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News / Schools
Colleen Jones, Kal Kallison win in Eanes school board election
Saturday, May 8, 2010
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Place 6 challenger Colleen Jones has won a seat on the Eanes school board with 58 percent of the votes (1,984) over incumbent Mike Monnig’s 42 percent (1,443), and incumbent James (Kal) Kallison retained his Place 5 seat with 53 percent of the votes (1,794 ) over challenger Sharman Reed’s 47 percent (1,572).
Place 7 incumbent Ellen Balthazar was unopposed for re-election.
BELOW LEFT: Place 6 winner Colleen Jones, left, does last-minute campaigning at the Valley View Elementary School polling place with Trey and Anne Wilfong. BELOW RIGHT: Place 5 winner incumbent Kal Kallison, left, greets Trey Dolezal at the Eanes school distirct administration building Saturday.
Congrats to Colleen and Kal! Thank you to Mike Monnig for his six years of service. Thank you to Sharman Reed for running.
Is Colleen Jones for or against the new school in the Cuernavaca area?
It is up to the entire school board to determine whether the District can actually afford a new school out Cuernavaca. The numbers that the District gave for M&O costs at $3 have now been proven to be incorrect and are actually $6 a sq ft- ask the Bond Committee.
But more importantly, teachers at the middle school and high school have been told that people who are leaving will not be replaced. They will now be teaching 6 classes instead of 5 and will have larger class sizes next year. Do you add to costs when you are proposing these type of changes or do you wait a bit.
The question should not be does Colleen Jones support a new school- the question is what impact will a new school have on the entire district in this economic climate. There is no doubt that there is support for a new school in certain areas of our community- but the real issue is what impact will it have on the other campuses, teachers and programs. And, is a new school the only option or are there others.
Not sure why Colleen Jones has been singled out here since Durkee, Sayers and Stone have all said previously that they are worried that we are proposing to build too much. At the PAC study session all three stated they weren’t sure we could handle the economic impact of all of the bond list. Remember, she is one voice of seven. There are others who may not support it.
If you truly want to see if the District supports a new school place it on a stand alone bond with the true costs and info for all taxpayers to see.
Mark my words, they’ll pull the new elementary school off of the bond package now that the election is over. Nola played the cuernavaca crowd like a fiddle. She got you to turn out to support the incumbents, but a new school out your way was never plausible.
How come you can’t expand Barton Creek? Bring in T-Shacks if necessary, times are tough. Less expensive than building new, and quicker solution as well. Wouldn’t that resolve most folks in the Cuernevaca area’s concern of distance and access? Then you can still use Valley View as admin without building a new school. Develop the River Hills tract sports fields for the kids at minimal cost and lease to WAYA/private organizations etc. for income. Then build the new school when you can actually afford it. Anyone disagree who does not live in Barton Creek West?
Or just maybe the Cuernavaca Crowd has figured out how to play this game. Maybe they have figured out that they have significant voting power, and the ability to pass or sink a bond. Do you really think the board or administration wants to risk angering this “crowd” now, when they have so much skin in the game. As the administration has pointed out, they need a bond to pass. If the new school is not on a bond measure the Cuernavaca Crowd may very well send the board back to square one. They can come back in six months with a bond measure that finally represents the interests of a long ignored part of the district.
The numbers just don’t work for a combined VVE and BCE. The current enrollment at VVE is 465 and BCE is 495. I got those numbers from the EISD website. If anything, the numbers are low. I saw a recent number for BCE of 522. The enrollment at BCE goes up every year. Using the numbers from the website, the combined enrollment would be 960 students. Even removing transfers would not get you to a reasonable number.
Times are tough. Get rid of all the administration that Nola hired and then she won’t need to turn a school into a big administration building. She wants a new elementary school because she wants a new castle … with a view of downtown Austin.
There are over 90 transfers at BCE and over 50 at VV. YOu remove transfers from the equation for all elementary schools and do some boundary shuffles while adding on to Barton Creek.
Also- if the Cuernavca Crowd wants to think they can sink a bond if it doesn’t have a new elementary on it they should think long and hard about the rest of the District. There are urgent exisiting facility needs that need to be taken care of. Single issue voters will lose. Plus- when it comes down to it people will vote with their pocket books and Cuernavaca will lose if we have a bond of 100m- granted we will all lose.
Kudos to the Cuernavaca area for turning out to vote. You’re probably right that administration is counting on you to help them pass a bond.
The problem is that you don’t have enough votes to really make a difference. In number of registered voters, you’re barely third, behind the Westlake Drive/Bridgepoint area and the Cedar Creek area. You barely edge out the City of Westlake Hills area for that third spot. While you turned out almost 20% of your voters, Rollingwood, with a fourth of your registration cast more votes in this election.
The bottom line is that we are one community and decisions have to be made for the benefit of all the children. It is unfortunate that there has been an effort to turn this into one area against the rest to try to justify the new administration building. That’s what this is about and what folks are against.
I won’t vote for any bond that includes a “new elementary” or an “indoor sports practice field”. The administration and board better wise up and place those proposed items on a separate bond.
I will not vote for any bond without an elementary on it. Cuernavaca has been long ignored. New development (Sienna Hills) has been paying taxes west of 360. You simply cannot except the new money and not realize that a new school would be needed. Heck – move the Cuernavaca area to Barton Creek. Make Sienna Hills fight for their school. How about this – since you are not providing the same level of service (Eanes ISD) you just lower and refund our taxes. Think I might be a little mad …. ?
I don’t blame these elementary parents at either school (Eanes or Valley View). The elementary schools have been neglected for years so the faucet could pour forth to pay for athletic facilities. Just four years ago there was a $53 million bond for “safety and security.” What did we get? New turfed and lighted practice fields, new turf at the stadium, a new tennis complex, new baseball dugouts, Jumbotron upgrades, a new batting cage, etc, etc, etc. In the meantime, the elementary schools have infrastructure failures, ADA problems, overcrowded classrooms, unsafe portables, aging playgrounds, traffic and location problems and the list goes on. If the board can come up with an EDUCATION related bond issue that does not involve tripling the size of the administration building and building new athletics facilities, I would wholeheartedly support that. Sorry, I know that saying anything against athletics is anathema in Eanes, but this next bond should put sports on the wait list and education on the priority list.
We’ve sat down here in central Westlake for 10 years or more watching our elementary school sink into extraordinary disrepair because our school board was ambivalent to its future and Dr. Wellman simply wanted it gone. Then they determined that they can’t close it. So we’ve watched bond election after bond election come down the pike and from time to time EISD fixed something at Eanes Elementary.
So if you want to be mad about how the board of trustees has treated you, just recognize that the trustees have built football stadiums, batting cages, jumbotrons, tracks, fields, the list goes on and on, while the elementary schools screamed for help and didn’t get it.
Be mad. Remember this next May. We didn’t get here overnight, Sienna. We got here by neglecting to live within our means for a long, long time.
And that corresponds with Dr. Wellman’s tenure. She paints a very pretty picture of a shining city on the hill, but increasingly people are coming to understand that it is just a house of cards.
When Senna Hills was on the drawing board, the developers agreed to donate land for a new elementary school. They reneged on their promise. John Phillips, who was the EISD superintendent at the time, told them the Senna Hills kids could go to Eanes Elementary. And they did for a year or two. That was many years ago, when everyone thought the district was still growing. It’s not growing and we don’t need another elementary school.
Most of what I see on here is people complaining about things. Let’s come up with some solutions and vision. The district needs to look at alternatives, of which there are several. One is to build the River Hills School, then let the Eanes Elementary kids go to the old Valley view, and let the administration take over the existing Eanes Elementary, possibly with some rental of the Bee Cave Roads frontage. This could be utilized with less renovation than would be required for use by students. Also, it appears that with the conservative nature that is being expressed, that buying the old fitness club would be a mistake. It will take a lot of money to make that useful, and will have a minimal impact on the district’s needs. The thought of spending $88 million dollars and bascially having what we have now is not something that I would vote for. We need to get more value for our money and we need some creative solutions……. not just negativity.
Sienna, I don’t blame you a bit. The Cuernavaca neighborhood was played like a fiddle by the district. The leadership knew last week, just as well as this week, that there would be no new elementary on the bond. They used that promise (as many of us suspected) just to get you all revved up to turn out and vote for their candidates … you know the ones who support(ed) the new elementary. And if you are “mad” welcome to the crowd of parents and students and teachers who have been ignored and played by the Eanes ISD superintendent, administrators and board. This district will not get my vote for another penny until the current leadership is long gone.
Those in Cuernavaca have much lower property taxes because of the property location than those in central Westlake and Rollingwood, etc. We DO pay more to be more central to schools. We made that choice.
Sienna-
You should look at the merits of the bond. There are some serious needs for the West Ridge community and teh High School- as well as the other elementary schools in the District. You risk alienating future voters for when a new school is on a Bond by being short sighted now.
The District has failed to fully explain why a new school doesn’t make sense at this time. They must cut 10% of their budget of 54 million. This means admin, teachers and programs. If you look at it from the standpoint of number of teachers that would be 80 teachers lost across the Board.
VV is a nice school. If they were tearing it down and completely relocating it it would make sense because no costs would be increased. You can’t increase your costs when you are also having to make major cuts- it does not make sense.
We all pay taxes and we have all been mislead in the past when it comes to bond money uses and needs. It is time for the Board and Dr. Wellman to step up and sell why they can’t do it which they have known for a long time why not. Why was a new VV not on the original recommendation by the Bond Committee? Why did the District tell VV that the M & O cost was $3sq ft when they have now admitted that it is in the mid $6 a sq ft range?
You have a nice school with good programs. Your PTO picks up some costs that the District no longer can afford- how much more will they need to pick up?? Some PTOs raise close to 150k a year and are paying for smart boards for every classroom, computers for grade levels, copy paper, workbooks for students, etc.. The cuts are coming and you will be donating more than ever before to pay for what we have had in the past not for anything new.
Sit tight and ask the administration to develop a plan for what triggers would need to be in place to build a new school. Overcrowding, a certain % of growth district wide, if we get more money from the state, etc.. This is not an easy decision for the Board but they had to make it. Ask for the future plan- what would be the triggers taht would set the ball in motion?
What is Sienna Hills? There is a neighborhood called SENNA Hills that already sends their kids to BCE.
The River Hills tract was originally purchased for the second high school, and BCE was going to be much bigger until Michael Dell was able to buy up already zoned SFR land for his lakefront ranch.
For everyone complaining about out of district transfers, understand that each of them result in MORE funding from the state.
If folks take a minute to understand school finance, the bond is the only way to pay for necessary change because it isn’t subject to recapture by the state like the majority of our property taxes (@ 50%). With interest rates at all time lows, now is the time to do what is needed…it will be virtually impossible if/when interest rates start going the other way.
A few people seem determined to find a conspiracy behind every decision. EISD is one of the best school districts in TX because our community has consistently supported our children having the best total education a public school system can provide. The debate about how to do that is constructive, but to demonize the very folks who are responsible for EISD’s consistent success is unwise and counterproductive.
The three questions a tax payer should ask is:
1. How much will MY tax bill increase/decrease with this bond?
2. How much will I benefit from this bond?
3. How much will the community benefit from this bond?
Here’s the thing about the transfer students. They are replacing district children who were forced out of the district schools, children whose families must now pay both property taxes and private school tuition. That’s the complaint.
And now those families (there are MANY) are asked to fund a bond to build another elementary school to educate the transfer students that replaced their children? No way.
In addition to how the bond will impact each taxpayer- determine how new sq ft will impact the entire district.
Do you want teachers and programs or a school you can walk to but no longer have the support your child needs??
“Just the Facts” is missing the fact that the “more” money we’re getting from the state on transfer students doesn’t pay what we spend on them. It softens the “cost” of the empty seats, but we don’t even break even.
I think we need to institute the legally allowable transfer fee, like other school districts. I also think we need to be cautious about maintaining excess classroom capacity that we don’t anticipate having a need for in the foreseeable future for transfer students.
In reference to ” I chose to be near school’s” comment, I have a question. Do people in different parts of the district pay a different tax rate to EISD depending on where you live?
No kids yet: It is quite obvious. The property values are significantly higher depending on location. Go to Traviscad.org to see the difference in how much is contributed to the Eanes School District per home average in different neighborhoods. Location means a higher tax burden. Cuernavaca homes are valued less and so pay significantly less. It is a bargain for an Eanes education.
We all pay the same rate minus City taxes- Rollingwood and Westlake.
No matter where you live in this district you pay the same tax rate to EISD. So, if “I chose” feels that he/she pay more in taxes it is because they have a more expensive home. A choice for only a select few. Does “I chose” think that those who cannot afford a more expensive home should just take what they can get? That is exactly what this district is telling it’s residents. If you can’t afford to live in the “nicer” areas suck it up, maybe we’ll get to you someday.
To No kids yet: We all pay the same amount of EISD school tax. That statement was the East verses West mentality. We do have the lower property values, right? No guys in the east, my appraisal value is right up there with yours, my taxes are about the same, higher in many cases. I am sorry you still see Cuernavaca the armpit of Westlake and undeserving of your vision. I pray you will see the value of your neighbors by the lake.
It is the tax appraisers that determine the tax valuations based on resale value. Buying a less expensive house is beneficial to the pocketbooks of those who choose to do so. No “armpit” comment was made by anyone outside that area. I might decide to sell my over valued house and buy something less expensive so that I can afford to stay in Eanes too. I won’t complain about the distance because that is what I chose. There are more homes in a lower price category to choose from as you move further away That is a fact. Sorry.
To Joan: Some choose to live in a generally less expensive neighborhood. I’m sure no offense is intended. It is an economic choice. It is a good choice for many. Why are facts so offensive? Your property tax total is lower if your valuation is lower. Facts are facts. If that is the case, you pay less to the school district.
The issue being brought up is also about fairness. Should property taxes be what is used to fund our schools? Should it be based on valuations that are incredibly arbitrary? There is a reasonable point about fairness being made.
Let’s not get carried away and make facts into a battle. I don’t think it is about those further out just taking what they can get. Those further out are getting a fantastic education for their kids which is the very same education and very same opportunities as everyone in the district.
Joan,
No, we do not pay the same amount of EISD taxes. We pay the same rate. Property taxes vary greatly. Tax payments to EISD varies greatly. Those outside of the city limits of Rollingwood or Westlake do not pay city property taxes. There are some nice recurring fiscal benefits to living in those areas, “armpit” as you say or not.
If we all paid the same taxes it would be called a flat tax. I wish it were the case.
Been here in EISD since ‘94; 2 boys in K and 2nd at Barton Creek elem our 1st 2 yrs here; after 2 yrs, our area of Cuerny was considered to be “re-zoned” to VVE, requiring that our sons take a bus at 630am and arrive at VVE 75 min later instead of the 15 bus ride to BCE; went to several public meetings w/ EISD admins; at a break near the end of the last meeting, the EISD Superintendent, a Mr. Phillips, happened to be pouring himself a cup of coffee near me and I asked him if he thought the EISD board would really require this dis-locative re-zoning of the “Cuerny crowd” and I will never forget his answer, which was chillingly Machiavellian and cold: “You can count on it” which to me really sums up how condescendingly callous the EISD administrators and board have treated the “Cuerny Crowd” over time. And who can ever forget the reaction of the VVE principal Betty Courtney when she was informed that the “Cuerny Crowd” had been re-zoned to her elementary for her last year before retirement? It was not pretty.
Why not just rezone the Cuernavaca area back to BCE once BCE is added onto in order to accept a larger student body? Lets be smart with our hard-earned money. No one should be condescending. Unfortunately the locations of the schools are not ideal with the growth further out but we just don’t need another new elementary when everyone is trying to stay afloat. We need to concentrate on keeping teachers.
Why not go back to Barton Creek??? If you can’t get a new school what is the next best option. All or nothing right now is obviously not working. A little redistricting across the Board and removal of transfers at Barton Creek and VV would allow for this with a small addition to BC. Just think about it?? Your first option of a new school does not have the votes on the Board.
Plus- the numbers given for the VV school do not include costs for sewer and electric which will be HUGE. Plus the road and access. Even if it were to pass it would take more than the two years promised to be completed.
The Cuernavaca crowd must have an Option B- without it you will fail.
Going back to Barton Creek would be a blessing for Cuernavaca. I believe it has been stated that if that could happen the elementary would then be over 850 – 900 kids. The school district has said this is too large for an elementary. The Senna Hills (a newer community that had been going to Eanes) replaced Cuernavaca children in Barton Creek – displacing Cuernavaca to Valley View as a short term solution that has lasted 15 years.
The people fighting for the relocation of teachers and the school to River Hills are not fighting for their own children. They realize their own children will not see the advantage of this as the school is at least 6 years out. They are fighting for the people who do not even yet know that the school is important to them, for the greater good of the community.
If we are trying to just stay afloat why is the board considering repair of 2 running tracks for the middle schools coming to over 5.5 million, replacement of bleachers with rust (metal rusts – that does not mean replace,) an additional competition court renovation complete with a new scoreboard, and replacement bleachers or even the biggest ticket item – an aquatics Center? This is not just trying to stay afloat. This is trying to be World Class. I agree – we need these things to excel, but you cannot cut out an arm and expect to excel.
We have bills of basics – Air Conditioning that is out of compliance and older than ever should be allowed (10 million,) Eanes Elementary that should not be left standing (33 million to renovate verse 25 million to replace.)
Please encourage the board to find a solution be it redistricting to move Cuernavaca back to Barton Creek or building a new school all of the expenses of the current Valley View move to River Hills including teachers. This would actually reduce E&O. You can then move Eanes to Valley View and properly renovate Eanes. This to me seems very much more important than a sports court, or an expensive track or a beautiful, new aquatics center
In order to move kids back to Barton Creek redistricting would be part of the plan. There are areas that go to Barton Creek that are east of Cuernavaca- does this make sense? You could easily make it a 600 student campus with a small addition and then redistrict.
As far as a rebuild of Eanes or a new school all together- the families who attend Eanes just don’t want a box of a school like VV, BC, BP- it is a unique campus and they would like it to retain some of the feel. Yes new buildings will be necessary but not a box.
Plus you don’t build a new school without having the needed numbers. The amount of elementary transfers need to fill our schools prove we do not have a need for another campus.
To ??: Why on earth do you think the Eanes elementary community be able to dictate their wants to the board and no one else? You argue fiscal conservatism for everyone in the district except this one group. It’s ok for those cuernavaca kids to go to school in a box, or any of the rest of the district kids, but not your kids? Give me a break!
Eanes families may get no say in the matter. They have expressed an opinion that may or may not be shared by the entire community.
However, it is the oldest campus and is unique in design. All they are asking is that when deciding to renovate or tear portions of the school down which they understand will happen they would like to retain some of the character through design. They have a group of parents who are architects who have been offering free design help that may or may not be used.
Just like the VV community who is advocating for a new school the Eanes community is advocating for what type of rebuild should go on.
Als0- check the numbers on the VV new school- they did not have road, sewer or electric included in the cost. In that area it will be several million dollars.
We allow transfers into a classroom to fill one spot at a time. It is a win/win situation to let a child come when you could let that seat be vacant. We still have elementary schools with temporary buildings that have been there for 10 years and they where used temp buildings to begin with. Eanes School district is overcrowded – the overcrowded can be seen in a general lack of classrooms – 1 or 2 students per grade level per school filling in an empty seat does not mean we are not overcrowded. It just means the school district (and the school principles) have been very good about maximizing our budget.
To: As to not having the numbers for another school – this is not a 7th school. This is the same school with less operating expense (because it is newer) in the area that the children who already fill a complete school are located. The numbers are already there for the school to exist or else Eanes could have and should have already gone down to 5 elementary schools 15 years ago.
For Lisa: So there would be “less operating expense” for a replacement school after spending millions to build it. That is like buying a very expensive new car when you no longer have a car payment just because it gets 3-4 miles per gallon better gas mileage. It would take the life of the car to pay for the benefit of purchasing it. New schools need maintenance, too, even after the millions are spent to build.
It makes more sense to maintain the older school and save tax money for teachers and smaller class sizes. I believe that is fiscal conservatism.
Yes you are right about it over all costing more, however you forgot that that current Valley View School needs to be re-purposed to either be leased out by a college (as has been discussed), used as a Eanes Elementary while they are rebuilding or used as an admin building that can also home our district childcare center.
You also forgot 1 other problem – it is not close to the neighborhood it serves leaving the school without as much support as it could have from the parents because of its distance and the traffic congestion to get there. It is a school without a community. The after school activities are not reasonable for the children to participate in, the quick pop in by parent volunteers take an hour and half longer than they should. Your district is not able to provide the extras to these children that your children so freely enjoy because of distance and time both in volunteers and the transportation issues.
On the issue of remodeling Eanes Elementary: What does the cost of renovations really encompass? Are we trying to make the existing school into something completely different, and hence the enormous costs quoted for renovation? Or, are we really working with the existing structures, conserving material resources, not making it into something else, and being modest with our physical wants?
I do believe passing a bond to do a true renovation now (NOT a rebuild) would make sense, as construction and material costs are low. Let’s keep much of what we have and not start over. The costs for renovating should be less than building new. It is all about what we are expecting Eanes Elementary to turn into.
Regarding Senna Hills: I think those who purchased a home there on the premise from the developer that it was going to donate land for a school have a good reason to force the developer to provide that land or some form of compensation. EISD can’t afford to make up the difference for a shady developer who spoke on behalf of our district.
We still have a ton of transfers- they don’t just fill one or two spaces. At Barton Creek and Forest Trail the fill 1/5 of the school. There are many at VV and Cedar Creek.
Transfers bring in dollars but they also cost. Ask a kinder teacher what it is like to teach 22 kids versus 18 or even 20 versus 18.
Lisa – the transfers are a “win win”? Well, except for those families who live in the Eanes district, pay Eanes taxes and yet, cannot send their students to district schools. Why are those seats empty? Because district children are being forced out of the district. At every grade level. The transfer students take the place of real children who have been harmed by the district, ignored by the district, pushed out by the district. When you see a transfer student, you should also a acknowledge the district child who is not there. That’s an issue that is easy to ignore but children should not be hurt or ignored or marginalized and then simply “replaced” by a transfer student (or actually hundreds of transfer students) who are accepted by virtue of how easily they can be educated.
that location is the reason for poor parent involvement and volunteering. Parents send their kids to private school in Austin and drive from everywhere to get there to volunteer. You do it because you want to not because of proximity and convenience.
I volunteer at my child’s preschool up north and then drive back to my EISD school to volunteer many times on the same day. I do it because I want to and believe in volunteering. I have friends who come from their offices at lunch time to do lunch duty- they drive from all over.
We have many transfer families who drive from all over and they volunteer in EISD Schools. Proximity is not an excuse for a lack of volunteers.
Pick a better issue because many aren’t willing to vote on 30m to improve volunteer efforts.
We live right down the street from Eanes ISD schools but now that we’ve found that the district isn’t so great for our children, we drive way across town to them to private schools. We volunteer there too. We also volunteer at many other places around and just outside Austin.