “lucky 34″ told me that about 12 people showed up. Democracy in action. Great lesson for your students, EISD: she who controls the message controls the world.
Excluding parents and taxpayers from meetings is business as usual for Eanes ISD administrators. Even worse, this district excludes district children from public school by making it impossible for them to attend. Intentionally.
Scroll down to the bottom on this link to view a photograph of the 19+ trailer. I’ve heard there are holes in the floor and carpet — deplorable indeed.
http://www.keepeanesinformed.com/this_is_westlake_high.htm
(19+ photo at bottom)
The ’size of the group’ doesn’t seem like a reasonable explanation for excluding any taxpayer with an interest in the 19+ program (whether or not they have a child that may be a candidate for the program). Eanes has facilities that will easily accommodate larger groups; like the newly renovated fine arts facility.