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5 Eanes school board members continued discussion recently on whether or not to require volunteers who serve on district advisory or oversight committees disclose conflicts of interest that would affect their objectivity.
Board member Colleen Jones addressed the issue during a July 28 monthly meeting. Board members again broached the topic during a study session Aug. 16.
Allyson Collins, district director of records and legal services, recommended against a board policy regarding conflict of interest for voluntary committee members. She said no other Central Texas school district board currently had such a policy in place.
“Is the problem based on when there is a danger that the personal interest of a committee member affects the decision or the recommendation?” Collins asked. “Where is the line between a potential conflict of interest and a simple vested interest? That line is very thin. I think, in order to put a requirement on someone, we are going to have to be very clear on where the line is. We need a very clear point – ‘Here is when you disclose.’ ”
Board president Paul Stone asked Collins to continue researching the issue.
“There has to be something that has already been put into place that we can adopt,” he said. “That kind of policy promotes an atmosphere of transparency that is important, especially when we are considering things like bond oversight committees.”
Eanes school district Superintendent Nola Wellman expressed concern that such a policy would discourage volunteers and make it more difficult for the school district to find key members for critical planning committees. Collins suggested the board consider having the district adopt administrative regulations that would attempt to limit the possible conflicts of interest of committee members. She and Wellman asked the board to provide more clarification on what conflict of interest policy or regulations should encompass, whether it should be in the form of a disclosure statement or a pledge and who would ultimately be responsible for judging exactly what constitutes unacceptable conflict of interest.
The possible implications of conflict of interest by volunteers who advise or make decisions for the district became an issue of interest to the board in May, when local press revealed that Athletic Director Darren Allman and former district bond advisory committee chairman David Perkins had formed a business, Coach Concepts, a company that Allman told board members planned to offer for-profit athletic training programs to the public.
Board members gave Allman the vote of confidence and found that he had acted appropriately in notifying the district of his involvement in the company, but asked the district to see what policy other school districts have in place to ensure volunteers advising the district do not have conflicts of interest or a financial stake in the eventual decisions being made.
Stone said the district will continue investigating possible ways to guard against the conflict of interest of advisory volunteers.
“The board has asked the administration to formulate a recommendation based on the discussion at the meeting,” he said. “I will work with Dr. Wellman to set (the issue) as an agenda topic at an upcoming study session.”
Here’s a link to the “local press that revealed that Athletic Director Darren Allman and former district bond advisory committee chairman David Perkins had formed a business, Coach Concepts.” This citizen website broke the news to the public and to the board of trustees as well.
http://www.keepeanesinformed.com/coach_concepts,_llc.htm
http://www.keepeanesinformed.com/cbac_-_proposed_bond_2010.htm
By the way, although the bond committee may no longer be officially underway, Nola Wellman still invites the committee to the district for breakfast tacos and “updates” (general schmoozing). Why doesn’t the superintendent just update the public instead? So that we can be informed voters?
And speaking of “conflicts of interest”, Nola’s new in-house attorney Allyson Collins comes straight to Eanes ISD from TASB, the “education” organization that ensures the “Team of Eight” approach where the board works for and supports the superintendent instead of thinking critically, forming an opinion and then representing the public.
This district is intentionally populated by those who work to take the public out of public schools. Who do you think recommended Nola Wellman and Allyson Collins for their jobs?
I, too, am a former TASB attorney. I understand our financial concerns with too many administrators and the need to ensure that we are both large enough for an in-house counsel and that it actually saves us money spent on outside legal fees, because sometimes it can have the undesirable effect of increasing them.
However, you couldn’t be more wrong about TASB. The Superintendents have their own organization and legal counsel at TASA. TASB is the school board organization and the only one that speaks up for school board members. TEA, the state agency, largely populated by former superintendents, writes accreditation guidelines and insists on training that tries to teach board members just to do whatever the Superintendent recommends.
Sadly, that results in some districts with board members who do not do their due diligence that is required of board members in any public or private sector for a checks and balances on the organization to ensure that it functions properly. Without that, you get train wrecks like Enron and Pedernales Electric Co-op. And some would even suggest EISD.
Give Allyson a chance. I doubt she knew the extent of the controversies brewing out here when she was hired. TASB attorneys spend many hours talking to school trustees as well as administrators, and I personally think that she should be better equipped to support the school board members than most attorneys in private practice would be. She will face many challenges in her position, but her former employment at TASB really should be an asset, not a liability.
TASB teaches the school board members to support the superintendents instead of debating issues, gathering information and representing the public; I am not wrong about that. It’s the Team of Eight approach. TASB is a tool for the status quo and for protecting the power of the school administrators starting with the superintendent and suppressing the voice of school board members. We agree on this: TEA also encourages board members to support the superintendent at all costs. Allyson Collins will do whatever Nola Wellman tells her to do. Eanes ISD is indeed lacking the checks and balances to function properly. The public and the board members are kept in the dark and that’s intentional. Allyson Collins will find that in her job description. And eventually this train will crash. Nola and Allyson will be long gone, paychecks in hand.
I know this comment will start a “firestorm”, but there are many well informed citizens in this district that feel it will be a sad day when Nola Wellman leaves. My opinion is that a few people have not gotten their personal issues resolved in their favor and have taken this to the next level to paint everything with the same brush.
I know a lot of the “chronic bloggers” won’t agree, but I feel it is fair to share that many are happy with the job that Nola Wellman has done !!!!
Nola Wellman has great support; no denying that. Under her leadership the “haves” have continued to get what they need, and that builds huge goodwill for her. So if you want to give Dr. Wellman an “A” in politics, well, I’d have to agree with you. She knows how to keep the most important people happy.
But there have been consequences for her decisions to continue to support the “haves.” Under her leadership, EISD has spent more than taxes bring in: consistently–year after year–while cutting Special Education, gifted programs, math and science enrichment programs, etc. that were not measured by things like the Newsweek “best high school” polls. Under her guidance, EISD residents and trustees continue to hang their long term hopes on the fiction that the State Legislature is going to “fix” Robin Hood. Under her leadership EISD has come to rely upon taking transfers from out of the district as a key part of our financial plan: we can’t not take these kids, because we need them, and the volunteers of EEF, to fund teachers.
Many parents are happy with what is going on in EISD. There is no question about it. The parents of top kids–both athletes and academics–are thrilled. But the parents of kids in the middle, kids at risk, and kids with special needs, are not. Those are the programs being cut; those programs are where the teachers are fired first; those kids are the ones feeling the brunt of the financial meltdown that is EISD.
But along with that “A” in politics, she should get a “D-” in Finance. EISD is at the edge of the financial cliff, and I sincerely believe she has no idea how to both satisfy the most important people and close the gap to live within our means.
And that is why she is losing the support of the people who don’t already love her. It will be a sad day, indeed, because the next superintendent of schools will be saddled with a district who failed to learn the difference between being a grasshopper and an ant.